Two of Swords Tarot: Meaning, Symbolism and Reversed Meaning

In brief: name, number and keywords

The Two of Swords is the second card of the suit of Air. Where the Ace showed a clarity, the Two shows what comes right after: you have to choose, and the choice is difficult. The card speaks of a pause, a truce, a delicate balance, sometimes of a refusal to look.

It carries the number 2. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, it is the Two of Swords.

Keywords: indecision, truce, balance, refusal to see, choice, suspension.

The image in the Marseille tarot

In the Tarot de Marseille, the Two of Swords is a pip card: two blades, often curved, that cross or face each other, surrounded by leafy stems. There is no figure: the arrangement is what speaks. Two blades crossing form an X: a barrier, or a meeting point.

Here we read the number, the crossing and the interlacing. The Two evokes the meeting of two forces, on equal terms, that nothing has yet decided.

The scene in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck

A woman dressed in white sits with her back to the sea on a stone bench. She is blindfolded and holds a sword in each hand, her arms crossed in front of her chest, both blades upright. The sky is pale, the day seems calm.

Behind her lies a still expanse of water dotted with rocks breaking the surface. A crescent moon shines at the top right. The setting is motionless, almost suspended: no one acts, nothing moves.

Symbolism of the elements of the scene

Traditional readings focus mainly on these details. They are starting points, not rules.

• The blindfold: one chooses not to see, out of caution or fear; but it can also suggest intuition, or the neutrality of someone who judges without taking sides.
• The two crossed swords: two options or two truths held at a distance from one another, two weapons lowered or raised at the same time.
• The arms crossed over the heart: one protects oneself, keeps one's emotions at a distance.
• The calm sea and the rocks: the emotions are there, but they have not yet been crossed; the rocks remind us that hidden obstacles remain.
• The crescent moon: intuition, doubt, the passing of time; according to the Golden Dawn, the Moon is the card's decan.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Two of Swords speaks of indecision, truce or a fragile balance. You struggle to choose between two options, you put safeguards in place so as not to feel, you avoid a painful subject. The card can also describe an armed peace: you have stopped fighting, but you have not yet made peace.

It is not necessarily negative: it is sometimes wise not to decide straight away, to let calm return. The question is whether you are taking time to think, or using it to hide.

Reversed: schools that differ

School 1: a way out of the impasse. Reversed, the Two of Swords would indicate that the blindfold falls: you finally face the situation, you decide, sometimes in haste or in pain.

School 2: a deepening block. Others read the reversed side as a heavier indecision: anxiety, a tension that overflows, contradictory information that clouds the decision. Many tarot readers do not read the reversed side and let the neighbouring cards clarify instead.

Traditional correspondences and numerology

According to the Golden Dawn, which assigns a decan to each card from 2 to 10, here are the most frequently cited reference points (approximate dates, which shift by a day from year to year).

Numerology of 2. Two is duality: two sides, two options, two people. After the unity of the Ace, something divides; this is the birth of choice, but also of a fragile balance. In the Golden Dawn's Kabbalistic reading, the Two corresponds to Chokmah, Wisdom.

The title given by the Golden Dawn, “Lord of Peace Restored”, is quite telling: the war stops, but the peace still has to be built. These attributions come from a 19th-century occult tradition; they are not facts.

Common areas of reading

Tarot does not say what is going to happen: it offers images to reflect on. Here is what this card can bring to mind, in symbolic terms.

• Personal reflection: noticing what you avoid feeling; allowing yourself a limited time to reflect, then coming back. A possible question: what is the blindfold protecting me from?
• Relationships: an armed peace, a tense silence; a conversation that has not yet taken place.
• Work: two offers, two methods, two priorities; a decision waiting for information or for courage.
• Money: a choice between two expenses or two options; a moment to wait until you have all the information rather than acting out of fear.

Combinations with other cards

A card is rarely read on its own: its neighbours nuance it. A few simple pairings, to be taken as starting points.

• The Ace of Swords: the clear idea that finally forces a choice.
• Justice: a decision to weigh fairly rather than flee.
• The High Priestess: silence and intuition; you do not have to answer straight away.
• The Three of Swords: if the choice keeps being avoided, the pain may end up finding its way out.

To practise reading cards together, try the three-card spread. To see the whole suit, read the page on the swords.

Common beginner mistakes

• Reading “blockage” as a fact: the Two describes a moment, not a permanent state.
• Forgetting that the card is also a useful truce: not deciding straight away is sometimes the right decision.
• Looking for a yes or a no: the Two of Swords describes a tension between two paths; it does not point to the right one.

Reflection questions and keyword of the day

Keyword of the day: Weigh. Write down the two options on a page, with what each one brings and what each one costs, then set yourself a date to come back to it.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What am I avoiding realising?
• If I lifted the blindfold, what would I see first?
• Is this waiting time helping me think, or helping me not to feel?
• Which piece of information do I really lack in order to choose?

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to Guide to the Minor Arcana.