Nine of Swords

 Like many of the other sword cards, the nine of swords has a somewhat ominous appearance at first glance. Although, like the other swords cards if we take the time to explore the nuance of the card and symbols contained within, we find that it’s less ominous than thought.

The card shows a person sitting up in their bed, with their head in their hands. They’re covered by a brightly covered quilt that has alternating squares with red poppies and the astrological glyphs on them. Behind them, or to their side, are nine swords suspended, but not pointed at them, rather facing the foot of the bed. The bed has a carving on it and it is an image of a sword fight where one person has surrendered and is sitting or kneeling. After taking in all of the meanings of the aforementioned symbols and their dynamics, we can begin to make some more sense of this image, instead of negatively reacting to it. After all, the tarot is meant to help us navigate our life, not be scared of it.

Clearly, the person is worried or consumed with their thoughts, perhaps to the point of having nightmares. If you’ve ever been in that space you may know that those thoughts can run very rampant if you do not take the time to move through them and understand why they aren’t helping but rather harming you. We all have the responsibility of our own thoughts and if we do not address our doubts fears and worries they may consume us, and that is the way in which they hurt us. They cannot hurt us if we face them, heal them and replace them with healthier thoughts. And so like the carving on the bed, you have a choice to be victorious or defeated, it is truly up to you. Since the swords are hanging there, not threatening the safety of the person on the bed, it’s the heaviness of them hanging there and the possible feeling of fear they create just by being there rather then the threat of impending doom. Symbolically, they represent the negative and or doubtful/fearful thoughts that cloud our judgment and steer us away from our purpose. They can only cause harm if we allow them to... 

While we can’t always control our thoughts, we can learn to not grasp onto them tightly as if they are the only truth, and by using meditation and reflection we can do just that. We learn to make order out of the chaos in our mind which is represented by the blanket that covers him, as astrology is an ordered system which brings reason and meaning to how the planets and their positions effect us. 

This card in a reading is a warning against allowing your doubts and fears to completely incapacitate you. It’s a call to arms of sort, asking you to step into your power and train your mind to work for you, instead of against you. It’s a call to take notice how much you are grasping on to thoughts that don’t serve your highest and best good, but rather overwhelm you and keep you from recognizing the power you truly have over them.