Eight of Swords: modern RWS Tarot Card Meanings

‘The 8 of Swords’, Rider Waite Smith tarot deck.

Upright Eight of Swords Meanings

Keywords

Calamity, Bias, Restrictions, Victimization, Powerlessness

Generally

According to modern readers, this card signifies feeling trapped, restricted, and powerless, but it highlights that this prison is largely one of your own making. It is said to be the result of a “victim mentality”, negative self-talk, and limiting beliefs that prevent you from seeing the way out. According to modern readers, you have the power to free yourself, but first, you must remove the blindfold and “see the situation for what it truly is.

“This unapologetically victim blaming interpretation of the RWS Eight of Swords is certainly not what A.E Waite thought of it as. He basically made this a card of genuinely being trapped in some disasterous situation.

The modern bias in tarot culture, based on wider economic myths of social mobility and almost ubiquitous cultural myths of “victim mentality”, is to assume that a person can always escape their situation. But anyone who has lived life knows this to be a false idea. If we tell ourselves that there is always an escape, we can perhaps pacify the dreary nature of this card. Or so we presume. But can a lie truly comfort us?

The true nature of this card may be that of victim blaming to the modern reader, but it ought not to be. So I have been particularly careful in editing this article to my own modern meanings. And I hope that my regular readers will appreciate my contrarian take on the card.”

— Toby, Tarot Apprenticeship Founder

In a Love Context

In a love reading, this card points to feeling trapped and helpless in a relationship. You may feel like you cannot leave due to fear, obligation, or a belief that you have no other options. It represents a sense of isolation within the partnership and a powerlessness to change things. This card may be a call to examine whether these restrictions are real or if your own fears and beliefs are what is truly holding you captive.

In a Money/Career Context

This card may signify feeling stuck in a job you hate due to believing you have no other choice. It can represent a sense of being micromanaged, undervalued, and powerless to improve your situation. You may be paralyzed by "analysis paralysis," overthinking every possible move to the point that you make no move at all. Ask yourself: could you work yourself of this situation with great planning and effort, or are you truly stuck forever?

In a Spiritual Context

Spiritually, the Eight of Swords can represent being trapped by rigid, self-limiting dogma or a fear-based belief system. You may be suffering from scrupulosity, prudishness or a fear of thinking for yourself. Ask yourself: if you have innocent intention and respectful action, how can you be admonished?

In Common Spread Positions

As Advice

Remove your blindfold and assess the situation clearly. Question and verify your own ruminations and assumptions about the situation. Begin working on your problems with small steps.

As (Ultimate) Outcome

Failure, inaction or fear due to biased and negative thoughts.

As Obstacles

Learned helplessness. A refusal to see the truth. Scared or ashamed of dealing with negative karma.

As Hidden Energy

An unknown fear of freedom and the responsibility that comes with it. Y

As Resources/Alliances

A friend’s input. A different cultural perspective. Skepticism (asking questions). Coaching or counselling.

‘The Eight of Swords’ Reversed

Keywords

Freedom, Release, New Perspective, Taking Control, Empowerment

Generally

Reversed, the Eight of Swords is a card of liberation. The blindfold is off, the bindings are cut, and you are pulling the swords from the ground. It signifies a powerful moment of realization where you see that you are free to choose your own path. This card represents breaking free from restrictions and taking back control of your life. You are challenging old beliefs, seeing new solutions, and feeling empowered to move forward.

In a Love Context

In a love reading, this card reversed signifies finding the courage and clarity to leave a restrictive relationship or to transform it from within. It represents open communication, and taking active steps to create the relationship you want.

In a Money/Career Context

This can signify making a plan to quit your job, taking objective account of your own skills and experience (e.g. overcoming imposter syndrome), or asserting yourself to gain a promotion or stand up to a workplace bully. You may also be breaking free from old spending habits such as addictive shopping and are now managing your resources with more foresight and reasoning. For example, you may be practising how to identify common spending patterns like the sunk cost fallacy, reliance on debt or the false economy fallacy (when you miscalculate the ultimate cost of something e.g. by not investing in healthy food even though poor health will cost more in the long run)

In a Spiritual Context

Spiritually, this card reversed is a moment of profound awakening. You are freeing yourself from restrictive dogma and spiritual beliefs that were based on fear, bias or ignorance. It is about seeing the unadorned truth of a situation rather than what you want it to look like.

In Common Spread Positions

As Advice

Embrace your newfound freedom. Take responsibility for your life and your choices. Do not allow yourself to fall back into old patterns of negative thinking.

As (Ultimate) Outcome

Clarity, insight, freedom, assuming responsibility.

As Obstacles

False hope. Blaming yourself for things outside of your control.

As Hidden Energy

An unseen or denied solution to an issue.

As Resources/Alliances

Your own newfound clarity and courage. The support of others who encourage you to think and act constructively.

Additional Notes on The RWS ‘Eight of Swords’

Waite’s Divinatory Meanings of The Eight of Swords

"Bad news, violent chagrin, crisis, censure, power in trammels, conflict, calumny; also a sickness. Reversed: Disquiet, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery; what is unforeseen; fatality." (The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911)

RWS Eight of Swords Symbolism

A.E. Waite’s Eight of Swords shows a woman loosely bound and blindfolded, standing on wet, barren ground. She is surrounded by eight swords that are stuck in the earth, forming a kind of fence around her. In the distance, on higher ground, is a castle, representing security and authority that she has turned away from. The key symbols are the loose bindings and the blindfold, which imply that her imprisonment is one of perception and that she could free herself if only she could see the truth of her situation.

Meditations On The Eight of Swords

• What do I truly have control over?

• What is the uncoloured reality of the situation?

Continue Reading About The Minor Arcana

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