Eight of Swords
Bound and blindfolded among swords, but the way out is open. Your thoughts are the trap.
- Card
- Minor Arcana · Swords (Air)
- Upright keywords
- Restriction, Feeling trapped, Limiting beliefs, Constraints
- Reversed keywords
- Release, A wider view, Breaking free, A new perspective
- Yes or no
- Leans no
Traditional correspondences Golden Dawn: Lord of Shortened Force / Thoth: Interference / 1st decan of Gemini · Jupiter / Sephirah: Hod (Splendour)
Upright meaning
Feeling trapped, often by your own thoughts.
A bound and blindfolded woman stands among eight swords, yet the way behind her is open. The Eight of Swords is feeling trapped by circumstances or by your own beliefs. Upright, it reminds you that the bindings are looser than you think. Change your thinking and you can walk out.
Reversed meaning
Breaking free and seeing the way out.
Reversed, you begin to free yourself. New perspectives open, and fear loosens its grip.
For ways of reading reversed cards, see how to read reversals.
Love
Feeling trapped in a relationship or by fears.
Breaking free from limiting patterns.
Work
Feeling stuck with no options.
Seeing new possibilities.
Money
Feeling trapped by money.
Finding a way out.
Relationships
Restricted by others’ expectations.
Setting yourself free.
Health
Anxiety or feeling powerless. Seek support.
Recovering a sense of control.
Tarot does not diagnose physical conditions. If you have symptoms that worry you, please see a doctor.
Mind and spirit
Limiting beliefs.
Liberation.
As a person
Someone who feels powerless.
Someone breaking free.
Timing
Things change once you change your thinking. In the calendar, late May is also a guide (roughly May 21–31).
Advice
Question your limiting beliefs.
Take the first step out.
Questions to ask yourself
- What belief is trapping me?
- What options am I not seeing?
- What step could I take?
A common misreading
The Eight of Swords isn’t a hopeless situation. The bindings are loose and the way out is there.
The story of this card
Eight shows the mind trapping itself. Thought becomes a prison of its own making.
The Waite deck’s picture and symbols
In the Waite deck a woman bound and blindfolded stands in marshy ground surrounded by eight swords, with a castle on a hill behind her.
History and differences between traditions
The Golden Dawn named it Lord of Shortened Force. Crowley called it Interference.
Words for today
My thoughts can set me free.
I can see a way out.