Eight of Swords

The Eight of Swords symbolizes mental entrapment and self-imposed limitations. It suggests that you may feel stuck or powerless, often due to your own thoughts and perceptions. This card highlights the need to recognize that your sense of limitation is not as inescapable as it seems.

Upright Position

• Feeling Trapped: A sense of being stuck or trapped in a situation, often due to your own thoughts or beliefs.

• Self-Restriction: Limitations that are self-imposed, rather than actual barriers. You might be holding yourself back.

• Mental Blockages: Anxiety, fear, or negative thinking that prevents you from seeing a way out.

• Lack of Confidence: Feeling powerless or lacking the confidence to take action and change your situation.

Reversed Position

• Release: Overcoming limitations and breaking free from self-imposed restrictions.

• New Perspectives: Gaining clarity and seeing a way out of a difficult situation.

• Empowerment: Regaining confidence and taking steps to free yourself from mental or emotional blockages.

• Freedom: A sense of liberation and moving away from feelings of entrapment.

Symbolism

• The card typically depicts a woman blindfolded and bound, surrounded by eight swords that create a barrier. This imagery suggests feelings of entrapment and limitation, but it also implies that the constraints are not as solid as they appear.

Key Associations

• Element: Air

• Astrology: Jupiter in Gemini

• Keywords: Restriction, limitation, entrapment, fear, self-imposed barriers, mental blockages