Pamela Colman Smith · RWS deck
The Minor Arcana
King of Swords
Chayah in Yetzirah
- Suit
- swords
- Rank
- King
- World
- Yetzirah
- Soul level
- Chayah
- Position
- Down 2
Chayah, living essence
Chayah is life at its root, the Chokmah level. Kings are home in Atziluth and work down in the other three worlds.
Upright
Flowing. Life-essence carried as word and law: authoritative speech that gives or withholds life. The King works two worlds down into language, where what he says has force, and he knows it.
Misdirected. Command where petition belongs.
Reversed
Blocked. The word is withheld, authority silent when it is needed.
Flooded. Command in excess, law imposed on everything.
The image
A king sits upright on a stone throne carved with butterflies and cherubs, holding a sword straight up in one hand and facing the viewer directly. Cloud and a few birds fill the sky behind him.
Learn how to read King of Swords in a spread
This page shows you what King of Swords means. Knowing how to read it — how it shifts next to the other cards, what the reversal is really telling you, and how to turn a spread into a clear answer — is what the RWS Decoded course and book teach, card by card.
