The Eight of Swords: Upright Meanings
- Weakness
- Indecision
- Censure
The Eight of Swords: Reversed Meanings
- Freedom
- New Beginnings
- Relaxation
The Rider Waite Tarot The Eight’s
The number Eight in the Tarot deck describes boundaries, limitations and situations that are inherently intractable. As we search and seek and gain desire for things to be a certain way, we often ignore boundaries. It is good to know your limitations and accept what can and cannot be done. Those who resonate with the vibration of eight are extremely successful – particularly in business where success relies on a period of time that allows progress to unfold. These people see trends and the bigger picture, and are able to ride a wave to their great gain. If the eights could be described in one word it would be ‘action.’ These cards illustrate moments of dedication, movement, and commitment. Often growth-oriented, the eights show us how deciding to put our noses down and do the work can be in turns satisfying, galvanizing, and intimidating.
The Rider Waite Tarot Suit of Swords
The Suit of Swords is associated with action, change, force, power, oppression, ambition, courage and conflict. Action can be both constructive and/or destructive, sometimes resulting in violence. This suit can also mean hatred, battle, and enemies, and of all the suits, this one is considered to be the most powerful and dangerous. The Suit of Swords deals with the mental level of consciousness that is centred around the mind and the intellect. Swords mirror the quality of mind present in your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. Swords themselves are double-edged and in this way the Suit of Swords symbolises the fine balance between intellect and power and how these two elements can be used for good or evil. As such, the Swords must be balanced by spirit (Wands) and feeling (Cups). The negative aspects of the Suit of Swords (i.e. when the Swords cards appear reversed) include anger, guilt, harsh judgement, a lack of compassion and verbal and mental abuse.
The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck is the most popular and widely used tarot card deck in the world, printed from plates that were destroyed during the bombing of London during World War II. Full of symbolism and deeper meanings, Arthur E. Waite, the intellectual father of the Rider Waite deck, commented that ‘the true Tarot is symbolism; it speaks no other language and offers no other signs.’
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Book Details
Complete Book of Tarot: When upright, the Eight of Swords suggests that you are feeling trapped or hemmed in by circumstances. Some of these restrictions may be of your own making and others may be due to the interference of unforeseen events. You tend to over-think situations and to inhibit yourself though limiting beliefs, excessive self-blame, or surrendering your power to others. You may be suffering from the paralysis of analysis. Now is the time to take off your blindfold and take a good look around you. Freedom is within your grasp. Consider the words of poet Richard Lovelace (1642): ‘Stone walls do not a prison make nor iron bars a cage.’
Complete Book of Tarot: Aleister Crowley, another former member of the Golden Dawn, also referred to Knights as youthful and acknowledged the impossibility of reconciling the various court card traditions the Golden Dawn was trying to synthesize:
Portable Magic: In Western magic, the Sephiroth are usually shown as circles that are intended to represent spheres arranged on a symbolic design generally known as the Tree of Life, which was of key importance in the Golden Dawn system of magic. The Tree of Life has had numerous forms over the course of its evolution, but the pattern adopted by the Golden Dawn is that of Athanasius Kircher. The Golden Dawn Tree does not reproduce the Tree of Kircher in all its minor details, but the overall structure is the same. It is composed of three columns. The central column is balanced in its properties and is called the Middle Pillar. The right column is the Pillar of Mercy, and it is of a masculine, expansive nature. The left column is the Pillar of Severity, and has a feminine, restrictive nature. There are four Sephiroth on the Middle Pillar, three on the Pillar of Mercy, and three on the Pillar of Severity.
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