Eight of Swords: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A bound and blindfolded figure stands among swords on uneven wet ground.

Upright

restriction · limited perspective

Real constraints and assumptions combine to narrow the apparent choices.

Reversed

loosening constraints · persistent fear

An opening may be available before confidence has returned.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Jupiter in Gemini, 0–10 degrees. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.