Steampunk tarot (Moore) - 8 swords

[shadowdancer]

Here we have a female who appears to be bound to something, with the binding going around her arms only. Her hands and lower part of the arm are out of sight, possibly behind her back. She is wearing a tight bodice (Symbolic binding perhaps?) and a flowing orange/yellow skrit. Her long hair is unbound. We see she has a blindfold over her eyes.
Around over the top of her head is a metalwork frame of sorts(I am so trying to find the right descriptive word here and am struggling, so please for forgive me. Once it comes into my head I will edit this with the correct term! ) with some sharp looking cogs. Fixed to each cog is a sword. They all face either downwards, or towards our lady shown in the centre. Therefore no sword point is on the floor, so the woman is not imprisoned by the swords, as often depicted in other decks. Instead, the only thing binding her is what we see around her arms. With regards the placement of the swords, I think it is to remind us that a lot of our ties and binds are in our head, and not physical.

One thing I want to just mention. The shape of the frame is that of a reversed horseshoe. I have heard it said, you should not have the horseshoe over your door or window in this position, as it means your luck will run out. I wonder if this is what she is thinking right now....

Also, look at the swords immediastely above her. They are incredibly close to her head. Should she move hear head a few inches to the left or right, she will feel the tip of the sword. How frightening would that be? Yet if she could just focus rationally, she may realise by standing up she could then turn around and use those same swords to cut away her binds. Isn't it ironic. What we believe is imprisoning us, could actually be our greatest salvation.

The text Barbara wrote to accompany this card is interesting, and worth a read. I like how she reminds us that the woman's senses should be heightened in the absence of sight. Just as a blind person may have an acuter sense of touch or hearing, the same could apply to this lady. Therefore, if she does focus on other senses, she may realise she can still find a solution to her plight. If she relies on sight only, she will be there for a very, very long time indeed.

I am also led to consider the fact that her senses may be heightened, but due to the fact sight is removed she may be immobilised by fear. Just as we jump at the slightest sound in the dark (which doesn't even register or bother us during daylight hours), she may not be able to make full sense of what she can perceive. That too can cause us to not consider an escape route. Therefore we become a prisoner in a variety of ways.

Certainly a card to get us thinking, but a card we may need to look at for a few minutes to really 'get it'.