The Four of Swords as Intentions: To Rest First, Then Decide

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Four of Swords as intentions is a plan to lie still for a while. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why rest is not rejection.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Four of Swords as intentions that are on hold for recovery. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to withdraw, rest and recover before they form any plan toward you. The intention is not about you. It is about getting up again, and whatever they intend afterward is decided afterward.

This is the knight lying in the chapel with hands in prayer. They intend to stay there until they are ready. They intend to rise, eventually, and they have not planned what they will do when they do.

The Four of Swords upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Four of Swords guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with rest, recuperation, contemplation and retreat. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Four of Swords as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Four of Swords as a person who intends space: to step back from the situation between you, to heal from something that may have nothing to do with you, to think without acting. If they intend anything toward you, it is suspended rather than cancelled, and it will be clearer from a recovered state.

What I would not read into it is distance from you in particular. The chapel is empty of everyone. Being shut out is not the same as being specifically excluded, though it feels identical.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person's intention toward you survives the rest, how long the rest lasts, or that they will want company when they rise. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Four of Swords reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Four of Swords as intentions describes rest refused or rest used as hiding: a person who intends to push on without recovering and whose plans toward you suffer for it, or one who has used the chapel to avoid you rather than to recover and intends to stay there.

In your own question, ask whether the person seems exhausted and unable to stop, or whether their withdrawal has gone on past recovery into avoidance. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Four of Swords as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Four of Swords as intentions can suggest they are still recovering from the relationship and intend to keep all plans about it to one side. That is healthy and it is not a door. What they intend when they rise is not decided while they are lying down. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Four of Swords as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes someone who is not ready to intend anything, not because of you but because of where they are. Patience sometimes brings them out of the chapel. Pressure never does.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for withdrawal without hostility: tired, needing space, gentle when they surface. A Four of Swords intention looks like someone resting. If it looks like someone hiding from you specifically, read the reversal.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, what the person seems to be recovering from, and whether you can wait without resentment. The third note is the honest one.

For comparison, the Hermit as intentions and the Four of Cups as intentions describe different intentions. The the Four of Swords card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Four of Swords as timing and the Four of Swords as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.