Minor Arcana · Swords·8·Air

Eight of Swords

A bound, blindfolded woman stands among eight swords on the Eight of Swords. She looks like a prisoner. Look again, though: the bindings are loose, her feet are free, and the swords don’t close the circle.

restrictionfeeling trappedself-doubt

Arcana

Minor

Number

Element

Air

Suit element

Air

What the card means in tarot

The Eight of Swords is the card of a mental cage. You feel trapped, and a way out exists that you can’t see yet. Nobody is guarding the woman in the picture. The castle stands far behind her on its rock, and the gap in the swords is wide. Expect this card when the limits you’re living inside are mostly ones you’ve drawn yourself.

Eight of Swords upright

Keywords: restriction · feeling trapped · self-doubt

Upright, the Eight of Swords means feeling trapped, powerless, and mentally frozen. Its invitation is to slip the blindfold and free yourself, because you have what you need to do it.

Eight of Swords reversed

Reversed, the Eight of Swords signals release, a breakthrough, and getting past fear. You start to see that the swords were never a wall.

Tip: See whether Eight of Swords shows up in your own reading. Try a free tarot reading You get a daily card and detailed spreads based on traditional RWS symbolism.

Eight of Swords in love and relationships

The Eight of Swords is the card of feeling trapped in a relationship. Single, you may feel incapable of love, but that’s an illusion. Look at the image: the swords don’t form a full cage, and her feet are free. She could walk away. In a couple, it’s the feeling that you “can’t” do this or that, when most of those limits are ones you set yourself. The card says: loosen the blindfold and look. Reversed in love: release from the restriction, and the decision that you’re done living this way.

Eight of Swords in career and money

In your career, the Eight of Swords means feeling stuck in a job you hate. Take an honest look, though: most of the bars are mental. The card asks you to see options you’ve been overlooking. With money, you feel like you have no choices, but there usually are some. Reversed: a breakthrough, and the courage to change careers or ask for a raise.

Eight of Swords and personal growth

The card’s teaching is that the hardest prison is the one in your own head. Getting free starts with seeing clearly.

How to read Eight of Swords in a spread

In the advice position, the Eight of Swords says: the cage you see is mostly in your head. As your past: a limit you got beyond. As your present: a trapped feeling worth testing against the facts. As your future: a way out that you discover for yourself.

Symbols on the card

The bound woman: thoughts that hold you in place
The blindfold: an exit she can’t see, though it’s there
The eight swords around her: the appearance of a cage with an open side
The loose bindings: freedom that’s within reach
The wet, marshy ground: feelings that make every step seem risky
The castle in the distance: the authority or safety she has drifted away from

Common questions

What does the Eight of Swords mean in tarot?+

The Eight of Swords is about feeling trapped, helpless, and mentally paralyzed. It urges you to take off the blindfold, because you already have the means to free yourself.

What does the Eight of Swords mean in a love reading?+

In love, the Eight of Swords points to feeling confined in a relationship even though you aren’t truly held there. Reversed, it suggests release and leaving a toxic relationship.

What does the Eight of Swords reversed mean?+

Reversed, the Eight of Swords signals freedom, a breakthrough, and overcoming fear. You begin to see that the swords around you weren’t the barrier you took them for.

There’s a story behind how Eight of Swords was drawn. Read the history of the RWS tarot → Meet Pamela Colman Smith, Arthur Waite, and the 1909 deck that 80% of tarot readers use today.

Related cards· Swords

All Swords cards

More cards: Major Arcana, Wands, Cups, Pentacles

Try this card in a reading

Eight of Swords shows its full meaning only alongside other cards. Here are six of the most popular spreads where it can turn up:

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A free daily card and 12 kinds of spreads, based on traditional Rider-Waite-Smith symbolism.

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For more on where the cards come from, read The 1909 tarot: the most famous cards in the world It covers how the RWS deck came to be and why 80% of tarot readers worldwide use it today.