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The suit of air

The Suit of Swords

Some Swords cards are as grim as anything in the deck. The suit's subject is the mind, though, and a good share of the pain on these cards is happening in someone's head.

A truth arrives at the Ace, and the other nine number cards show what a mind does with it. The Two won't look, and the Three takes the blow anyway. The Four through the Seven try ways of coping: rest, a fight, a boat ride, a clever escape. Only the rest and the boat ride help. At the Eight and Nine, the mind is doing the damage itself, and the pictures bear that out. On the Eight, no sword touches the blindfolded figure, and the Nine's swords are lined up on a dark wall over a bed. The Ten, ten blades in one back, is the suit's worst moment, but even there a yellow strip of morning has opened along the horizon.

Through the first ten cards, swords mostly happen to people. In the court, people pick them up. Each of the four holds a single blade upright or raised, so a court card from this suit points to someone using their head on purpose. Whatever the card, check where its swords are before deciding how bad it is.

Updated October 2026·14 cards·Little Grimoire card reference

The suit · Ace to King 14 cards · ten and four

The numbered cardsA—10

A truth arrives, and the mind does the rest.

• Ace of SwordsClarity you can't unsee
• Two of SwordsPeace kept by looking away
• Three of SwordsTruth that lands and hurts
• Four of SwordsRest taken on purpose
• Five of SwordsWinning at too high a cost
• Six of SwordsCarrying the hurt somewhere calmer
• Seven of SwordsCleverness that may be evasion
• Eight of SwordsTrapped mostly by belief
• Nine of SwordsWorry that grows at night
• Ten of SwordsRock bottom at first light

The courtPage to King

The sword, held on purpose.

• Page of SwordsAsking the question others won't
• Knight of SwordsCharging ahead on conviction
• Queen of SwordsHonesty offered as care
• King of SwordsDecisions built on clear thinking