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Combinations · Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot
Knight of Swords combinations
Decisions get made quickly when this rider turns up, and his partner shows whether the speed has a plan behind it or only a temper. Each of the 78 pairings, his own double among them, is read here in every orientation.
Card meaning: Knight of SwordsCombinations are common patterns, not rules
The readings here describe how a pair most often reads. Check each one against two things before you apply it. The first is the question: the same pair says one thing about a relationship and another about a job offer, and the question decides which side of the pair matters. The second is the background, meaning what the querent already knows about the situation, the position each card holds in the spread, and the cards around the pair. When the question or the background points another way, go with them over the general reading. Each pair page lists the exceptions that come up most often.
A decision made and carried out at once is what the Knight of Swords puts into almost any pair. Upright he brings quick action, clear thinking, wit and the nerve to argue a case, with a caution built in: resolve followed blindly misses details. Reversed, the same drive turns into haste, tactless words, aggression and activity with no real purpose. The second card shows what all that speed is serving.
Steadying cards give the charge a plan. The Hermit and the King of Swords do the thinking first, the Chariot adds control, and the Knight of Pentacles carries a quick choice through at a patient pace. Death lets a finished matter end cleanly. The Tower makes a breakthrough possible as long as the speed stays controlled, and the Devil leaves it open whether the rush runs into a trap or cuts through one. Sixteen upright partners, the Moon and the harsher Swords among them, hold the upright pair at mixed.
Turned over beside an upright card, he reads mixed at best and often hard, and two reversals are hard nearly everywhere. Fourteen reversed partners still read well beside him upright, because his decisiveness helps a grief, a quarrel or a fear come to an end. Like every court card he has no number, so none of his pairs carries a quintessence.
Knight of Swords beside other cards in a spread
Beside Major Arcana cards
Nineteen trumps read well with both cards upright, each giving the speed a frame: the Hierophant's proper channels, Justice's facts, the Star's belief in the goal. The Devil, the Tower and the Moon keep that pair mixed. Reverse the Knight and most trumps fall to mixed, while the Fool, Death, the Devil, the Tower and the Moon turn hard. Under the upright Knight, a reversed Hierophant, Devil or Tower reads well and a reversed Temperance reads hard. With both reversed, every trump is hard.
Beside Wands
Fire is friendly to Air, so a Wand catches his speed and adds heat to it. Upright beside him, every Wand but the Ten reads well, from the Ace's spark to the Eight's open road; the Ten stays mixed, a final push that must not mean carrying still more. A reversed Five or Ten under him reads well as a quarrel ends or a load comes off. A reversed Knight turns the Ace, Two, Three, Five, Seven, Eight and Ten hard, and two reversals are hard throughout.
Beside Cups
Water and Air stand neutral, and a cup puts feeling behind the decision: the Two's mutual attraction, the Three's friends gathered fast, the Queen's heart kept in the room. The Four, Five and Seven hold the upright pair mixed, as a slump, grief or a dazzling illusion meets his push. Reversed under him, those three read well. A reversed Knight makes the Four through Eight, the Page and the Knight hard; with both reversed, only the Five and Seven stay mixed.
Beside Swords
His own suit shares his Air, so argument and decision run at full strength. Upright beside him, the Ace, Two, Four, Six, Page, Queen and King read well: a clear idea, a choice made, rest done, a move under way. The Three, Five and Seven through Ten stay mixed. Five of those, the Three, Five, Eight, Nine and Ten, read well reversed under the upright Knight, while a reversed Ace reads hard. With the Knight reversed, the Two, Three, Five and Seven through Ten are hard.
Beside Pentacles
Earth is contrary to Air: a coin slows him and gives his argument something to win, such as the Six's fair terms or the Eight's skilled work. With both upright, all but the Five, Seven and Queen read well. A reversed Five under him reads well, recovery gathering pace, while a reversed Page or Queen reads hard, a loose start or burnout. Reverse the Knight and the Five, Ten and King turn hard, a rash move set against security. Both reversed, only the Five stays mixed.
Beside court cards
Fifteen of the sixteen court pairs read well with both cards upright; the Queen of Pentacles alone stays mixed, pace weighed against warmth. A court beside him often shows a quality the querent needs, like the King of Swords' strategy or the Knight of Pentacles' patience. Under the upright Knight, a reversed Page or Queen of Pentacles reads hard. A reversed Knight turns the Page and Knight of Cups and the King of Pentacles hard. When he stands for someone, read the pair as what the querent meets.
Beside a card of the same number
As a Knight he has no number; his kin are the Knights of Wands, Cups and Pentacles and his own double, and no pair among them takes a quintessence. All four read well upright: the Knight of Wands adds passion, the Knight of Cups heart, the Knight of Pentacles a patient follow-through, a second Knight of Swords doubled resolve. One reversal leaves most of them mixed. The Knight of Cups is the exception, hard once this Knight is reversed. Two reversals make all four hard.
Beside reversed cards
With the Knight upright and his partner reversed, most pairs land at mixed: a clear head working on a problem the partner brings. Fourteen read well, as a reversal ends something and his decisiveness takes the opening: the Devil's tie is cut, the Four of Cups' apathy lifts, the Nine of Swords' fear gives way. Four read hard, Temperance, the Ace of Swords and the Page and Queen of Pentacles, where his speed loses the moderation, clear picture, focus or balance it relies on.
Knight of Swords with every card
Each row gives the outlook in all four states, read from Knight of Swords's side: Knight of Swords first, then its partner.
Harmonious
Mixed
Challenging
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Six of Swords
A decision to leave is made fast and carried out with energy, and the move goes ahead.
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