Four of Swords

i. The Nutshell

Upright
The Four of Swords means taking a break after feeling overwhelmed emotionally or mentally. It’s not about running away but giving yourself time to recalibrate. This occurs when stress, sadness, or problems overwhelm your mind or nerves, so being still is strength helping you to heal. This card can also mean ongoing tension, burnout, or tiredness from too much thinking or hiding feelings. You might be protecting yourself by shutting down or isolating to cope. Receiving this card means it’s a time to look inward and rest deeply, reconnecting with what you’ve forgotten or ignored.

Keywords: Recovery, mental exhaustion, rest, overwhelm, integration, internal processing, mindful balanced harmony
Translation: Take time to let your nervous system recalibrate.

Reversed:
The reversed Four of Swords suggests resistance to rest or reflection. You may be pushing yourself beyond your limits, avoiding inner stillness because it threatens to bring up what you’ve tried to suppress. This often creates cycles of mental distress or physical burnout. There may be unresolved grief or conflict that you’re not giving space to recover from. This card can also indicate a karmic pattern of constant doing to avoid being, i.e. a restlessness rooted in a fear of what being still might reveal. The soul may be asking for quiet so it can bring deeper insight or healing to the surface. Avoiding this step can delay all forms of your growth.

Keywords: Burnout, restlessness, avoidance, suppressed emotion, fear of stillness
Translation: What you’re avoiding needs space to heal.

ii. Illus-traits

A look at the symbolic language of the Four of Swords in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck:

Three swords above and one beneath the figure – The three swords echo past pain that remains mentally active. The sword beneath the figure shows what is not yet integrated. This can reflect a habit of thinking about pain without feeling or resolving it. The mind stays busy, but the body and emotions are shut out.
Stone figure lying still – Represents emotional and physical withdrawal. Can signal emotional exhaustion. Often shows up when the nervous system is overwhelmed and can't process any more input. Indicates a pattern of coping by shutting down or going quiet.
Stained glass window with figures – Suggests help or support is available but not being used, possibly due to reluctance to ask or the belief that healing must be done alone.
Dim light and shadows – Implies an in-between space where nothing feels certain. Reflects inner confusion, disconnection, or grief. A pause between chapters requesting time to review.
Sword pointed down below the hands – Suggests a choice to rest and surrender rather than fight. Can reflect a karmic need to stop repeating patterns of overreaction, defensiveness or control.

iii. Influences

Planetary Influence
The Four of Swords blends Jupiter’s expansion and Libra’s balance, symbolising a pattern of retreating from emotional pain through rationalisation or looking for ideal solutions. It emphasises valuing peace and fairness, which get disturbed by discomfort, causing people to withdraw or overthink instead of facing issues directly. Jupiter encourages thinking about how we see pain and learning to move past the avoidance of it.

Natal Houses
The Ninth House reveals how your beliefs affect your feelings. When pain challenges your views, you might avoid facing grief by overthinking or turning to philosophy. The Seventh House shows how you often hide your needs to keep the peace in close relationships. The Third House highlights when you use talk or thinking to avoid emotional connection. The Twelfth House, linked to Jupiter’s moves, points to hidden habits of emotional withdrawal. These houses and the Four of Swords teach the lesson to be mindful when over-using thoughts, beliefs, or balance as a way to protect yourself.

Astrological Signs
Libra may avoid deep emotions to keep the peace causing hidden tension. Jupiter can amplify this by over-intellectualising feelings or clinging to ideals, making grief and vulnerability hard to face. Growth occurs by pausing to feel without needing to explain first. True healing embraces discomfort as part of balance.

Numerology
The Four of Swords is linked to the number 4 symbolising structure and boundaries, reflects emotional withdrawal and the need to pause for stability. After upheaval (of the three), it signals retreat into stillness and may indicate using silence or isolation to handle unresolved grief. Four is linked to being a dedicated worker, so be mindful of when overdoing it and ignoring the body’s need for rest.

Element
Air rules thought and breath. In the Four of Swords, Air is held still showing mental fatigue, silence, or withdrawal. When thought becomes stuck, healing stalls. To restore balance, let emotion move because stillness is meant to create space so this card is a reminder to breathe.

iv. A Day in the Life of the Four of Swords

Well That Escalated Quickly
You feel tired, distant and avoid people and tasks because you're overwhelmed. You either shut down often staring at the same spot for hours, or stay busy to avoid thoughts. Small things upset you a lot. You might feel ‘fizzy’, numb, restless, or alone, but don’t know how to take a breath or ask for help. Past pain is still there, but you haven’t dealt with it causing burnout, loneliness, or repeated problems.

Adjusting the Knobs
You realise you’re not just tired but emotionally and mentally drained. You see when you shut down, overthink, or avoid people and start making quiet time to let your mind breathe as well as your lungs. You might write, talk, or simply notice your feelings, and understand now how old pain affects your reactions that get in the way of values-led choices.

Unsubscribed from Self-Sabotage
You’ve stop avoiding your pain. Instead of suppressing emotion you’re allowing yourself to feel them but in a way that feels safe to you. You’re becoming calmer and more present with what used to repeatedly trigger you and silence helps you think clearly instead of running away. You’re responding differently and are avoiding repeating the same mistakes.

Writing the TED Talk
You’ve learned to observe your thoughts without being pulled into all of them. You know which ones need your attention and which can pass without response. Rest is no longer an escape but a deliberate way to return to yourself. Time alone gives you space to reflect without overthinking so you can now speak clearly with emotional steadiness, and set limits when needed. Healing to you now means staying grounded in the present and allowing discomfort to exist without letting it take over.

v. Working with these Energies

The Four of Swords points to emotional and mental exhaustion caused by unprocessed pain. You may shut down, overthink, or isolate rather than feel what’s unresolved. This pattern can limit your ability to stay present, creating emotional distance and chronic tension. Silence becomes a way to cope, but also a barrier to healing.

Track the turning point – Recall a time when you withdrew instead of expressing how you felt. What did you fear would happen if you stayed present with the emotion or shared it? When did you learn that stillness meant safety rather than connection?
Name the cost – Ask how emotional avoidance has shaped your life. Has it created misunderstandings, isolation, or a sense of being overlooked? Notice whether the strategy of pulling away now causes more harm than protection.
Don’t override discomfort – When you notice yourself checking out emotionally, ask what you're trying not to feel. Identify the moment you're avoiding—whether it's grief, anger, or a memory that still carries weight.
Take one step forward – Do one small thing to face what’s been avoided. That might mean writing down the memory, sitting with the feeling without distraction, or naming the truth in a way that allows it to move through rather than stay stuck.

vi. Building Skills

Present Moment Awareness - Come Back to Where You Are

The Four of Swords reflects the tendency to disconnect either by shutting down emotionally or getting lost in memories, thoughts, or imagined outcomes. When pain is unprocessed, it pulls you out of the present. You may go silent, overthink, or detach to feel safe. Spiritually, this card asks you to return to what’s here and now to rebuild inner steadiness by learning to stay present, even with discomfort. This practice helps you reconnect with the present moment when you're caught in old pain or mental noise and is expanded on in the next section on Embodiment.

Step 1: Anchor into the Body
Sit or stand still and place both feet on the ground. Notice the contact between your feet and the floor. Let your hands rest on your legs. Gently scan your body. Feel where it touches the chair, the weight of your body, the temperature of the air.

Step 2: Use the Five Senses
Look around. Name three things you can see. Listen for three sounds, near or far. Notice three aromas and tastes. Make contact with three things you can feel under your body and what your hands are touching. Name them as you move through your senses. Let your attention move through each sense slowly.

Step 3: Name What’s Here
Tell yourself that this is what presence feels like, that you don’t need to change anything - just name the sensations. If emotions are present, acknowledge them and name those too. Let them be part of the moment but not to dominate it.

Step 4: Breathe with the Moment
Take five slow, steady breaths. Don’t try to relax - just stay with the breath. Inhale. Exhale. Keep your attention on the movement of air in and out of your body. Try to exhale a second longer than you inhale.

Why This Matters
Psychologically this helps shift from mental over-activity to grounded awareness. Spiritually it returns you to yourself in the present moment, i.e. not the past or what you fear, but the part of you that is capable of staying and making choices that support you. Karmically it begins to loosen patterns of avoidance or shutdown that formed to protect you - but now limit you. Being present is the first step to choosing differently.

vii. Embodiment

The Four of Swords shows how mental overload can separate you from your body. When caught in thought or emotional pressure, physical signals are often ignored. This leads to disconnection, restlessness, or shutdown. Returning to the body helps regulate the nervous system and brings awareness back to the present. Over time, this supports clearer choices and restores balance between mind and emotion.

Sight – Choose one object around you. Look at it slowly. Pay attention to its shape, edges, colour, and any detail that draws your focus. Let your attention settle there. When thoughts return, bring your focus back to what you see. This can interrupt catastrophising thoughts and return you to the room.

Sound – Sit quietly and listen. Notice the sounds that are furthest away, then those closer. Don’t try to name or judge them this time. Just allow sound to come and go. This opens space around the mind and eases mental pressure.

Movement – Move a part of your body with intention; roll your shoulders, stretch your hands, or turn your head slowly. Focus fully on the movement. This can show you where tension is held and reconnect you with areas that have gone numb or tense.

Taste – Place a small piece of food in your mouth or sip a drink slowly. Let the taste unfold without rushing. Stay with the flavour and texture. This helps interrupt overthinking and shifts attention to physical experience.

Natural Image – Watch a slow-moving cloud passing through the sky or a video of one. Let this image mirror your internal state. Thoughts and feelings will come and go; changing like the clouds. You don’t need to follow, contain, control or resist them. Staying grounded in the body lets them move without taking over.

viii. Your Impressions

Look at the Four of Swords in your deck or the image above. Notice your immediate thoughts without trying to change them.

Where does your attention land - the figure lying still, the sword below, the stained glass, the emptiness? What thoughts or memories show up with these?
Now scan your body. Notice if you feel tension, numbness, or heaviness. Where is it located and what of the above do they represent?
What does this card reflect about how you respond when overwhelmed, grieving, or emotionally spent? Do you pull away, go silent, or shut off from others? Are these reactions familiar from earlier times in your life when patterns formed to protect yourself?
What might happen if you allowed the feeling to be there, without attempting to move away from it? What could become clearer if you stayed with it, just as it is?

ix. Intuitive Meaning

Use this space to reflect on what the Four of Swords means to you personally:

When you feel emotionally tired or overwhelmed, do you allow space to feel what’s there, or do you shut it down and keep going? What beliefs have shaped how you deal with emotional overload or pain?
When you feel emotionally hurt, do you withdraw, go silent, or numb out? Does this feel familiar, like something you learned to do early in life?
What happens when you stay with an emotion instead of trying to change or avoid it? What supports you in staying present without disconnecting?

Applied insight with a three-card reading using the Four of Swords as your anchor:

What thoughts or patterns repeat when you feel distant, misunderstood, or emotionally shut down?
What helps you stay grounded during painful experiences without cutting off connection?
What becomes possible when you rest?

Let your cards talk and note your feelings as your answers unfold, writing your own words below:

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x. Closing Reflection: Track Your Evolving Lens

Your relationship with each card will grow over time because it’s meant to shaped by your life. Consider the prompts below to revisit and reflect.

What I thought this card meant when I first pulled it: —————————————————
A recent experience that changed how I see it: —————————————————
How I feel about it now, in my body or life: —————————————————
What surprised me as this card kept showing up: —————————————————
One way this card is living in my life right now: —————————————————
If this card visited me today as a guide, what would it want me to remember? —————————————————

Revisit these after a week, a moon phase, or a meaningful moment. Let the card evolve as you do.

If you feel a quiet sense of recognition, curiosity and want to explore it, browse the sessions page for what feels right.

sessions

Minor Arcana, SwordsAlison Jeavons2 July 2025tarot, astrology, numerology, the fool, uranus, beginnings, mars, planets, zodiac, houses, natal chart, major arcana, new beginnings, working with energy, extremes, first impressions, overthinking, definition, elements, air, earth, fire, water, embodiment, smell, body, soundtrack, action, nature cue, noticing, acceptance, commitment, therapy, scripts, reflection, evolve, lens, troublemaker, wanderer, zero, nought, potential, spark, new, story, beginning, golden dawn, forward, surrender, naivete, upright, reversed, reckessness, fear, hesitation, poor judgment, foolish, risks, frozen, cliff, first, aries, aquarius, fresh start, spontaneous, leap of faith, innocence, leap, curious, impulsive, unthethered, messy, beliefs, 0, ace of cups, water flowing, raw emotions, beginning of love, connection and creatitivy, connection and creativity, intution, unconditionally connected, heart on sleeve, dam of repression, emotional opening, spiritual 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archetypes, personal development, spiritual turning point, facing truth, stuck energy, self-reflection, inner conflict and decisions, emotioal detachment, indecision and delaying action, choice is needed, long standing habit, inherited family habit, hiding emotions, avoiding conflicts, ignore your own needs and feelings, arent clear, avoidance and indecision, diplomacy and inner conflict, weighing options and emotional blockage, impasse and detachment denial, face what youre avoiding, internal pressure, overwhelm and emotional release, mental pressure and denial unraveling, indecisiveness and surfacing conflict, stuck between a rock and a hard place, blindfolded woman, crossed swords, calm sea and moon, stone bench, moon venus and mercury, third fourth and seventh, gemini libra and cancer, number two, number 2, duality, emotional and mental avoidance, name the cos and overriding discomfort, ignoring your instincts, take one clear step, hands as thoughtd, hands as thoughts, why it matters, three of swords, three of swords pain, unprocessed emotional pain, past life cycles, grief betrayal, rejection and abandonment, unresolved past experiences, relationship to emotion, withdrawal anger self blame, core pattern, emotional injury, pain becomes part of your identity, heartache, emotional wounding, sorrow hurt, unprocessed past wounds, refusal to feel pain, grief passed down, suppressed grief, emotional detachment recurring pain, forgiveness, releasing past pain, generational traumas, grieve and let healing begin, three swords piercing heart, floating heart, grey sky and rain, heaviness and grief, disconnection from grounded self, isolation in emotional experience, seek support, sharp upright swords, mental fixation, overthinking and rumination, self judgement, mentally stuck, saturn and venus, seventh tenth second eighth, enmeshment bypassing, preserve connection, number 3, number three, scattered energy, separation after being together, hope ends, attachment patterns, abandonment, rejection and abandonment reumination, emotional numbness, doesnt help, deploy, master storyteller, radio doom and gloom, face karmic patterns, wound was created, root of wounding, four of swords, "rest, recovery, healing, mental restoration, solitude, meditation, emotional reset, spiritual retreat, burnout recovery, peace, psychological healing, inner stillness, nervous system regulation, healing space, temporary withdrawal, recuperation, self-care, integration, spiritual pause, trauma, emotional shutdown, overwhelmed mentally, running away, recalibrate, stress sadness problems, hiding feelings, rest deeply, recovery mental exhaustion, rest overwhelm, integration internal processing, mindful balanced harmony, unresovled grief, burnout, emotional exhaustion and resolving it, help and support, disconnection and grief, overreaction, defensiveness, three swords above one below, stone figure lying still, stained glass window, dim light and shadows, sword pointing down below the hands, jupiter and libra, ninth seventh third and twelfth houses, dedicated worker, reminder to breathe, mentally drained