Page of Swords: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A young figure holds a sword upright while looking across a windswept landscape.

Upright

vigilance · inquiry

Observe, question, and check what is being communicated.

Reversed

gossip · scattered attention

Quick conclusions may outrun evidence or communication become defensive.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Knave / Princess: Earth of Air. Polar quadrant: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces; no decan. Court naming differs between decks; this identifies the Book T rank explicitly. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.