➣➢➤ 8 of Swords : my perennial problem

I get 8 of Swords quite often. This time around, it's to represent what will hold me back. (I use Mandala Astrological deck and RWS before that, always full decks).

The deck I use suggests an astrological relation to Mercury in Gemini, a position that I do have in my natal chart.

However, as this is a tarot board, I would just like to ask --- what are your experiences with 8 of Swords? What does this card signify to you? Are there any associations with the Strength card?

Keywords for me about the 8 of Swords:
prison of the mind, analyzing all options, overwhelmed by choice, committing to nothing, anxiety, fear, hesitation, intelligence, analysis, inhibition.

Through the years I have read this as meaning someone who is unable to see things as they truely are, not able to face difficult situations, always has an excuse for not moving forward, always plays the victim, your weakness is your own attitude and/or state of mind.

You maybe over analyzing things, too much mental activity, you mentally tie yourself in knots of doubt. You should watch for when Mercury becomes retrograde it also hinders communication and thoughts.

In answer to your most recent question, "what will hold me back," I think the answer is that you, and your self-perceived limitations, will hold you back. I see the 8/Swords much as Pamuya does. You may be feeling like a victim, feeling defeatist, or not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. You may feel like you're unable to proceed due to external limitations, but just like the woman in the RWS scene you could walk right out of that cluster of swords. You may have blinders on and your arms might be bound, but you're in good condition and your feet are free to move. Don't exaggerate your obstacles or overreact to them.

If you get this card a lot in relation to other questions, I'd take it as a sign that these issues are some of your key weaknesses and that you should try to be on guard about them.

Even though I adore astrology, I don't use astrological associations that way with my tarot cards. If you do on a regular basis, though, then I'd say that the negative/weak traits of Mercury in Gemini could be trouble for you: being scatterbrained, not settling on one thing, only thinking about things superficially, thinking things through too quickly, or being too impersonal or cold in your communications.

PAMUYA said:

Through the years I have read this as meaning someone who is unable to see things as they truely are, not able to face difficult situations, always has an excuse for not moving forward, always plays the victim, your weakness is your own attitude and/or state of mind.

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It's possible about making excuses. I definitely get the impression that 8 of Swords is a self imposed weakness. But how to break free of it?

Mystic Zyl said:

You maybe over analyzing things, too much mental activity, you mentally tie yourself in knots of doubt. You should watch for when Mercury becomes retrograde it also hinders communication and thoughts.

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This interp seems the most pertinent as it relates to me, personally. It seems that you know something about Astrology, so I'll mention that I have Moon in Virgo, too. I'm sooooo analytical, constantly mulling things over, wondering why someone did this or that, what person x really thinks of me, wondering what the best most efficient way to accomplish this or that is. While my analytical ability helps me to accomplish challenging tasks, my mind runs overtime and it can be so hard to focus it even though I do meditate and try to exercise regularly.

kalliope said:

I think the answer is that you, and your self-perceived limitations, will hold you back.

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Yes. I had hoped for some more depth about this card, but I guess its meanings are fairly self evident.

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Reading your responses, I did feel a sort of gut reaction of defensiveness / sadness / worry about the situation that I created, in which I broadcast a weakness and then had it broadcast right back to me. I felt like this defensive gut reaction was, in essence, what the card deals with in itself. Just because someone tells you something doesn't make it true, and it shouldn't bother you. Unfortunately, in my life, I have been told a great deal of negative things, and they haunt me when I try to move forward. That, and my own analytical, obsessive qualities.

Meditation and exercise do help. If anyone has any other resources on how to focus the mind, I'd be open to hearing about them. Thanks.

seaglass said:

This interp seems the most pertinent as it relates to me, personally....(snipped)... While my analytical ability helps me to accomplish challenging tasks, my mind runs overtime and it can be so hard to focus it even though I do meditate and try to exercise regularly.

Just because someone tells you something doesn't make it true, and it shouldn't bother you. Unfortunately, in my life, I have been told a great deal of negative things, and they haunt me when I try to move forward. That, and my own analytical, obsessive qualities.

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It sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on this card and how it relates to you. We all have our weaknesses, and you're actually lucky to be aware of yours! Your "mind running overtime," finding it "hard to focus" (another version of being scatterbrained with an unquiet mind), and being overly analytical are those "negative" Mercury in Gemini traits I meant, too. Being haunted by negative things that you've heard about yourself over the years is actually an excellent, classic example of being caged in by your own (obsessive) thoughts -- although you may wish for more depth in the 8 of Swords' meaning, the traditional meaning seems to be perfectly relevant to you.

Meditation and exercise seem like great ways to try to quiet and focus your mind. Maybe a warming, flowing variety of yoga (vinyasa) so that all you have time to think about for the most part is your breath and the movement?

I think it would actually be a great question for another, very useful, reading: "How can I break free from my self-limiting thoughts and focus my mind?" or something like that... ?? The cards could help you to brainstorm other strategies.

kalliope said:

Meditation and exercise seem like great ways to try to quiet and focus your mind. Maybe a warming, flowing variety of yoga (vinyasa) so that all you have time to think about for the most part is your breath and the movement?

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I love yoga, should definitely do it more often.

kalliope said:

I think it would actually be a great question for another, very useful, reading: "How can I break free from my self-limiting thoughts and focus my mind?" or something like that... ?? The cards could help you to brainstorm other strategies.

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Just had the same idea myself! I'll share that reading when I do it. Thanks so much for your input. Although, "brainstorming" strategies might not be "in the cards" haha (sorry if I am too punny for you).

Wow, Moon in Virgo, yes you analyze feelings, but it is hard for you not to do with that placement. Just as my Sun is in Leo/Virgo cusp...I am still analyzing stuff and too picky about things being done the right way!

I've just turned my focus on the Connolly deck for awhile and the image on the 8 of Swords reminds me of myself when I was going through detox trying to get sober. At the time, I was living in a basement and one day, I heard the tolling of a bell. That steady, solemn, bong---bong---bong that's done when there's a funeral. I looked out the window and right there, at my face level, there was a hearse. That's what the image on this card looks a lot like and it's certainly descriptive of how I felt.

The 8 of Swords brings me back to that feeling of not being able to see my way out or my way forward without alcohol. During that time period, I was still in the phase of my life where destructive relationships and being unable to break that cycle was a factor in my life.

When a person has been an actual victim for most of their lives, it's almost impossible for them to see any other way. There's a tendency for people who haven't experienced that prison of the mind to lightly dismiss it as being just a choice, sort of pooh-poohing the condition as if the victim-thinking is just something that can be snapped out of. I can tell you truly, though, that if I had been able to see, understand and believe I didn't need to be that way, I'd have "snapped out of it" very gratefully in a flash of a second. That's wasn't possible, though. It's a very profound and unfathomable condition.

So just to make this more brief, that's what the 8 of Swords in this deck made really clear to me. I love it when a deck will do one of the cards a little differently and help me to see a new angle.

In this deck, I'd also go so far as to say that the Hermit, feeling his way along in the dark with his feeble little lantern, would be the Major card that could have described me as I was at that stage of recovery. Now if I see the Hermit and 8 of Swords in the same spread, that will certainly jog me mentally. This thread isn't about the Hermit, but I do want to mention that in the Connolly deck, the Hermit card shows the hermit handing off the lantern to another person who is reaching up over the cliff's edge to take the light from him. That's how it works in AA----people who have found their way further along in recovery reaching back to help those who are still trying to crawl up out of the abyss.

GUILT !
You know, that infamous guilt demon?!
The one that pretends it is there to motivate you, to empower you, or "fix" you, or penalize you so you "don't do it again", or manipulate you in some way or another... The one that pretends it is there to help you! It lies to you, pretending to be your friend, pretending to "help" you... The one you almost forget to even notice it is there behind the scenes because it has become so entrenched, so lodged in, so stuck you have become blind to it's power.

Dang it! What's up with that?!


Questions you might want to ask yourself....
-What guilt trips am I running?
-How are they affecting me here and now?
-Do I need to take some action, or is is simply time to let go?
-What ruts do I find myself in over, and over? Am I done yet? What can I do now to just let go and move on?
-Etc.


Free yourself from the guilt fallacy and a new freedom to soar awaits, yes?