Pulled The King Of Swords In A Tarot Reading? Here's What You Need To Know

Tarot readings can provide insights into our past and future, and the lessons we're meant to learn in the present. Traditional tarot decks have 78 cards, and when it comes to expression and communication, the King of Swords is a name to know. Here's what it means if you pull this telling card.

It's about "putting clarity and ideals into action; social justice; and doing the right and aligned thing, even when it's hard," she adds. 

Thus, the King of Swords compels us to embody "leadership, expansion, and expression, by sharing our experiences, taking aligned action, and bringing others together," she adds.

Vanderveldt offers a quote from writer Janet Mock that reflects the King of Swords' energy, which says, "I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act."

"You can be honest and kind, which comes down to honoring your own experience, what you know to be true, and disentangling from blame," she says, adding your best bet is to be direct and true to yourself. "No need to soften your message—which often leads to passive-aggressions anyway."

Rather than overthinking, remain open in your communication. (Just don't let anyone gaslight you, she adds.) "Allow space for your intuition—rather than an overactive and nervous inner monologue—to come through."

"In this case, it's often about coming to a new level of clarity on your mission or message—which can help align your career and finances with your ideals," she adds. Ask yourself how you can refine or clarify your mission and how you express it to yourself and others, she suggests.

In this case, Vanderveldt suggests asking yourself where you feel held back in your career and how you can shift your mindset to focus on your unique wisdom rather than what you lack.

"Stopping your thoughts from running the show (what we practice in many seated meditation methods) creates an opening for the clarity, honesty, critical thinking, and integrity that the King of Swords commands," she explains.

"Make a space for thoughts and ideas to flow freely," she adds, whether that be stream-of-consciousness writing or recording a voice memo to talk it out to yourself.

The King of Swords invites us to not only go within and examine our thoughts (and our relationship to said thoughts) but also to look at the ways we're communicating and honoring our truth. As the King of the air element, this card gives us important messages around all things air, like intellect, expression, and what's going on in our heads. Moral of the King of Swords' story: Be honest with yourself and others, and you really can't go wrong.