Knight of Swords — Exercises Section
Introduction
When you’re learning tarot, it is tempting to soften every card until nothing has teeth anymore. But real life has teeth. Real people deal with conflict, hostility, intimidation, verbal attacks, workplace power games, neighbors who escalate small things into wars, and people who seem to enjoy turning ordinary life into a battlefield.
That is where the Knight of Swords becomes important.
In this course, we do not treat the Knight of Swords as a cute little “fast communication” card. He can be intelligent, decisive and brutally efficient, yes. But when his energy turns sour, he becomes aggressive, combative, cold, cutting and unnecessarily cruel. He attacks before he understands. He treats life like a fight. He does not just speak the truth. He weaponizes words.
This makes him one of the harder court cards to read with care. If you pull him for a client, your job is not to terrify them, but also not to paint a dragon in a party hat and pretend everything is fine. Sometimes the message is: step out of the line of fire. Don’t engage with someone who is looking for a fight. Document what is happening. Protect your peace. Keep your words clean and your boundaries firm.
For this exercise section, we’ll work with fictional emails shaped around typical everyday problems in a U.S. context: workplace conflict, neighbor disputes, hostile communication and unnecessary aggression. These are the kinds of questions real clients bring when life has become tense and they need someone to help them see the situation clearly.
Here’s how it works: you’ll receive a mock email from a fictional querent, written like the kind of message a professional reader might receive. Your job is to step into the role of the tarot reader and answer as if this were a real client.
You can always pull your own cards, use a different spread, or return to these emails later for extra practice. For the structure of this course, we’ll first imagine that you draw the Knight of Swords on his own. Then we’ll revisit the same question with the Knight of Swords plus two additional cards.
After each exercise, you’ll find my sample answer hidden in a spoiler. These examples are not the only possible interpretations. They are here to show how one professional might deliver a difficult message with honesty, steadiness and care.
Let’s begin.
Exercise 1
Fictional client email
Subject: My neighbor keeps escalating things and I’m exhausted
Hi,
my name is Megan Carter. I live in a townhouse community in Ohio, and I’ve been having an ongoing issue with my next-door neighbor, Brian.
It started with small things. He complained that my trash bins were too close to his driveway, then that my dog barked too much, then that my porch light was too bright. I tried to be polite and fix whatever I reasonably could, but it feels like every time I give in on one thing, he finds another thing to attack me over.
Last week, he came outside while I was bringing groceries in and started yelling at me in front of another neighbor. He said I was “inconsiderate” and “the reason this place is going downhill.” I was so shocked I barely answered. Since then, I’ve been anxious every time I have to leave the house.
Part of me wants to confront him and tell him he can’t talk to me like that. Another part of me thinks he wants exactly that: a fight. I don’t know whether I should stand up to him directly, contact the HOA, or just keep avoiding him.
Can the cards show me what kind of energy I’m dealing with and what I should do next?
Thank you,
Megan
🎯 Your Exercise
For this reading, imagine you draw the Knight of Swords.
Write your own reply first. The Knight of Swords can show someone verbally aggressive, confrontational and eager to dominate through speed, pressure or intimidation. Your task is to help Megan take the situation seriously without feeding the conflict.
When you’re ready, open the spoiler below.
click here to see my sample answer
Exercise 1.2
Now imagine you draw three cards for Megan:
Knight of Swords, Five of Wands, Justice
Take a moment to feel how these cards work together. We have aggression, conflict and the need for fair procedure. How do you help Megan protect herself without escalating the drama?
click here to see my sample answer
Exercise 2
From external aggression to our own sharpness
The Knight of Swords does not always appear as “the other person.” Sometimes he describes the querent. That can be uncomfortable to say in a reading, but it is important.
A client may be hurt, angry or convinced they are right. They may write because someone else “deserves to hear the truth.” The cards may show that yes, their feelings are valid, but the way they are handling those feelings is becoming unnecessarily cruel.
This is where your wording matters. You are not there to shame them. You are there to help them pause before they create damage they cannot easily repair.
Fictional client email
Subject: I want to send one last message and tell him exactly what he did
Hi,
my name is Ashley Brooks. My ex, Tyler, broke up with me three weeks ago. He said he “needed space” and then I found out he had already been talking to someone else. I feel humiliated and furious.
I’ve drafted a long message that says everything I’ve been holding back. It’s not nice, but honestly, I don’t think he deserves nice. I want him to know he’s selfish, cowardly and fake. I want him to feel at least a fraction of what I’ve been feeling.
My best friend says I should delete it and move on, but I feel like if I don’t send it, he just gets away with everything. I’m not asking if he comes back. I don’t even want him back. I just want to know if sending this message will give me closure.
Can the cards tell me if I should send it?
Ashley
🎯 Your Exercise
For this reading, imagine you draw the Knight of Swords.
This time, the difficult energy may not only describe Tyler. It may describe Ashley’s urge to attack because she is hurt. Write your answer in a way that validates her pain without encouraging cruelty.
When you’re ready, open the spoiler below.
click here to see my sample answer
Exercise 2.2
Now imagine you draw three cards for Ashley:
Knight of Swords, Three of Swords, Strength
Take a moment to feel the story here: rage, heartbreak and the need for real inner control. How do you help Ashley feel seen without letting her mistake cruelty for healing?
click here to see my sample answer
Closing Thoughts
The Knight of Swords is a powerful card, but he must be handled carefully. In healthy form, he can bring courage, truth, fast decisions and the nerve to speak when silence has gone on too long. In difficult form, he becomes verbal aggression, unnecessary cruelty, impulsive attacks and conflict for the sake of conflict.
In these exercises, you’ve seen both sides. In Megan’s reading, the Knight appeared as an aggressive neighbor whose behavior needed calm boundaries and formal structure. In Ashley’s reading, the Knight appeared as the urge to strike back with words because the pain felt unbearable.
That is why this card is so important for real readers. Sometimes your job is to help a client get out of the way of someone else’s sword. Sometimes your job is to help them put their own sword down before they cut from a wound they later wish they had protected more gently.
You can return to these fictional emails whenever you like. Pull one card, three cards or a full spread from your own deck and see how your interpretation changes. Each practice round helps you learn how to read conflict without feeding it.
✨ Support & Continue Your Journey
If you enjoyed working through these Knight of Swords exercises and would like a personal tarot reading with this same level of clarity and care, you can book one at www.empowering-tarot.com. Your own situation deserves guidance that can name the truth without turning it into another battlefield.
If this free course has helped you, you can also support my work through the tip jar in the sidebar on desktop or at the bottom of the page on mobile. Every contribution helps keep resources like this available for the tarot community.
Thank you for practising with me today. May the Knight of Swords remind you that truth has power, but wisdom decides how it is spoken.
