Eight of SwordsTarot card meaning
The Eight of Swords is a Minor Arcana card in the suit of Swords. In tarot it means self-imprisonment, limiting beliefs and stuck. As a yes or no answer, it leans no.
Bound, blindfolded, and the ropes are loose, and the swords form a fence, not a cage. The Eight of Swords is a prison built of beliefs. Your fear says there is no way out. Your feet can still walk.
In a yes or no reading: No · yes or no tarot →
- Element
- Air
- Astrology
- Jupiter in Gemini
- Number
- 8
What the card shows
A woman stands bound and blindfolded inside a loose ring of eight swords, water pooling at her feet, a castle on the cliff behind. The ring has a gap. The ropes are slack. The picture is honest about the trap and honest about its exits, and the blindfold is the only lock that works.
Eight of Swords reversed
The blindfold slips. Reversed, it marks the first free step, the realization that the jailer and the prisoner were wearing the same face.
How to read a reversed card →Eight of Swords in love
In love, the Eight of Swords is feeling trapped in a relationship you can in fact leave: the bound, blindfolded woman among eight planted swords, the bindings loose and the castle far away. It speaks of a bond that convinced you that you have no options, or of your own fears keeping you still. The card says the ropes are slack. Move one foot.
Is Eight of Swords a yes or a no?
The Eight of Swords answers no, for now. The bound, blindfolded woman stands among eight planted swords, the castle far off, and the bindings are loose. What you ask does not move because you believe yourself more trapped than you are. The no lifts the moment you move one foot.
Compare: the same card in all four suits
| Card | Keyword | Element | Yes or no |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eight of Wands | speed | Fire | Yes |
| Eight of Cups | walking away | Water | Yes |
| Eight of Swords | self-imprisonment | Air | No |
| Eight of Pentacles | mastery | Earth | Not yet clear |
Cards that often appear with it
- Nine of Swords
The next card in the suit
- Eight of Pentacles
The same number in the opposed element
- Justice
The Major Arcana that rules this suit's questions
Number and correspondence
In the deck's old correspondences, the Eight of Swords belongs to Jupiter in Gemini.
Will this card find you tonight?
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