Abbreviated Meanings according to Book "T" and Crowley

Tiphareth of Vav (Labour, work, journey by water).

Crowley in Book of Thoth
The Six of Swords is called Science. Its ruler is Mercury, so that the element of success turns away from the idea of division and quarrel; it is intelligence which has won to the goal.

Tiphareth shows the full establishment and balance of the idea of the suit. This is particularly the case with this card, as the intellect itself is also referred to the number Six. Mercury, in Aquarius, represents the celestial Energy influencing the Kerub of the Man, thus showing intelligence and humanity.

But there is much more than this in the symbol. The perfect balance of all mental and moral faculties, hardly won, and almost impossible to hold in an ever-changing world, declares the idea of Science in its fullest interpretation.

Waite - Pictorial Key
Divinatory Meanings: journey by water, route, way, envoy, commissionary, expedient. Reversed: Declaration, confession, publicity; one account says that it is a proposal of love
Additional Meanings: The voyage will be pleasant. Reversed: Unfavourable issue of lawsuit.

Wang - Qabalistic Tarot
All the sixes: success which results from effort. In Yetzirah, world of quarreling and strife, success is earned by the strife itself (success after anxiety and trouble)

Hulse
"With the establishment of Six, the energy descending down the Tree is finally in balance again." Six is the middle between above and below and between right and left. "As such, the four Sixes all partake of harmony, balance, and beauty in divinatory meaning, since Six represents the center of the Tree of Life."
"Crowley refined the title for this key to "Science," denoting hard work, trial and error, and observation. This is in accord with the astrological conjunction of Mercury (as the God of language, word, and number) and Aquarius (as the intellectual mind in deep study). Waite's illustration is at odds with the above description... However, in Mathers' pamphlet The Tarot, the definition for the Six of Swords is "Envoy, messenger, voyage, travel." ... The astrological justification is that Mercury symbolizes the journey (as the God of roads), and Aquarius symbolizes water... Of all the pip cards, the Six of Swords is the most consistently misread in modern divination... in essence this card represents the mind in its most focused and attentive state, as Tiphareth (Six) of Air (Swords)."

Etteila's Tarot (p. 94 Wicked Pack of Cards)
Journey

Symbols on the Card

Book of Thoth
The hilts of the Swords, which are very ornamental, are in the form of the hexagram. Their points touch the outer petals of a red rose upon a golden cross of six squares, thus showing the Rosy Cross as the central secret of scientific truth.

Waite - Pictorial Key
A ferryman carrying passengers in his punt to the further shore. The course is smooth, and seeing that the freight is light, it may be noted that the work is not beyond his strength.

Rose
In "Z.1 Enterer of the Threshold" (GD p. 333): At the East is the Mystical Rose, allied by its scent to the element of Air
(p. 334) "For Osiris on-Nophris who is found perfect before the Gods, hath said:
'These are the Elements of my Body,
Perfected through suffering, Glorified through Trial.
For the scent of the Dying Rose is as the repressed Sign of my suffering...'

Sword

Symbols of Tiphareth

Rose Cross
A central and identifying symbol of the Golden Dawn
In Notes to "Of Scrying and Traveling in the Spirit Vision" (GD p. 473) by V.H. Soror, V.N.R.: The Rose Cross... is attributed to the Sephirah Tiphareth, the central Sun, and is therefore the symbol for the microcosm -- Man, the Adept, he to whom perfection of the Microcosm means a certain conscious union with the Macrocosm
Other names: The Red Rose of Five Petals or Rose of Ruby or Roseae Rubeae
The Golden Cross of Six Squares or Aureae Crucis

Hexagram
In "The Ritual of the Hexagram" (GD p. 287) The Hexagram is a powerful symbol representing the operation of the Seven Planets... signet or symbol of the Macrocosm... The Hexagram is composed of the two angles of Fire and Water... On p. 311 "Descent of the Divine Force into Tiphareth..." and "elevation of the Human into the Divine"

Symbols of Mercury

Symbols of Aquarius

Another perspective - From Joan Bunning's site

Images from Many Decks

Emphasizing the Journey By Water Meaning

Note that the Light and Shadow's inclusion of the compass and windmill gives a small reference to the Science meaning

Waite Smith	Morgan Greer	Robin Wood	Hanson-Roberts	Light and Shadow
Enchanted	Kazanlar	Whimsical	Greenwood	Arthurian

Emphasizing a General Journey or Exploration Meaning (Including Shamanic Travel)

Medieval Scapini

Old English

Medicine Woman

Gendron

Rock Art

Shining Tribe

Emphasizing the Earned Success or Focused and Attentive Mind Meaning

Note that Ancestral Path's inclusion of the boat in the distance gives a small reference to the Journey meaning

Thoth	Ceremonial Magick	Golden Dawn Ritual	Hermetic	Magickal
Haindl	Tarot of the Spirit	Cosmic Tribe	Ancestral Path

Some Other Meaning

Note that Marseilles is in this group since it could be any meaning... the designer's intent is not known

Osho Zen

Voyager

Marseilles

Reviews and More Information about the Pictured Decks
Top Left: Waite-Smith (Rider-Waite) -- Top Middle: Thoth -- Top Right: Hermetic (Dowson)
Middle Left: Ceremonial Magick (DuQuette) -- Middle Middle: Magickal (Clark) -- Middle Right: Golden Dawn Ritual
Bottom Left: Gill -- Bottom Middle: Tarot of the Sephiroth -- Bottom Right: Tarot of the Spirit

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Illustrations from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, Hermetic Tarot, Ceremonial Tarot, Gill Tarot, Tarot of the Sephiroth, and Tarot of the Spirit reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyrights 1971, 1982, 1990, 2000, 1996 respectively by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck* is a registered trademark of U.S.Games Systems, Inc.

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