A querent sits across the table, eyes fixed on the cards. One shows a boat gliding away from a figure on a shore, six swords upright in the hull. The other shows a figure creeping away from a camp, five swords clutched against a sky that holds no stars. The difference is not just in the numbers. The Six of Swords represents a necessary transition away from pain, often a physical or emotional journey. The Seven of Swords represents a strategic withdrawal using deception or theft. The key difference is intention: the Six moves forward with acceptance, the Seven moves sideways with cunning.
History
Both cards are part of the suit of Swords, which the Golden Dawn assigned to the element of air and the realm of intellect, conflict, and communication. The images we know today come from the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, published in 1910. Arthur Edward Waite wrote the interpretive text, and Pamela Colman Smith drew the scenes. For the Six of Swords, Smith painted a flat-bottomed boat carrying a woman, a child, and a ferryman, with six swords standing upright like a cargo of grief. The landscape is muted, the water still. The card is numbered VI in the suit.
The Seven of Swords shows a different scene: a figure in a red cap and yellow tunic, carrying five swords, looking back over a shoulder. Two swords remain stuck in the ground behind him. In the distance, a camp with tents suggests an army he has just robbed. The sky is a pale yellow, the mood tense. Waite numbered it VII.
Both cards exist in earlier decks — the Tarot de Marseille, the Visconti-Sforza — but the narratives were not as explicit. The Marseille Six of Swords shows a boat with a ferryman, but the figures are less personal. The Marseille Seven of Swords shows a man with swords, but he is not sneaking. Smith’s scenes fixed the modern meanings. Waite, drawing on the Golden Dawn’s Book T (1888), assigned the Six the title “Lord of Earned Success” and the Seven the title “Lord of Unstable Effort.” The Book T keywords: Six of Swords: “Journey by water, route, way, emissary, voyage, wayfarer.” Seven of Swords: “Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence, quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyances.” But Waite’s own Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) gave them darker shades: the Six as “passage to a new place” after trouble, and the Seven as “thievery, cunning, strategy.”
Aleister Crowley, in the Thoth Tarot (1944), renamed the Six “Science” and the Seven “Futility.” His Seven of Swords shows a man in armor trying to hold a sword while another sword falls, a deliberate failure. The contrast between the two decks is itself instructive: the Rider–Waite–Smith Seven is about covert action, the Thoth Seven about the collapse of a plan. We focus on the Rider–Waite–Smith here, because it is the most common and the source of the query.
Symbolism and Meaning
The Six of Swords is a card of transition. The boat moves from left to right, the direction of the future. The woman and child are shrouded, suggesting mourning. The six swords are not used as weapons; they are cargo, carried upright, almost ceremonial. The ferryman steers, but he is not the focus. The water is calm, but it is not the river of death — contrary to a common reading, the boat is no Charon’s ferry. It is a simple journey, a move to a place where the pain of the past can be left behind. The figure on the shore is the past self, waving goodbye. The card says: you are leaving, not because you want to, but because you must.
The Seven of Swords is a card of stealth. The figure carries five swords, but two remain behind. He has taken what he could and left the rest. The camp in the background is orderly, suggesting that the theft was not a desperate act but a calculated one. The figure’s red cap and yellow tunic are the colors of a court jester or a trickster. He looks back, not with remorse but with a glance to see if he is pursued. The sky is a pale yellow, the color of caution. The card says: you are not defeated, but you are not honest either. You are using your wits to get what you want, and you know that the others will wake to find their swords missing.
The numbers themselves matter. Six is the number of harmony and balance, the swords are evenly spaced on the boat. Seven is the number of challenge and disruption, the swords are unevenly distributed. The Six of Swords is the last card of the first half of the Swords suit (Ace through Six, which represent the initial conflict and its aftermath). The Seven of Swords begins the second half, where the conflict becomes internal and psychological.
Practices and Traditions
In a reading, we place the Six of Swords in the “journey” position more often than any other card. It can indicate a physical move, a change of job, a shift in mindset. The person is not resisting the change; they are being carried by it. The querent may feel sad, but the card advises patience. The Seven of Swords, by contrast, appears when the querent is either being deceived or is considering deception. It can also mean that the querent has escaped a bad situation with cleverness, but the escape leaves a mess behind.
When both cards appear in a spread, the contrast is immediate. The Six suggests a transparent, slow process. The Seven suggests a hidden, quick one. The Six asks for trust in the journey. The Seven asks for vigilance.
In the Marseille tradition, the Six of Swords is sometimes read as a “voyage of the soul,” and the Seven as a “game of thrones.” The meanings are less psychological than the Golden Dawn synthesis. Some modern readers use the Seven of Swords as a card of resourcefulness, stripping the moral judgment entirely. We do not agree. The card’s imagery, the backward glance, the stolen goods, is a narrative of theft. To ignore that is to ignore the deck’s intended language.
Comparisons
The closest adjacent card to the Six is the Five of Swords, which precedes it. The Five is a defeat, a battle lost. The Six is the aftermath, the retreat. The Eight of Swords is the opposite: restriction, feeling trapped. The Six is release, but the Eight is paralysis.
The Seven of Swords shares territory with the Eight of Swords in that both involve a sense of being caught. But the Seven is about escape that is not clean, while the Eight is about mental imprisonment. The Seven also connects to the Moon in the Major Arcana: both are about illusion, hidden motives, and things that are not as they seem.
In the Thoth system, the Six of Swords (Science) is about logic and method, while the Seven of Swords (Futility) is about wasted effort. The Rider–Waite–Smith versions are more emotional and narrative. The difference between the two cards in the Thoth deck is also stark: Science is a careful arrangement of swords, Futility is a clattering fall. But the query is about the Rider–Waite–Smith, and we keep to that.
Common Misconceptions
The Six of Swords is not a death card. The boat is not a funeral barge. The woman and child are not ghosts. The card often appears in readings about moving houses, changing schools, or ending a relationship that is not working. The sorrow is real, but it is not the end of life.
The Seven of Swords is not always about theft. It can be about a strategy that requires secrecy, such as leaving a job without telling anyone, or hiding a plan until it is ready. The card’s energy is not inherently evil; it is simply covert. The ethical weight depends on the context.
Some readers confuse the two because both involve departure. The difference is in the motive: the Six leaves with acceptance, the Seven leaves with intent. The Six leaves openly, the Seven leaves in the dark.
FAQ
Can the Six of Swords mean a physical move?
Yes, often. It can indicate a literal relocation, especially if combined with the Chariot or the Eight of Wands.
Is the Seven of Swords always about lying?
Not necessarily. It can mean you need to use your intellect to outmaneuver a situation, but it does imply that the truth is not fully shared.
How do these cards differ in love readings?
The Six of Swords suggests moving on from a relationship with dignity. The Seven of Swords suggests deception, a secret affair, or a partner who is not being honest.
Which card is more positive?
The Six of Swords is generally more positive because it involves acceptance and a necessary transition. The Seven of Swords is ambiguous; it can be positive if you are escaping a trap, but it carries the cost of secrecy.
Closing
The difference between the Six and the Seven of Swords is not academic. It is the difference between grief and cunning, between a journey you take with your eyes open and a move you make in the shadows. Both cards are responses to difficulty, but they demand opposite responses from the querent. For a deeper understanding of how the Swords suit works as a whole, see our guide to the Minor Arcana. The symbolism of the suit itself, with its air element and its history of conflict, is explored in the glossary entry for the Swords suit. And for a side-by-side reading of every Swords card, including the Five and the Eight, you can turn to the Swords card interpretation guide.