The King of Swords as Intentions: To Decide on Principle and Follow the Rules

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The King of Swords as intentions is a plan that has been thought through and will be done correctly. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed.

If you want the short answer, I would read the King of Swords as intentions that are principled, logical and formal. In an intentions position the card suggests the person has thought carefully about you, reached a reasoned position, and intends to act on it properly: by the rules, in the right order, without drama. The intention is sound. It is not warm, and it does not pretend to be.

This is the King facing forward with the sword slightly tilted. He intends to do the correct thing. He has already worked out what that is.

The King of Swords upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the King of Swords guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with authority, truth, intellectual power and ethical judgment. 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 King of Swords as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The Minor Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the King of Swords as a person whose intention toward you is considered and fair: to be honest, to be consistent, to follow through on what they have decided, to treat you by the same standard they treat everyone. If they intend commitment, it will be formal and kept. If they intend distance, it will be reasoned and kept too.

What I would not read into it is feeling in the plan. The King of Swords intends what is right. Whether what is right includes tenderness depends on whether he has decided tenderness is right, and he may not have thought to.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm that the person's reasoning favours you, that their principles leave room for your feelings, or that their formality will ever soften. 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 King of Swords reversed as intentions

Reversed, the King of Swords as intentions describes principle used as a weapon: an intention to control, to manipulate with logic, to judge you coldly, or to use rules as an excuse for cruelty. It can also describe a King of Swords who has lost his judgment and intends things that make no sense.

In your own question, ask whether the person's rules are applied to themselves as strictly as to you, and whether their reasoning about you has ever included your side. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The King of Swords as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the King of Swords as intentions suggests they have reached a reasoned position on the relationship and intend to act on it formally: a conversation with terms, a clean separation, a considered offer. There will be no impulsive return and no impulsive cruelty. What there will be has been decided. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The King of Swords as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes someone who intends to approach you properly and seriously, by their own rules of conduct. It is slow and it is honest. If you want warmth early, you will need to ask for it in plain terms.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for correctness and consistency: they keep agreements, they are honest even when it is awkward, they do things in the right order. A King of Swords intention is visible in its fairness. If the fairness never includes feeling, that is the thing to raise, directly.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, the position the person seems to have reasoned their way to, and whether their logic has room for how you feel. The third note is the conversation to have.

For comparison, the Queen of Swords as intentions and the King of Wands as intentions describe different intentions. The the King of Swords card meaning page covers the card in full, and the King of Swords as a person and the King 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.