Nine of Swords
worry · sleepless nights · dread · fear larger than fact
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Swords
In a few words
- worry
- sleepless nights
- dread
- fear larger than fact
Sitting up at night, head in hands, swords on the wall. Worry, dread, the mind at three in the morning.
Upright
- Everything
- Sitting up at night, head in hands, swords on the wall. Worry, dread, the mind at three in the morning.
- Love
- Fear of losing, guilt, replaying conversations. Most of it will not happen.
- Work
- Anxiety about a deadline or a mistake. Write the worry down; it shrinks on paper.
- Money
- Sleepless over bills. Face the numbers in daylight; they are smaller than the fear.
- Myself
- The night makes everything bigger. Talk to someone in the morning.
Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 236
Reversed
- Everything
- The worst night passes. Perspective returns, or the fear was faced and found smaller.
- Love
- Relief after a scare. Or guilt released after an honest talk.
- Work
- The dreaded thing happens and is survivable, or does not happen at all.
- Money
- A money fear resolved, or help accepted. The plan replaces the panic.
- Myself
- Getting help, and sleeping. Both are strength.
Imprisonment, suspicion, doubt, reasonable fear, shame.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 236
The card, as Waite described it
One seated on her couch in lamentation, with the swords over her. She is as one who knows no sorrow which is like unto hers. It is a card of utter desolation.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 236
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.