Bohemian Gothic Tarot

SIX OF SWORDS

Lighter or more conventional meanings

Getting through a hard time calmly and quietly * Making a profound change in your life, one which will take some time * A shift in perspective, a change in the way you see things * Taking action to get to a better place (mentally or physically) even though you know the process might be quite difficult * Travel, possibly over water.

Darker, shadow or more hidden meanings

Giving up and letting someone else decide on the next moves in your life * Feeling "dead to the world" and too passive and depressed to achieve anything * Phobia about travel or a major move * A period of mourning for a loss.

This is a scene that looks almost Arthurian at first sight, as a barge travels across a vast lake at sunset. However, this is not a king being taken to his burial ground by attendants, rather it's a beautiful woman who lies in state in the boat, ferried by a single dark cowled figure. The lake is glassy smooth, and the whole scene is reflected as if in a mirror. But the flames of the two large candles burning in front of the bier are blown to one side, suggesting that the boat is travelling swiftly. Is the woman dead or only sleeping? There's no way of being sure.

This card is about journeys; sometimes it points to actual physical travel but more often it's about journeys of the mind, times when you feel that you are moving into a different mode or mental state. The Six of Swords is, in a sense, like a little Death card, it indicates a transition that will be emotionally demanding and uncomfortable (as travel often is) but that will ultimately get you to somewhere better. In a reading, when it's accompanied by other cards indicating difficulty or struggle, it often advises you simply to get through this time as calmly and quickly as possible. It can also imply that you should to some extent relinquish control and allow someone else - symbolised by the ferryman - to take charge and help you to reach your destination.

Some further ways to consider this card

Who is the woman in the boat, what is her relationship to the man who rows it? The scene takes place at sunset. Is this significant? If so, what does it symbolise? The hooded man looks similar to the figure on The Hermit card. Could they be the same person? Can you make up a short tale that links together the scenes in these two cards?

Then murmured Arthur, "Place me in the barge." So to the barge they came. There those three Queens Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. But she, that rose the tallest of them all And fairest, laid his head upon her lap,
...
Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere: "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?"
...
And slowly answered Arthur from the barge: "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
- Alfred Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King.