57-Eight of Swords – Reversed Thoth Deck

When reversed, the Eight of Swords has a similar meaning to the upright card but also implies that you are able to clear the obstacles in your path. The potential for liberation lies in confronting your limiting beliefs and replacing restrictive ideas with more realistic attitudes. If you have surrendered your power to others, it’s time to take it back and resume control of your life.

Keywords Reversed: Feeling restricted, trapped, blocked, hemmed in, or confined; self-imposed limitations, imprisonment, problematic thoughts, unexpected interference, unforeseen bad luck, petty gossip, censure, blame, criticism, disquiet, confusion, over-thinking a situation, the paralysis of analysis, being a prisoner of your own mind, allowing others to inhibit your freedom.

Timing: 0 Gemini–10 Gemini. Tropical, 21 May–31 May. Sidereal, 15 June–24 June.
Astrology: Expansive Jupiter (debilitated) in the first decan of airy Gemini, the realm of the Knight of Swords (Fire of Air) and of the Lovers (Gemini). Jupiter is linked to the Wheel of Fortune. Jupiter’s debilitated state in Gemini brings about increase without accompanying good fortune.
Number Symbolism: 8 – movement, action, power, determination.

Etteilla: Censure, blame, criticism, contempt, a delicate situation, a critical moment, an unfortunate circumstance, crisis; (R) delay, misfortune, hindrance, opposition, resistance, quibbling, problems, accidents.

When Eight of Swords is reversed you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Eight of Swords is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Eight of Swords is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your reversed card reading for Eight of Swords using cards from the Thoth Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.

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Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Complete Book of Tarot: In addition to using astrology to understand the cards, the Golden Dawn included the Kabbalah to explain tarot symbolism. The interpretations of the numbered pip cards reflect the meaning of the corresponding number on the Tree of Life. That idea, of connecting the tarot with the Hebrew alphabet and the Kabbalah, can be traced back to Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit scholar of encyclopedic interests. Born around 1601, Kircher displayed an early interest in science, medicine, philosophy, and ancient cultures. He learned Hebrew from a rabbi and became fascinated by ancient Egyptian culture, eventually speculating that Egypt was the source of ancient mysteries. Kircher’s adaptation of the Tree of Life is still used by modern ceremonial magicians and tarot practitioners.

Tarot Books

Complete Book of Tarot: When reversed, the Eight of Swords has a similar meaning to the upright card but also implies that you are able to clear the obstacles in your path. The potential for liberation lies in confronting your limiting beliefs and replacing restrictive ideas with more realistic attitudes. If you have surrendered your power to others, it’s time to take it back and resume control of your life.

Complete Book of Tarot: The Tarot of Marseille, the oldest known of which is by Jean Noblet in Paris around 1650.

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Complete Book of Tarot: In the chapters detailing the meanings of the individual cards, I have included possible interpretations for the upright and reversed orientations of each card. Please take these delineations with a grain of salt. One of the reasons I stopped using reversed cards was that often the alleged reversed meaning was carried by the upright card, and vice versa. When you read the delineations offered in this text, consider that either the upright or the reversed ‘meaning’ of any card may apply, regardless of whether the card appears upright or inverted.