Western Tarot symbolism
King of Swords
The prose compares this King with the conventional Justice trump, but stresses power of life and death through his office. The main list includes command, law and authority among the card's meanings. The additional list assigns professions including lawyer, senator and doctor. Its reversed caution about a ruinous lawsuit is more specific than the main list of cruelty and harmful intention.
Loading your archive…
In the sources
The card account
LiteraryThe prose compares this King with the conventional Justice trump, but stresses power of life and death through his office. The main list includes command, law and authority among the card's meanings.
Comparing the lists
LiteraryThe additional list assigns professions including lawyer, senator and doctor. Its reversed caution about a ruinous lawsuit is more specific than the main list of cruelty and harmful intention.
Context & interpretation
The active library scan carries L. W. de Laurence’s name and reproduces material associated with A. E. Waite’s Tarot exposition. This entry follows that supplied edition’s card prose and supplementary lists. Historical divinatory assignments and period character labels are distinguished from the pictured symbolism and from independently supported judgements about people or future events.
Original passages
Source 1
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
He sits in judgment, holding the unsheathed sign of his suit. He recalls, of course, the conventional Symbol of Justice in the Trumps Major, and heOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, supplied de Laurence edition; card description, active reader leaf 120
Exact supplied-edition extracted passage actually read; whitespace-normalised quotation anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Image descriptions attributed to printed prose; no new full-plate visual inspection asserted.
- Edition
- IMJ-0149-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0149-E001-P0120
- Original scan leaf
- 126
- Recorded leaf number
- 126
- Current Reader position
- 120
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Source 2
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
Swords. King.—A lawyer, senator, doctor. Reversed: A bad man ; also a caution to put an end to a ruinous lawsuit. Queen.—A widow. Reversed: A badOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, supplied de Laurence edition; additional meanings, active reader leaf 151
Exact supplied-edition extracted passage actually read; whitespace-normalised quotation anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Image descriptions attributed to printed prose; no new full-plate visual inspection asserted.
- Edition
- IMJ-0149-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0149-E001-P0151
- Original scan leaf
- 157
- Recorded leaf number
- 157
- Current Reader position
- 151
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Ace of Cups
A cloud-borne cup, water and a descending sacramental emblem give this Ace several symbolic layers.
Shared source pageEight of Cups
A departing figure gives the Eight an image of leaving an earlier concern behind.
Shared source pageEight of Swords
A bound figure surrounded by swords is expressly described as temporarily confined.
Shared source pageFive of Cups
Three fallen cups and two remaining upright make loss and remainder part of one composition.