The two of swords is about sitting too long on a choice. This figure is trying to hold on to too much and must let go of one and settle on another or risk losing both. It could be being split between two conflicting sides, and despite being ambivalent to the conflict in of itself, being forced to choose one.

The Two of Swords can also be read as a nightmarish twin of the High Priestess. Considering the repeated symbolism of a central woman sitting and the presence of the moon, as well as the cards being the respective two’s of their suit, there is grounds for this link. If the High priestess is seen to be an omniscient figure, who knows and sees all, then the Two of Swords is a twisted opposite, she is blindfolded, seeing and knowing nothing. The Priestess is shown against a luxurious background indicating wealth and safety, pillars and tapestry, however, the two of swords is alone and presumably unsafe, a woman in the wilderness at night, alone and blind. Of course, the woman is armed, overly so in fact, and this is part of the problem as previously discussed, she cannot bear the weight of both swords at once, and though she may look intimidating she is weakening herself by the second.

It is also worthwhile considering the different moons, and the symbolism of the Moon in tarot as dreams, nightmares, imagination and psychosis. The Priestess has the moon tethered at her feet, she indulges in the realm of fantasy and madness, but ultimately she is the master of her own dreams and has a grip on her own mind. Contrasting against this we have the Two of Swords, where the moon is untethered and compositionally dominant in the frame. This implies that the woman here is the whim of her own deteriorating mind and the hallucinatory nightmare realm that she can no longer differentiate from reality, she cannot detect the fantastical or surreal as she is blindfolded, unaware of the domineering power of the moon behind her.