Is the Knight of Swords always bad news?

Sibylline

It's interesting how the cards speak to us on an individual level. (My bad news card is the page of wands reversed.)

The Knight of Swords tends to be a somewhat positive card for me. Someone with a sharp mind and ready to defend his or her beliefs with great speed. Basically, he cuts through the crap and gets it done.

The Knight can also presage something or something literal. For me, he kept coming out right before I got a job teaching in a law enforcement academy. When I used to read cards professionally, he'd turn up for folks in law enforcement, lawyers, and once he even turned up for a young surgeon. But they all had in common a certain kind of Knight of Swordsy energy.

When he's reversed, he'll do the same as the upright, but run over everyone in his way without a care to get to his goal. He'll use his speed and mental faculties in an incredibly selfish and destructive manner...that's when he turns negative for me.

But if he usually means bad news for you, then I say go with it! Sounds like your deck made a deal with you by showing you that particular card will presage a particular kind of message.
 

Padma

Myself, I tend to think of the knight Swords as someone who acts very swiftly - or can enter and leave your life with the same intensity, causing a whirlwind around you while he is there. So he is kind of like the dashing hero of Canid's review, only he can certainly leave your wheels spinning! He has a lot of Gemini energy, I find. I only find him to be negative if the cards around him indicate that.

And, much as Sybilline says, I do find that tarot/oracle decks have a way of making their message clear, regardless of the means they choose. So if a card conveys a particular message to you, then...that's what it is, or how your tarot/oracle speaks to you, to a degree.

There were a lot of good points in here from other posters as well - Canid, Sybilline, Lokasena, Closrapexa, etc. all had very valid takes, I thought...I read this thread with great interest!

Perhaps you should invest in Mary Greer's Understanding the Court Cards book - it does help clarify the meaning/interpretation/characters of the Court cards very well! :) Hth!
 

skywatching

I agree with all the takes. I personally love this Knight. He is my cut-through-the-crapper guy who solves difficult issues and brings peace to those who are "tangled" and have no guts to act.

This is exactly how I see the Knight of Swords and he normally shows up in my readings when I have to become like him and get my butt into gear and sort myself or whatever situation I'm in out quick smart.

It also means that I will have to think on my feet

Normally if I'm getting bad news I tend to get the Page of Swords
 

Sibylline

Myself, I tend to think of the knight Swords as someone who acts very swiftly - or can enter and leave your life with the same intensity, causing a whirlwind around you while he is there. So he is kind of like the dashing hero of Canid's review, only he can certainly leave your wheels spinning! He has a lot of Gemini energy, I find. I only find him to be negative if the cards around him indicate that.

And, much as Sybilline says, I do find that tarot/oracle decks have a way of making their message clear, regardless of the means they choose. So if a card conveys a particular message to you, then...that's what it is, or how your tarot/oracle speaks to you, to a degree.

There were a lot of good points in here from other posters as well - Canid, Sybilline, Lokasena, Closrapexa, etc. all had very valid takes, I thought...I read this thread with great interest!

Perhaps you should invest in Mary Greer's Understanding the Court Cards book - it does help clarify the meaning/interpretation/characters of the Court cards very well! :) Hth!

I have to agree with Lotus that Mary Greer's book is excellent resource. I'll also throw in Rachel Pollack's "78 Degrees of Wisdom" into the mix. Some love her book and others don't. However, her book always makes me chew on the light and shadow of the courts.

I've taken a great interest in this thread, as well. This card has been recently showing up in exactly the same position every single time I ask a question about a future relationship. Apparently, I'll know who he is as his energy embodies the upright Knight of Swords (like that kind of guy is hard to miss, lol). All the posts here have been incredibly helpful in clarifying my own readings.

I have to thank Lotus for the interpretation of this Knight--"intensity" is the word I was hopelessly reach for :)
 

Rev_Vesta

This is sort of a general questions about the Knight of Swords. I tend to see this card, like other Knight cards, as a sign of an approaching message. But when I've gotten him before the news was always bad. In one instance I was let go from a job I just started for not being a "good fit" (which was strange because I've never had a problem with any other employers) and another time I got him my boyfriend broke up with me a few days later. I guess in both cases he was surrounded by other dominating cards like The Emperor and Judgement.

Now I get a little shaky if I ever see the Knight of Swords. Or is it just like any other reading where the message is just a matter of context of the other surrounding cards? Are there any other cards paired with the Knight of Swords that can indicate a positive upcoming message?

OK you believe Knight of Swords showing you a bad message eg YOu being let go ..but what if he was telling you that there was some crap going on with work and you needed to cut through it and move forward..........maybe you being let go from work enabled new doorways to be opened for yo, new possiblities....

then your boyfriend broke up with you... actually maybe the Knight of swords was telling you you needed to cut through the rubbish and move forward, there could be many reasons why the KNight of swords turned up before those moments in your life..... you choose to see them as bad moments but maybe they are blessings in disguise giving you the chance to open to new possibilities, open you heart to new paths........maybe those moments were stopping you from being true to self and you needed to cut through the needs and do the desires ............

Just a thought ...........something to ponder........
 

SunChariot

This is sort of a general questions about the Knight of Swords. I tend to see this card, like other Knight cards, as a sign of an approaching message. But when I've gotten him before the news was always bad. In one instance I was let go from a job I just started for not being a "good fit" (which was strange because I've never had a problem with any other employers) and another time I got him my boyfriend broke up with me a few days later. I guess in both cases he was surrounded by other dominating cards like The Emperor and Judgement.

Now I get a little shaky if I ever see the Knight of Swords. Or is it just like any other reading where the message is just a matter of context of the other surrounding cards? Are there any other cards paired with the Knight of Swords that can indicate a positive upcoming message?

No card is always anything. The meanings of cards are very fluid. They change and are affected by a multitude of things, such as the question, the spread (if you choose to use one), surrounding cards, and maybe most of all your intuition on the spur of the moment as you are reading.

If each card had only one set meaning that it always adhered to, then in effect the cards could only tell you 78 different things, But meanings are fluid and the cards can in fact talk about anything and everything. There is no limit to what they can say.

Add to that, that we all develop our own spin on what each card means to us. And that there are a variety of ways to read Court cards.

For example, the Knights have nothing at all to do with messages, in the way I read,. For me they are about putting yourself in the other persons' shoes, imagining what it must be like to be them. The Knight of Swords....Swords are about our thoughts and our way of thinking, so the Knight of Swords would be about imagining what the other person must be thinking now. Imagining if you were them and you had only the information they had to go on (or if you had experienced what they had in the past) what you would be thinking right now.

Again it's all in how you read and the meanings you develop for your cards. They are your cards to work with. No there are no cards that could be paired with the Knight of Swords that would mean a positive message to me, as I do not see it as any kind of message at all.

Babs
 

Artemis8

Knight of Swords as Bad News

The Knight of Swords has consistently popped up for me when there is a fight ahead...or needs to be a fight. I see that card as "brutal battle" (of words, luckily, so far) "ahead". It showed up several times when I had to get nasty back, to protect my own interests (a cheater in a sales deal was one). So I tend to see it as "get ready to defend yourself in a tough battle." Take off the white gloves to defend yourself when the KoS shows up!
 

jnett

This is sort of a general questions about the Knight of Swords. I tend to see this card, like other Knight cards, as a sign of an approaching message. But when I've gotten him before the news was always bad. In one instance I was let go from a job I just started for not being a "good fit" (which was strange because I've never had a problem with any other employers) and another time I got him my boyfriend broke up with me a few days later. I guess in both cases he was surrounded by other dominating cards like The Emperor and Judgement.

Now I get a little shaky if I ever see the Knight of Swords. Or is it just like any other reading where the message is just a matter of context of the other surrounding cards? Are there any other cards paired with the Knight of Swords that can indicate a positive upcoming message?

I don't consider the Knight of Swords a negative card unless it is reversed. It very well could mean quick communication with an individual who is straight forward and honest. It can also be an air sign person in general.