Four of Swords

UPRIGHT

A knight lies in effigy on a tomb, three swords mounted on the wall above him and one beneath him. The Four of Swords is rest, recovery, the necessary stillness after battle. The card is not death; it is the chapel where one heals enough to fight again. The remedy is sleep.

REVERSED

Reversed, the Four of Swords is rest refused or rest that has gone on too long. The card can name a person pushing themselves past recovery, a burnout deepening because the chapel was bypassed, or the harder problem of having retreated to the tomb and forgotten how to leave it.

Return to the full deck, or draw the cards and see Four of Swords in context.