King of Swords Tarot Card Meaning and Art Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Designation
About the Deck
Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
These cards are featured in my book, "A Concise Guide to the Tarot" by Loren Lundgren. I took the information for the meanings on these tarot cards from "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Being Fragments of a Secret Tradition Under the Veil of Divination", by A. E. Waite, 1911, now in the public domain. I edited the tarot card descriptions and meanings for clarity and brevity, modernizing the text. I scanned in the original black and white illustrations of the cards drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, from the 1911 book. I digitally retouched and painted those illustrations in detailed color.
Provenance
Loren Lundgren, © 2021
Description
He sits in judgement, holding the sign of his suit. He recalls the Justice card from the Major Arcana, and he may represent this virtue, but he possesses earthly power over life and death, because he is King.Meaning of King of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Upright
Judgement and its associations; power, command, authority, military intelligence, law, offices of the state.
Reversed
Cruelty, perversity, barbarity, duplicity, evil intention.
According to Many Schools of Thought
Papus's Divinatory Meanings
Dark bad man. A soldier, an enemy, or one to be mistrusted.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Upright
A lawyer, senator, doctor.
Reversed
A bad man; also a caution to put an end to a ruinous lawsuit.
Mme. Le Normand's Divinatory Meanings
Great happiness. A journey. A voyage on business. A happy life.
S. L. MacGregor Mathers's Divinatory Meanings
Upright
A Lawyer, a Man of Law, Power, Command, Superiority, Authority
Reversed
A Wicked Man, Chagrin, Worry, Grief, Fear, Disturbance.
P.R.S. Foli's Divinatory Meanings
Upright
A widower, an unscrupulous lawyer, impossible as a friend and dangerous as an enemy
Reversed
the desire to work evil without the power.
Mme. Le Marchand's Divinatory Meanings
you will be drawn into difficulty on account of politics; but you will be so fortunate as to save the life of a person high in station, who will advance you, and you will become prosperous and renowned.
