Morgan Greer Tarot - IX Swords

Sulis

Against a deep red / orange sky are 9 horizontal swords. They all look the same and seem to be stacked, one on top of the other. Below them and in the foreground are clenched fists bound together with rope.. The knot is visible and the bonds don't really look that tight to me.
In the background we can see trees and rocks in silhouette.

Most of the cards in this deck stick pretty closely with the Pamela Coleman-Smith Rider Waite images.. This card is different.. There is no woman sitting up in bed with her hands over her face but we do have the horizontal stacked swords, floating in the air.

For me, this card really speaks of the way our fears and worries (the swords) prevent us from being able to act, they quite literally bind us into inaction.

This card is quite a lot like the 8 which also shows someone bound but even so, I do like this image. I think the clenched fists here convey frustration; the will is there but we're paralysed by our own fears and can't do anything about them.

The colours in this deck are the ones used in the BOTA deck and the deep orange is a very powerful colour. Orange for me represents courage so maybe that tells us that these fears aren't real and can be overcome if we have the courage to do that.
9s are related to The Hermit and so are often very 'alone' cards.. Maybe our fears would not seem so bad if they were talked about (Swords again) and shared.. 'A problem shared is a problem halved' is a saying that springs to mind.
9s are also about looking back and assessing how we've got to where we are now and also looking forward to the next phase and with this card I think there may be too much analysing leading to fear or perhaps the fear is stopping us from really looking at the situation logically.

I've attached a picture of the card.
 

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WondererW

Nine of swords as fear

That's fascinating, Sulis.

For about a year whilst I wrote to a former teacher of mine, I kept getting this card as his Significator or as his crossing card.

You are right, my deck is the mythic tarot.

I was dumbfounded as to why he was fearful of me all the time? That was the vibe I got from the image
 

Pipistrelle

Hi Sulis,

Thanks for posting about this card - it's made me really look at it and think about it, instead of just dismissing it as 'bit of a strange 9 of Swords' as I usually do. :)

I was wondering about the sky, whether it was sunrise or sunset. Then I thought, what if it's fire? The forest is on fire and here I am with my hands tied, helpless to stop it. It's like one of those nightmares where something terrifying is happening and you find yourself unable to scream, or move, or dial the right bloody number (999) on the phone (that seems to be a favourite of mine!)

Someone with their hands tied is a victim - they didn't tie their hands themselves. Maybe you're at the mercy of someone else - or you just think you are. Either way, you feel unable to solve the problem yourself. The bottom line is, if you're not able to get out of this situation, you're going to end up as the 10 of Swords, so maybe it's time to stop thinking like a victim and start thinking like someone who has options - reverting back to the 8 of Swords even.

I like what you said about the clenched fists. It shows there's still fight left, doesn't it.

Pip
x
 

Sulis

Yes.. This is so good Pip.
I was wondering about the sky too and the trees silhouetted in the background and it does look like fire. I was thinking 'the sky looks very violent' and fire is exactly what it does look like.
I love this bit of your post:
Pipistrelle said:
Someone with their hands tied is a victim - they didn't tie their hands themselves. Maybe you're at the mercy of someone else - or you just think you are. Either way, you feel unable to solve the problem yourself. The bottom line is, if you're not able to get out of this situation, you're going to end up as the 10 of Swords, so maybe it's time to stop thinking like a victim and start thinking like someone who has options - reverting back to the 8 of Swords even.
I like to think of the cards as a sequence and this makes so much sense.. In the 8 of Swords the lady is bound but she has options if she can calm herself enough to see them.
 

Pipistrelle

... if she can calm herself enough to see them.
Yes, whereas in the 9 of Swords things seem to have reached the blind panic stage!

I was reading about this card in the Spiritual Tarot book last night and it noted the points of the swords not being visible (in the MG, RWS and the Aquarian). I don't recall it offering an interpretation for that but it would suggest to me that one's thoughts/fears have no practical use - a sword without a point is handicapped in a way, as a person is when they are overcome by fear. Also, the more literal "no point...worrying about things" etc.
 

Hemera

thumbs..

This is the card with the funny looking long and bent thumbs. I remember someone commenting on that in some post/thread earlier and I took a second look. Well, now I always see the thumbs first, especially the one on the right. I´m not sure if the artist did it on purpose or if this was just an accident. (It would be an odd accident for such a talented artist, though.) But few people have thumbs that long. If you have your hand in a fist you wouldn´t keep your thumbs like that, would you? And one can´t bend a thumb sideways like that.

This is from my notebook but originally from a Palmistry web page (-sorry I´m forgetting where the quote is from exactly):
"The control of the thumb occupies a huge part of our brain; therefore the thumb is extremely important to our personality. It relates to self-control and will power. A person with a long thumb in comparison with the rest of his hand – will control the environment and take charge of his life, but if his thumb is short, the environment will control her and he will often feel overwhelmed."

So the rage and frustration must be enormous in this warrior who is used to controlling his environment and now finds himself bound?
Also, he must act on instinct now because he can´t use those "large parts of his brain" that are occupied by the thumb.

I´ve often thought about this as a forest fire. Huge amount of destructive energy is spreading and there is nothing this warrior can do about it.

The trees are pines and they thrive on dry lands and high elevations. Lightnings hit them easily. Older pines survive forest fires but get scars on their bark.
 

Sulis

That stuff about the thumbs is so interesting.. I have to say that I've never noticed that this guy's thumbs are very long before but you're right, they are..
I wonder if it was deliberate.. I'm leaning towards it not being as I think hands are really difficult to draw but you never know and what you've said does fit.

I've never thought of this as a forest fire before but it makes so much sense that it is.. And yes, destructive energy spreading just like what happens when we're worrying unnecessarily (as in the 9 Swords).

I love the way a bit of discussion about a card throws out so many new ideas :).