Prince of Swords is a card of the Minor Arcana, suit of Swords in the Thoth Tarot. In a reading it speaks of pure intellect, ideas, analysis and restlessness. In the Golden Dawn system it corresponds to the sephirah Tiphareth, the element Air and 21° Capricorn – 20° Aquarius in astrology.
pure intellect · ideas · analysis · restlessness · planning
What does Prince of Swords mean?
Your ideas are valid: choose one, give it a direction and put it to the test of facts.
Everyday meaning
A brilliant person full of ideas, but changeable and little inclined to conclude; or a project that is still all in the mind. It points to complex reasoning, theories, plans that keep changing.
Psychological meaning
The pure mind that builds and demolishes its own architectures: a lively intelligence that risks spinning idly, detached from feeling and the body.
Initiatic meaning
Air of Air, the Vau of Vau, referred to Tiphareth: the intellect in its own element, thought generating thought. He rules from 21° Capricorn to 20° Aquarius, where Saturnine ambition meets Aquarian vision, fertile in ideas but without emotional anchoring.
The shadow side
Ill-dignified, he is indecisive, cynical, calculating, able to destroy for the pleasure of analysing.
Prince of Swords reversed
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading:
Confused and contradictory thoughts, projects multiplying without being realised, cold detachment.
Prince of Swords in love, work and spirit
In love
A stimulating but distant partner; plenty of dialogue, little emotional intimacy.
At work and career
Innovative projects, strategic thinking, theoretical research; someone is needed to make it concrete.
In spiritual practice
Using the mind as a tool of the Will, not as its master.
Kabbalah, astrology and the Hebrew letter of Prince of Swords
Tiphareth · Air · 21° Capricorn – 20° Aquarius
Crowley on Prince of Swords
The Prince of Swords in the Thoth deck drives a chariot drawn by small winged beings pulling in different directions; with the sword he creates and with the scythe he destroys: the mind that finds no rest.
Frequently asked questions
What does Prince of Swords mean in the Thoth Tarot?
Your ideas are valid: choose one, give it a direction and put it to the test of facts.
What does Prince of Swords mean in love?
A stimulating but distant partner; plenty of dialogue, little emotional intimacy.
What does Prince of Swords mean for work and career?
Innovative projects, strategic thinking, theoretical research; someone is needed to make it concrete.
What does Prince of Swords mean reversed?
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading: Confused and contradictory thoughts, projects multiplying without being realised, cold detachment.
What are the Kabbalah and astrology correspondences of Prince of Swords?
In the Golden Dawn system Prince of Swords corresponds to the sephirah Tiphareth, the element Air and 21° Capricorn – 20° Aquarius in astrology.
