THE EIGHT OF SWORDS: meanings, a poem, & in the Universal Fantasy Tarot

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done a post about the less common and even quirky “meanings” I see in any particular Tarot card. I keep notes on what I see for various cards that feel new to me or unusual, and have a considerable pile at this point (much of it going back years). So I thought I’d go through them all and the one with the most meanings scribbled down for it would be the post for today. Well, the Eight of Swords (8S) was a hands-down winner and I’m surprised I’ve not done a post on it before. Especially given so many of the meanings are and have been directly applicable to my life.

Then I recalled I’d even very recently written a tanka (very briefly put, a five line poem) on the 8S in the Universal Fantasy Tarot. (BTW, a fabulous deck that I’ve been working with for a few months.) The poem is posted after the image below of the 8S in the Universal Fantasy Tarot. I’m also struck that last night I had a dream in which I was struggling to circle a room, pretty much against the walls. Another image of containment.

TODAY’S CARD The Eight of Swords is often interpreted to mean emotional turmoil, feeling or actually being trapped, depression, and other sorts of painful or negative situations, thoughts, or feelings. After reading over my own takes on this card I was surprisingly left with a general feeling of positivity. (At least today. :-D) For instance, the surrounding swords often depicted on this card can also be seen as protective during a fragile time of growth or transition. More meanings follow this 8S image from the Universal Fantasy Tarot, my poem, and the 8S from the Rider/Waite/Smith deck :


And here’s that tanka (poem) based on the above 8S image:

no mother hen
from her breast seven blades curve
creating a cage
I kneel within its compass
dodging her long beak’s kiss

And here's the 8S from the Rider/Waite/Smith deck:



DIFFERENT OR LESS COMMON, EVEN QUIRKY MEANINGS FOR THE 8S (i.e. the below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with this card):

Emotional imbalance and distance from others created by not taking responsibility for one’s self. (The 8C can also tend to this.)

Paranoia; imagining the worst about one’s self and/or others.

Your imaginary fears are trapping you. Finds some way to check out the objective reality of this situation.

Your hands are tied with respect to this inquiry. Be patient and use the down time to think and plan.

Are you thinking in terms of black and white; i.e. “either/or instead of both and more”? This sort of thinking can create walls between you, and growth and change.

Stop hamstringing yourself; the world offers enough resistance and troubles, don’t create them for yourself. Trust in your High Self to guide you.

For highly receptive/sensitive folk: Shielding yourself from others’ thoughts and unconscious (or otherwise) sendings is all to the good. But do not overlook how wide open you tend to be to emotional contagion, as well. I.e., the emotions you feel are not always your own.

If dealing with a highly receptive/sensitive person: respect the boundaries they set. They think about and feel things very deeply and are not always able to shield themselves, even from unintended “invasion.”

You may see what this person is feeling/thinking very clearly. But he/she is not at all in touch with inner life, so you may need to overlook a lot. Kindness should trump your need to be expressive.

Your thoughts imprison you more than anything else in your life. Loosen your attachment to your understandings and the quality of your life will change very quickly. And eventually, even the more objective factors will soften and morph.

Time to pack away the old stuff (both literally and metaphorically).

Don’t focus on minutiae at the expense of the big picture.

What are you holding back or imprisoning within yourself or, conversely, developing?

Yes, you can do it. But within certain limits or boundaries (e.g. the limits imposed by an aging body, or a very small financial budget).

You’re not off the mark here at all; you are simply beginning to see things in a new way, and/or from a very different perspective.

Grounding yourself so that you may give concrete form to ideas that you’ve just let “fly around in the ether.”

Retreat, physically and/or mentally, is timely.

If during a time of stress (internal and/or external in origins): ground yourself and envision being surrounded by a circle of white light.

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****