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This blog post goes along with Healing Thru Tarot Podcast Ep. 56: Psychological Profiles for the Sword Court Cards. In this blog, I’ve constructed psychological profiles for each of the court cards in the swords suit including positive and negative personality traits and a list of psychological conditions I think would be most prominent with this suit. These profiles will help us understand the court cards at a deeper level, especially if you often struggle to tell the court cards apart. And at the end of the episode, I’ll share a 9-card spread I created that was inspired by the traits and characteristics of the swords suit.

This is the first in a series of episodes where I want to construct psychological profiles for each of the court cards in all of the 4 tarot suits. I’ve been wanting to do this for some time now. 

Today, we’re starting with the suit of swords since this is the suit associated with the Autumn months. I’ll spread these out and release these episodes during the season associated with each tarot suit. Different people assign different seasons with different suits, but I’m going with autumn for swords, pentacles for winter, wands for spring, and cups for summer. 

So let’s begin. 

The suit of swords represents not only autumn but also the element of air, which is related to the zodiac signs of Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius. So, if your sun is in one of these signs you may feel that one of these cards is your signifier. Or that could even be the case if your ascendant or moon sign is an air sign because you’re more than just your sun sign. And we all have so many aspects of our personality that we may feel that several tarot cards represent our multifaceted personalities. I know I do. 

Being an academic and an Aquarius ascendant, I definitely resonate with the swords suit even though I have a Capricorn stellium including my Capricorn sun, mars and mercury. Both suits can represent me in different aspects of my life. And my fire moon in Sagittarius can’t be left out of the equation either. So, check your big 3 – sun, moon, and rising sign to see which tarot court cards best represent you.

Best Tarot Court Resource

I’ll be drawing some information and examples from my favorite book on the court cards – Your Tarot Court by Ethony Dawn. And I’ll add my own examples of these personalities given my experience as a clinical psychologist who assesses, diagnoses, and treats psychological and personality disorders. 

Let’s dive in and start with the Page of Swords and work our way up to the King of Swords. 

Page of Swords Psych Profile and Traits

The Page of Swords could be any of the 3 air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, or Libra) for ages 11 and under. Even though I'm in my late forties, I find I relate to this page a lot so it can represent part of your personality no matter your age. The Page of Swords is the Detective archetype. Think Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, and Veronica Mars. They’re incredibly observant, collecting facts and information at all times. This is also the spy card so you may not even be aware of how much information they’ve gleaned from a situation. If this represents your child, be aware that they are absorbing way more information than you realize. And they have a great memory. 

They’re intelligent, curious, and always have a book in their hand. I think of Hermione Granger and Rory Gilmore given how studious and academic they are. They’re inquisitive and ask a lot of questions. They need to know how things work or it drives them crazy. This reminds me of my Aquarius husband because he loves to take things apart just to find out how things work, and he hates to read directions. He just wings it to see if he can figure it out. And he’s always been that way. That curious nature defines this page. 

They’re always in their head, so where this can work against them is that they are often aloof, unable to connect, and they live in their own world. They can be hypercritical, way too honest, suspicious of others and can shut down emotionally if things get too dramatic because they just withdraw when they’re overstimulated.

Ideal Professions for Page of Swords

They’d make great private investigators, spies, detectives, and police officers due to their ability to gather details and figure out puzzling situations. Sherlock Holmes is the greatest example I can think of for an analytical, incredibly observant, puzzle solver. And I’d add code breakers to that job list for obvious reasons. Think of the movies A Beautiful Mind and The Imitation Game for this personality type. Given how precise and academic they are, statistics and mathematics could also be a field they’d excel in – the movie Good Will Hunting comes to mind here too. And given how much they like to read and their analytical nature, editing would also be at the top of this occupation list. They’re often drawn to philosophy given their ability to pull back and see the larger picture from an objective point of view. 

An interesting point Ethony makes is that this page could be asexual, which also fits with the Sherlock Holmes comparison. The Page of Swords can be so sensitive to overstimulation that they could struggle with sensory integration issues and ADHD. Others might view them as anally retentive, obsessive compulsive, too rigid in their thoughts, too hard to connect with, and emotionally unavailable.

Knight of Swords Psych Profile and Traits

The Knight of Swords is the Warrior archetype and represents ages 12-21. Ethony associates this knight with the zodiac sign of Gemini. This knight isn’t afraid to put their life on the line and jump into action swiftly, which could be a positive or negative, depending on the circumstances. They are ready to jump into the fight and defend those who can’t defend themselves and often inspire others to jump into action. Ethony gives the example of Wonder Woman as a great defender and warrior. And here, I also think of William Wallace who is depicted in the movie Braveheart with that great scene where his character inspires his fellow warriors to fight saying “They will never take our freedom!” It gets my blood pumping every time. So there is a time and place for this personality for sure.

But they can also be argumentative, dominating, arrogant, vengeful, and can charge ahead without thinking, which could put themselves and others at risk and can lead to making mistakes. And they rarely back down from a challenge. I’m thinking Damien Salvador from the Vampire Diaries here as a daring but hot-headed, rash warrior rushing to the aid of his friends, but not thinking through all the risks or consequences of his actions. I see this knight as possibly having impulse control disorder given their inability to control their urges. And they have no filter and have trouble sitting still or holding themselves back, which are often traits associated with ADHD.

Ideal Professions for the Knight of Swords

For jobs, this knight prefers active tasks like stunts, martial arts, and sports but could also go into law, the air force, or activism. And they love competition. Just don’t expect them to stick around long enough to be in a committed relationship.

Queen of Swords Psych Profile and Traits

The Queen of Swords is our Judge archetype and represents the sign of Libra. They’re problem solvers who are also fair, balanced, reasonable, and measured, nurturing others through kind words and wise advice. They have a no nonsense attitude and have a knack for seeing through cons and BS. You can't pull one over on these observant, analytical personalities.

Ideal Professions for the Queen of Swords

They’d make great attorneys, judges, mediators, counselors, and teachers. Here, I think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a judge and academic who’s well versed in the law and has a long legacy, having made generational contributions to the judicial system. Where this Queen struggles is that they can be cutting with their remarks, using words as their weapons. 

In the shadow, they’re manipulative, cold, critical, judgmental, controlling and can work to cut you off from your friends and social support system. In the reversed position of the Queen of Swords, we see the female sociopath, emotional abusers, and emotionally unavailable mothers who neglect their children. Ethony mentions Cersei from Game of Thrones as an example of this cold, calculative character. I also think of Joan Crawford in the movie Mommie Dearest who is portrayed as a cruel, cutting, emotionally abusive mother.

King of Swords Psych Profile and Traits

And lastly, we arrive at the King of Swords - the academic and the scientist archetypes. They’re extremely intelligent, mentally focused, rational, logical, and detailed. When I say intelligent, I mean genius level like Stephen Hawking and Neil Degrass Tyson. 

Ideal Professions for the King of Swords

They’re the experts in their field and very devoted to their work because much of the time their work involves changing the world. They’re the humanitarians of the tarot and the zodiac – they’re very forward thinking and inspire change in others. They work to move society forward and give great advice like the Queen of Swords. They’d make great writers, judges, lawyers, scientists, and they’re tech savvy, so anything in the technological world is right up their alley. They’d also make excellent math and science professors. And due to their precision and laser focus, they’d make excellent surgeons. 

And since Aquarius is the sign for starseeds and aliens, I think they’d make great astronomers and astrophysicists. Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory comes to mind for me. As well as Bill Nye the science guy and Galileo. Given their draw to humanitarianism they could easily go into politics to shape the laws of countries and to expand rights to citizens. And they’re well suited to be inventors with their visionary perspectives and the drive to push science forward.

They’re curious, open minded, and idealistic. The King of Swords is associated with the sign of Aquarius, which is considered the most intelligent of all the zodiac signs. So it’s understandable that they might be sapiosexual, which means they find intelligence sexy. Where they can get off track is the tunnel vision they often get stuck in, leaving their partners feeling lonely and neglected. Their work is their main focus, so relationships often take a back seat to their career. 

In the shadow side, they’re aloof, emotionally unavailable, ignore their partner, expect a lot from others, and can be arrogant and cynical. They withdraw into their head so much that they’re often oblivious to their surroundings.

Psychological Conditions Prominent with the Swords Court Cards

So one thing I really wanted to do with each of these psychological profile episodes for each tarot suit is to look at the psychological conditions or disorders that could be associated with that particular suit, including personality disorders as well.

Of course, any personality type could be diagnosed with any of these suits BUT given their personality traits and their approaches to life, work, and relationships, I think there are certain conditions that are very prominent among the suits. 

And as we discuss this, I think that will become obvious and make a lot of sense given the themes of the suits. I will note here that I’ve assigned these disorders to these suits based on how I view them using my experience in clinical psychology for the past twenty years. Others may see it differently. This is just my take for what it’s worth.

We’ve already talked about the swords suit as being very mentally oriented because we’re dealing with thoughts, communication, and ideas. So when assigning disorders to this suit I was focusing on thoughts and communication mainly. 

And since swords represent our thoughts, those can become hard to control and that’s when obsessive worry, anxiety, and panic can set in. The personalities associated with the swords suit may start to ruminate over things and find that they can’t stop that cycle of repetitive worry that keeps them up at night or unfocused throughout the day. They overthink and overanalyze everything. Analysis paralysis is often a state they live in. And we talked about how obsessive they can be about their work, forgetting that an outside world exists. So, their loved ones may have to intervene to get them to take a break from work just to eat, shower, sleep and change clothes. And they may have to drag them outside for a walk or they might not leave their office for a week straight while working on a consuming project. 

Given these traits, Obsessive compulsive disorder is probably the disorder I’d link most with this suit. Think of Howard Hughes shut off from the world at the end of his life, overwhelmed by his obsessive compulsive mind. If you’ve seen the movie, The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio, you’ve probably never forgotten that image of Howard Hughes in his cluttered hotel room that he hadn’t left for 4 months and all the jars of urine lined up around the room. In times of stress, he often secluded himself in rooms he’d deemed as germ free and refused to let anyone enter in an effort to avoid contamination from the outside, but he ultimately neglected his hygiene, leading to mental and physical decline. His case shows how severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can become and how disabling it can be if treatment isn’t sought early.

OCD is an anxiety disorder, and it revolves around compulsions and obsessive thoughts that can run on a loop, keeping the person in a heightened, anxious state where they develop rituals that they have to engage in to manage the mounting anxiety. And these rituals like checking, counting, and hand washing often become time consuming and overwhelming, often keeping the individual from living a normal life. Howard Hughes' mother feared that he would be exposed to polio and as a child she sheltered him and frequently spoke openly of her contagion fears, which he internalized. These fears transferred to Howard and became an obsession, which ruled his adult life and impacted every facet of his life - work, social relationships, and his mental health. I’ve talked before about my own struggles with OCD since childhood and how the pandemic has worsened that disorder, especially in regard to contagion fears and germaphobia. It’s notoriously hard to treat, which I can attest to. 

Moving on to other issues we see in relation to the swords suit, we already talked about their propensity for being workaholics, which I also deal with personally. These personalities have tunnel vision and disappear into their work, so time can slip away if they work too long, often forgetting to eat or sleep. So, insomnia and headaches can become a major issue from lack of self-care and an inability to turn the brain off. Their thoughts are moving 100 miles an hour, and it’s hard to stop that train. Exhaustion from overwork is very common with this personality type and multiple sleep disorders would be experienced by these individuals. 

And since swords represent intellect and communication, I think in the reverse we can see a potential for intellectual and learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and ADHD, and even communication issues like a language disorder or selective mutism.

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder – what we call ADHD fits here. They’re impulsive like the Knight of Swords, often rushing into things without thinking them through, and in the reverse of this card can find it hard to focus, pay attention, organize tasks, stay on topic, follow through with instructions, and commit things to memory. And they are notorious for having no filter, fidgeting, and talking excessively. ADHD is one of my specialties in my psychological practice. And often people with ADHD talk about how hard it is to control their thoughts because they move so quickly. This is often why people with ADHD say they interrupt those around them – they report that if they don’t say what’s on their mind immediately, the thoughts can fly right out of their head and then they will be lost forever. So, I definitely see this disorder related to the swords with how swiftly the swords move. They are the fastest suit in the tarot. 

When we look at personality disorders related to the swords suit, I think of Schizoid Personality since they are often isolative, like to work on their own, and are socially avoidant. This personality disorder goes way beyond usual shyness, social awkwardness, or the desire to be alone from time to time. This is a chronic condition.

To be considered a disorder it must interfere with the individual’s day-to-day functioning or cause the individual significant distress across many areas of their life – including work, home, school, and social environments.

In general, a personality disorder is defined as a perpetual pattern of symptoms that is notably different from cultural norms and expectations and is pervasive and rigid. They’re extremely difficult to treat. Even if you identify with some of what we’re talking about today, that doesn’t mean you’d fit the full criteria for any of these disorders, so please don’t try to diagnose yourself. That’s for a mental health professional to determine after extensive testing and clinical interviews. We all have some degree of some of these traits. Our discussion today is just to help give you a clear picture of distinct personalities for the upright and reversed card positions to help you keep the court cards separated in your mind. Think of it as a psychological technique to help dive deeply into the characters of the cards. 

Now, that we’ve had that disclaimer. Let’s look at a few personality disorders that would fit here. When looking at the swords in reverse, I see them as very isolative, withdrawn into their own world, and anti-social. As I mentioned before, Schizoid personality disorder is a condition where a person shows very little, if any, interest or ability to form relationships with other people, either friendships or romantic relationships. It's very hard for them to express a full range of emotions and they often appear cold to people. They often keep to themselves, preferring to work and live alone, they may only enjoy a few activities, if any, may lack the drive to reach their goals, and may feel little if any desire for sexual relationships, so they might be considered asexual. I think this could fit for any of the swords court cards to varying degrees.

We talked earlier about how the reversed Queen of Swords represents the female sociopath. Well, the same goes for the reversed King of Swords. They’re often thought of as a male sociopath - devoid of humanity, having no conscience, and out for their own best interests with no regard for others. There’s a huge disconnect here with the rest of society. Individuals with

Antisocial Personality Disorder are commonly called sociopaths. Antisocial personality disorder is a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to purposely make others angry or upset and manipulate or treat others harshly or with cruel indifference. They violate the law often, bucking authority and committing criminal acts with no remorse. They may lie, take advantage of others, and become violent, hostile, and aggressive toward people and animals. They’re impulsive and have problems with drug and alcohol use throughout much of their lives and they often end up in jail because they never seek help on their own. That usually only happens when court ordered. 

They have a sense of superiority and feel no guilt or regret about harming others. They behave dangerously with no regard for the safety of self or others. They’re often irresponsible and don’t fulfill work or financial responsibilities. They often use their charm to manipulate others for personal gain or pleasure. Think Ted Bundy here, using his good looks, charm, and intellect to disarm his victims before committing vile acts of sexual assault and murder.

So, in the upright position of the Queen of Swords and King of Swords we have the judges and attorneys upholding the law and seeking justice, and in the reverse, we see those who commit some of the worst injustices known to man. Talk about two varying extremes on this continuum of truth, justice, law, and balancing of the karmic scales. 

So in summary, I’d say that we would often see these diagnosable conditions with the swords suit in the reverse – anxiety and sleep disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Impulse Control Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, language disorders, intellectual and learning disabilities, Schizoid Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder. I’m sure there may be others, but these were the ones that I associate most with these court cards. 

If you’ve enjoyed this discussion of the personality profiles of the sword court cards, I highly recommend Ethony Dawn’s book - Your Tarot Court. It has helped me immensely over the years to see the court cards in these distinct personalities, which helps make my readings so much clearer. After reading her book, I constructed these personality profiles using my experience as a clinical psychologist to help flesh out these personality types even further. Having fully formed examples of these personalities, such as the ones we’ve talked about today, changes the game in tarot readings. I’m excited for the next 3 parts in this podcast series as we travel through all 4 tarot suits throughout each season.

Mastering My Thoughts Spread

I constructed a 9-card spread inspired by the struggles and strengths of the court cards in the swords suit. Since the swords represent thoughts and worries, I’ve title it Mastering My Thoughts Spread. If you throw this spread for yourself, I'd love to see the photo of your spreads. Please tag me on Instagram or Threads @healingthrutarot and please use the #HTTMasteringMyThoughtsspread

Healing Thru Tarot's 2024 October Tarot Challenge

For the month of October, I’ll be running another tarot challenge. I've created prompts for each of the 31 days in October. Follow the challenge on Instagram using #httoctobertarotchallenge2024 and feel free to join in and tag me in your card pulls @healingthrutarot We start on October 1st.

Books and Decks shown in this blog or recommended:

Your Tarot Court, Disney Villains Tarot, The Light Seers Tarot, The Dark Mansion Tarot, Dame Darcy Mermaid Tarot, The Divining Sisters, The Call of the Cards, We Divine Three, The Threads of Fate, The Unbinding

Healing Thru Podcast Episodes

Click here to listen to the Healing Thru Tarot Podcast Episode (Ep. 56) that this companion blog goes with. 

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Alexandra Steele, a clinical psychologist, stumbles upon a mystical store in downtown, Memphis, TN, where she encounters tarot cards for the first time. She doesn't realize it at the time, but this simple encounter will leave her life forever changed as she uncovers a world of past life connections to the cards and the craft of divination. This sparks an awakening that opens door after door of a long line of mystic and witch incarnations that run throughout her history. As she reconnects to these deep mystical ties, she begins to learn about her destiny, which is revealed as she starts to encounter coven sisters and foes from previous incarnations. Will her tendency to hide in the shadows and play small continue to hold her back or will the call of the cards lure her onto her destined path of a life full of magic and sisterhood?

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