The Six of Swords as Intentions: To Move On, Quietly, Possibly Without You

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Six of Swords as intentions is a plan already in the boat. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and how to tell which shore you are on.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Six of Swords as intentions that are in transition. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to move away from something difficult toward something calmer, gradually and without drama. If you are part of the difficulty, the plan may be to leave you behind. If you are part of the calm, the plan includes you. The card does not say which, and the person's behaviour does.

This is the ferryman poling the boat with the hunched passengers. The person intends the far shore. Whether you are in the boat is the question.

The Six of Swords upright as intentions

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 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 Six 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 Six of Swords as a person who intends a quiet change: to leave a hard place, a hard pattern, a hard version of things, and to arrive somewhere steadier. The intention is sad and sensible. It is not a dramatic departure and it is not a passionate arrival. It is a crossing.

What I would not read into it is energy or warmth in the plan. The Six of Swords intends to arrive at calm. If the person seems muted toward you, the muting is the crossing, not the verdict.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the far shore includes you, that the sadness lifts into something warmer, or that the person wants company on the way. 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 Six of Swords reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Six of Swords as intentions describes a crossing stalled or reversed: a person who intends to move on and keeps being pulled back by what they have not let go of, or who intends to return to the shore they left. It can also describe someone stranded mid-water, unable to intend either arrival or return.

In your own question, ask whether the person is still tangled in something they were supposed to be leaving, or whether they seem unable to settle anywhere, including with you. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Six of Swords as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Six of Swords as intentions usually describes a person moving on, sadly and steadily, whose plan carries their feeling for you across rather than back. 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 intentions

For someone new, this card describes someone who has recently left something and intends to keep crossing before they land. Their interest in you may be real and it is travelling. Be the calm water rather than another wave.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for quiet steadiness with some sadness: present but subdued, speaking of before and after, getting somewhere slowly. A Six of Swords intention looks like someone travelling. Where they intend to 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.

For comparison, the Eight of Cups as intentions and Death as intentions describe different intentions. The the Six of Swords card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Six of Swords as timing and the Six 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.