What does Six of Swords reversed mean?

Unable to leave. Stuck between where you were and where you are going.

Or a departure that solves nothing, because what needed leaving came along. That is the sharper reading and it is not a reason to stay; it is a reason to expect the work to continue on the far bank.

Also read for a crossing that has taken far longer than anybody expected, which is common and is usually mistaken for failure.

Transition, moving on, gradual improvement. Travel, often literal.

You are taking your history with you and going anyway, which is the correct order of operations. The card does not ask anybody to be healed before they are allowed to leave, and that is its most useful permission.

In an advice position it favours the move itself over the preparation for it, and it is realistic about pace: this is a boat being poled across a river rather than an escape.

Upright: transition, moving on, passage, gradual recovery, travel

Reversed: stuck, unresolved baggage, unable to leave, delayed departure

• What am I carrying across that I will need to deal with when I land?
• What does calmer water actually look like from here?