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Combinations · Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot
Six of Swords combinations
A ferryman poles a small boat away from rough water, with a cloaked woman, a child and six upright swords aboard. Read beside another card, the crossing takes on a reason, a load or a destination.
Card meaning: Six 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.
Every pair with this card is about a crossing already under way. At the stern a ferryman pushes a flat wooden boat with a long pole, a cloaked woman sits hunched beside a child, and six swords stand upright in the bow. Near the pole the water is choppy, and further on it lies still. The card beside it tends to name the shore being left, the weight carried in the boat or the bank the querent is heading for. The Five of Swords is the quarrel behind the boat, so the two cards run in the suit's own order, conflict first and escape after. The Three of Wands turns the far bank into emigration or a venture over water. Death closes the old chapter for good, with the Sun as quintessence backing the brighter shore.
Two upright cards almost always read well together. Most of the exceptions add to the load: grief with the Five of Cups, a fresh wound with the Three of Swords, sleepless worry with the Nine of Swords, an empty purse with the Five of Pentacles. The move is still right, and the weight rides along. Reversed, the Six is a departure postponed or cancelled out of fear of the unknown. That leaves most pairs mixed, and beside a card that already traps or frightens the querent, such as the Devil, the Tower, the Moon or the Eight of Swords, it turns hard.
Six of Swords beside other cards in a spread
Beside Major Arcana cards
Upright, every trump except the Devil sits well with it and changes the reason for leaving. The Hierophant can make it a move for study, Justice wants an old account settled before the boat leaves, and the Hanged Man puts a pause first. Beside the upright Devil the attachment travels along. Reversed under the Devil, the Tower or the Moon, the Six turns the pair hard, with a hold that blocks every departure, a collapse with no way out, or escape routes that prove illusory.
Beside Wands
Fire and Air are friendly, so the Wands push the boat along. The Three makes the crossing a move abroad or a new venture, the Eight speeds it after a long wait, and the Four of Wands offers a stable base. Two Wands slow it. With the Five the way out has to be competed for, and with the Ten every duty comes aboard. A reversed Six beside the upright Ace, Seven, Ten or Page of Wands is hard, eagerness or a long defence meeting a stalled departure.
Beside Cups
Water and Air are neutral. Most upright Cups give the crossing warmth: a new feeling with the Ace, mutual support with the Two, a send-off with the Three, good memories with the Six, a calmer home with the Ten. The Four, Five and Seven put weight in the boat, as discontent, grief or a far shore pictured brighter than it is. Turn any of those three over and the pair reads well, the querent awake, at peace with the loss or seeing plainly.
Beside Swords
In doubled Air the passage happens in the mind. The Ace and Two give the move a clear decision, and the Four of Swords is the rest that comes before it. The Three, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten leave the upright pair mixed, since a wound, a fight, fear or worry is still fresh. Five of them read well reversed, the weight lifting as the crossing begins; the Seven's quiet departure stays mixed either way. Under a reversed Six, all six are hard upright.
Beside Pentacles
Earth is contrary to Air, and the coins give the crossing ground to land on: an opportunity with the Ace, fair support with the Six, skilled work on the new shore with the Eight. Only the Five of Pentacles leaves the upright pair mixed, the querent leaving while still short of money; reversed, it brings relief on both fronts. Under a reversed Six the upright Four and Five are hard, savings making it feel safer to stay.
Beside court cards
Every court reads well when both cards are upright and badly when both are reversed. Taken as people around the querent, they show what the querent meets or brings to the move: the level head of the King of Cups, the clear boundaries of the Queen of Swords, the patience of the Knight of Pentacles. A reversed court beside the upright Six leaves the pair mixed. Under a reversed Six only the eager Page of Wands turns hard, and the other fifteen stay mixed.
Beside a card of the same number
Six links this card to the Lovers, card VI, and to the Sixes of Wands, Cups and Pentacles. All four pairs take the Hanged Man as quintessence, a new angle on the move. Upright, the Lovers makes it a choice of the heart, the Six of Wands a move earned by success, the Six of Cups a crossing that keeps good memories, and the Six of Pentacles one eased by fair help. Both reversed, each is hard. A second Six of Swords makes the crossing one chosen twice over.
Beside reversed cards
With the Six upright, a reversed partner usually leaves the pair mixed: the boat still moves, and the partner's trouble comes aboard. The reversal helps where it lifts a weight. The Devil's hold loosens, the Five of Wands' quarrel settles, the Ten of Wands' burden is set down, and the Three, Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords ease toward healing, so the upright Six carries that relief to calmer water. The reversed Seven of Swords stays mixed, since secrets surface and the move waits on a candid reckoning.
Six of Swords with every card
Each row gives the outlook in all four states, read from Six of Swords's side: Six of Swords first, then its partner.
Harmonious
Mixed
Challenging
↑ ↑
↑ ↓
↓ ↑
↓ ↓
The Chariot
A deliberate move out of a hard stretch: will sets the course and the water calms ahead.
Wheel of Fortune
A lucky change of circumstances opens the way to a move, a journey or calmer times.
Ten of Pentacles
A household crosses to steadier ground, and the move builds security meant to last.
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