The Two of Swords as Intentions: To Not Decide, for as Long as Possible

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Two of Swords as intentions is a plan to keep the blindfold on. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why the stalemate is chosen.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Two of Swords as intentions that are deliberately suspended. In an intentions position the card suggests the person has two options, one of which involves you, and intends to choose neither for now: to hold the balance, to keep the blindfold on, to not look. The intention is avoidance, and it is active. Nobody sits that still by accident.

This is the blindfolded figure with the crossed swords and the sea behind. They intend to stay exactly as they are. That is the plan, and it is a plan.

The Two of Swords upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Two of Swords guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with indecision, stalemate, a difficult choice and avoidance. 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 Two 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 Two of Swords as a person who intends to keep you and something else in balance without resolving either: to not commit, to not end, to not decide. They are not being cruel. They are frightened of the choice, and the stalemate feels safer than either answer.

What I would not read into it is absence of feeling. The swords are crossed over a heart. The person is guarding something, and guarding takes effort.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm what the person is torn between, that they will ever take the blindfold off, or that choosing would go your 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 Two of Swords reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Two of Swords as intentions describes the stalemate breaking: a person who finally intends to look and decide about you, in either direction, or one whose refusal to choose has collapsed into confusion rather than clarity. It can also describe a decision made by default because the deadline passed.

In your own question, ask whether the person has recently become clearer about you, or whether circumstances have decided for them and left them unsettled. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Two of Swords as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Two of Swords as intentions can suggest they intend to keep not deciding about you: not returning, not closing, holding the thing in balance because resolving it would hurt. That is common after an ending that was not clean. It is not a plan to come back. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Two of Swords as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes someone who feels something and intends to sit between that and a reason not to act. Pressure makes the swords cross harder. Honesty about your own position sometimes lets them take the blindfold off.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for guarded stillness: not cold, not warm, avoiding the subject of what you are to each other, holding something very carefully. A Two of Swords intention is visible as a refusal to look.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, what the person might be torn between, and how long you are willing to wait beside someone who will not look. The third note is yours.

For comparison, the Hanged Man as intentions and the Seven of Cups as intentions describe different intentions. The the Two of Swords card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Two of Swords as timing and the Two 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.