Eight of Swords
Minor Arcana · Swords · number 8 · Otto di Spade
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The Eight of Swords is a woman bound and blindfolded, standing among eight swords planted in the mud: bad news, crisis, censure, power in trammels, conflict, calumny, and also sickness. If these days you feel trapped, unable to move or defend yourself, criticised by people who know nothing, it is no accident. But look closely at the picture: the bonds are loose and the swords do not touch her. It is not a sentence: the prison is more mental than real. Watch your health. The practical advice: take one small step, just one, in any direction. The ropes fall away by themselves once you start moving.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the Eight of Swords loosens the ropes but not the fear: disquiet, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery, the unforeseen, fatality. You are free to move, but the ground is full of surprises. If these days setbacks come in a chain, a breakdown, a bureaucratic obstacle, a person standing in your way, it is no accident: this is the way out of the prison, and exits are never smooth. Be careful on the road, with deadlines, and with anyone too eager to help. It is not a sentence. The practical advice: double-check everything you sign or drive, and keep a reserve of time and money for the unexpected.