Thoth
Card name: Nine of Swords
First impressions
Nine red and badly damaged swords, points downward, are arranged almost like a fence, dripping blood. The central one is the largest, they taper away to each side – I’d say it was perspective but their hilts line up. Behind – on a pale greed shading to pink ate top background are droplets of ? water ? and a number of those geometric pinwheel swastikas. Sigils of Mars (red) and Gemini (green)
From the Book of Thoth
THE FOUR NINES
These cards are attributed to Yesod. After the double excursion into misfortune, the current returns to the middle pillar. This Sephira is the seat of the great crystallization of Energy. But it takes place very far down the Tree, at the apex of the third descending triangle, and a flat triangle at that. There is little help from low, unbalanced spheres like Netzach and Hod. What saves Yesod is the direct ray from Tiphareth; this Sephira is in the direct line of succession. Each of these cards gives the full impact of the elemental force, but in its most material sense; that is, of the idea of the force, for Yesod is still in Yetzirah, the formative world. Zoroaster says:
“The number Nine is sacred, and attains the summit of perfection.”
Egypt and Rome, also, had Nine Major Deities.
The Nine of Swords is called Cruelty. Here the original disruption inherent in Swords is raised to its highest power. The card is ruled by Mars in Gemini; it is agony of mind. The Ruach consumes itself in this card; thought has gone through every possible stage, and the conclusion is despair. This card has been very adequately drawn by Thomson in “The City of Dreadful Night”. It is always a cathedral---a cathedral of the damned. There is the acrimonious taint of analysis; activity is inherent in the mind, yet there is always the instinctive consciousness that nothing can lead anywhere.
CRUELTY NINE OF SWORDS
The number Nine, Yesod, brings back the Energy to the central pillar of the Tree of Life. The previous disorder is now rectified.
But the general idea of the suit has been constantly degenerating. The Swords no longer represent pure intellect so much as the automatic stirring of heartless passions. Consciousness has fallen into a realm unenlightened by reason. This is the world of the unconscious primitive instincts, of the psychopath, of the fanatic.
The celestial ruler is Mars in Gemini, crude rage of hunger operating without restraint; although its form is intellectual, it is the temper of the inquisitor.
The symbol shows nine swords of varying lengths, all striking downwards to a point.
They are jagged and rusty. Poison and blood drip from their blades.
There is, however, a way of dealing with this card: the way of passive resistance, resignation, the acceptance of martyrdom.
Nor is an alien formula that of implacable revenge.
Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:
Nine of Swords= Cruelty. Yesod in the suit of Air. Mars in Gemini. The nine Swords are of different lengths, pointing downwards, poison blood drips from their jagged points. The background is studded with tears and crystal forms. In this card intellect is replaced by heartless passion.
Also:
Nine of Swords= Cruelty. Mars in Gemini. Yesod.
These jagged swords are dropping blood and tears, and represent mind dominated by insatiable desires.
Banzhaf suggests that the whitish droplets are poison – which seems to make sense. if he hadn’t said that the poison is “running down their blades” – as they are even ABOVE the swords, that makes no sense.
DuQuette invokes Monty Python: “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.” He says that he cannot imagine what Frieda was doing with the colours, but she made them perfectly nauseating. He says that the pinwheels are being washed downwards by drops of poison; that make sense, as there are none at the top of the card.
Snuffin refers to drops of yellowish poison falling from above and points out that the colour of the background becomes darker and more menacing as we move down the card. He also points out that the poison drops end where the blood begins to fall, suggesting that it is the poison that leads to the pain and the injury. The blades are red for Mars (the card is Mars in Gemini). Mars in its cruellest form (in Gemini) overwhelms Yesod and the Moon (The card’s cabalistic attribution is Yesod in Yetzirah).
I see the drops as tears – and that is how Frieda describes them, but BoT says poison…
Meaning (cribbed from Wasserman)
Nine of Swords: Cruelty. Agony of mind. Despair. Hopelessness. Worry. Suffering. Loss. Illness. Malice. Pain. Burden. Oppression. Subtlety and craft. Lying. Shame. Well-dignified: Obedience. Faith¬fulness. Patience. Unselfishness.
DuQuette Illness, suffering, malice, cruelty, pain
Despair, cruelty, pitilessness, malice, suffering, want, loss, misery. Burden, oppression, labour, subtlety and craft, dishonesty, lying and slander.
Yet also obedience, faithfulness, patience, unselfishness, etc. According to dignity.
Traditional meanings – From Thirteen’s book of meanings:
NINES
Nine is a number of completion (so is Ten, but we'll get to that). It is the number when everything that's been learned or accomplished is integrated, and we can see it all as one, as the truth.
Like the Hermit, who connects to the nines, these are cards where we return to ourselves, as only we, ourselves, have more to teach us. We look at what we've done, earned, gained, and we think about what more we might do to make our lives (or the suit) complete. We shine a light on all we've accomplished to discover what might still be missing.
Nines are among the most powerful cards, usually granting the querent what it is they, like the Hermit, are seeking.
Nine of Swords
A woman wakes from a nightmare, nine swords on the wall. It can be a good thing to find what you seek, except when it comes to ideas, words or problems. Find too many of them and they will overwhelm you especially, as with all the nines, you focus them on yourself.
We all know this card, it is the one where we wake up at night and go over our troubles, problems, worries, thoughts, our failings, problems we haven't yet solved, ideas that went wrong, things we should not have said that we did. The querent is at the height of their anxiety, far too focused and far too critical of themselves. There is a positive aspect, however, to this waking from nightmares, which is that the querent may be seeing things out of proportion. If they "wake-up," as this card suggests they can or will, they might see that things aren't so bad or unmanageable.
This card could also be literal in predicting insomnia, or far too many sleepless nights alone and awake going over and over whatever worry or problem is gnawing at you. The querent's life may seem like a bad dream to them, one they wish they could wake up from. One thing is sure, however, this despair and anxiety only makes the situation worse, and offers no solutions. The querent must find a way to get out of their heads.
(I include Thirteen’s meanings here, but the way, as while someone else was adding them to her Thoth posts, I found them enlightening in context, even though the descriptions are way different !)
My impressions (appearance of the card):
This is indeed a truly nasty card. The swords are not exactly violent, but are very threatening; almost suggesting conscious planned cruelty. DuQuette suggests the card could mean patience and unselfishness. I cannot imagine how. I hadn’t seen the background drops as poison, more as raindrops or tears (and Frieda concurs
) – but even that would imply sorrow.
My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
Whatever the issue – the outcome is not looking good, and worrying about it is not going to help – action to put an end to it is needed. Stop worrying – you don’t have time. Do something !
