Minor Arcana, Swords
Four of Swords
rest, retreat, solitude, recovery
Upright
Inside a quiet church, a stone figure lies on a tomb, with three swords on the wall above and one below. Waite reads vigilance, retreat and solitude, and says the coffin suggested the design. Read it today as deep rest, with no prediction of anyone's death.
After a hard stretch at work, this card suggests stepping back on purpose. Take the leave, close the laptop and stop answering messages for a set time. Keep one eye open for what needs you when you return.
Reversed
Turned over, rest becomes careful management. Waite lists wise administration, economy and precaution, then avarice, which shows how thrift can harden into fear.
You may be ready to come back from a break, or you may be guarding your time and money so tightly that nothing moves. Review your budget or calendar and keep what protects you. Loosen the rest, and take questions about wills to a lawyer.
A card is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
In Waite's words
Upright: Vigilance, retreat, solitude, hermit's repose, exile, tomb and coffin. It is these last that have suggested the design.
Reversed: Wise administration, circumspection, economy, avarice, precaution, testament.
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), Part 3, on Wikisource. The meanings above are by Cast & Chart.
Card art by Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.