The Six of Swords as Feelings: Moving On, Quietly and With Some Sadness

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Six of Swords is the ferry crossing to the far bank. Here is what I would read when it appears as someone's feelings, and why the crossing is a feeling too.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Six of Swords as feelings that are in transition. In a feelings position the card suggests the person is moving away from something, often a hurt or a hard situation, and that what they feel for you is in the boat with them, quiet and a little sad. It does not tell you whether they are moving toward you or past you. It tells you they are moving.

This is a subdued card about feelings and a hopeful one, in the way that calmer water is hopeful. Nobody in the boat is celebrating. Nobody is drowning either.

The Six of Swords upright as feelings

Tina Gong's the Six of Swords guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with transition, moving on, leaving behind and a gradual change. When the card lands in a position that asks how someone feels about you, I read those meanings as the shape of the feeling rather than as a verdict on the person.

Upright, I read the Six of Swords as a person who feels something for you in the middle of leaving something else: they are not fully present because part of them is still looking at the shore they left. The feeling is gentle and it is travelling. It may arrive somewhere good.

What I would not read into it is warmth with energy behind it. The Six of Swords is tired and quiet. If the person seems muted toward you, this card says the muting is the crossing, not the verdict.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm that the far shore includes you, that the sadness will lift into something warmer, or that the person wants company on the crossing. No card lets a reader check a real person's private feelings. What a card can do is give you an honest picture of the feeling you are hoping for or fearing, and a prompt to compare it with how the person actually behaves.

The Six of Swords reversed as feelings

Reversed, the Six of Swords is often read as resistance to change, unfinished business, or a return to what was left. As feelings, I read the reversal as a person whose feeling for you is being pulled back by what they have not let go of, or as someone stuck mid-crossing, unable to arrive or return.

In your own question, ask which fits. Is the person still tangled in something they were supposed to be leaving? Or do they seem stranded, unable to settle anywhere, including with you? A reversed card is a prompt to notice which of those is true from what you can see, not a diagnosis of the other person.

The Six of Swords as an ex's feelings

Asked about an ex, the Six of Swords usually describes a person who is moving on, sadly and steadily, and whose feeling for you is part of what they are carrying across rather than part of what they are returning to. It is one of the clearer cards about an ex and one of the gentlest. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Six of Swords as a new person's feelings

For someone new, this card describes a person who has recently left something and is not yet on dry land. Their feeling for you may be real and it is quiet, and they may need to arrive before they can show it. Be the calm water rather than another wave.

What to watch for in their behaviour

Look for quiet steadiness with some sadness in it: they are present but subdued, they speak of before and after, they seem to be getting somewhere slowly. A Six of Swords feeling looks like someone travelling. Where they land is not yet visible.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, what the person seems to be leaving behind, and whether you are on the far shore or in the boat with them. The third note matters. Another draw will mostly reflect the same ferry.

For comparison, the Eight of Cups as feelings and Death as feelings describe different feelings. The the Six of Swords card meaning page covers the card outside feelings questions, and the general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference. You can practise a single-card reflection with the free daily tarot tool. 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.