King of Swords is a card used in Latin suited playing cards which include tarot decks

Tarot

The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...

. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "Minor Arcana

Minor Arcana

|thumb|[[King of Swords]] card from a Minor Arcana deckThe Minor Arcana of occult or divinatory tarot refers to the portion of a Tarot deck that consists of 56 cards. The Minor Arcana are roughly similar to the cards found in a common deck of playing cards...

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Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 to play Tarot card games.

In English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

-speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, Tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for divinatory purposes.

Divination usage

The king of swords card from the minor arcana is often used to depict a mature man with sound intellectual understanding and reasoning. This card depicts a man who is strong-hearted, decisive, and intellectually oriented.

The king of swords can also depict a man who is ruthless or excessively judgemental; the querent is therefore advised to balance his intellectual orientation with a bit of emotional understanding.