The Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

The Eight of Swords is one of the most important cards of the Minor Arcana.

Below you will learn everything about its meaning both in the upright and reversed position.

In addition to the general interpretation, the topics of love, health, career, finances and destiny are also explained in detail.

Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

The Eight of Swords Keywords

Upright: Powerless, Confused, Confined, Self-doubt
Reversed: Open, Freedom, New Vision, Strength

The Eight of Swords Tarot Card Description

The Eight of Swords shows a blind woman standing bound between swords. The woman has a bandage around her eyes preventing her from seeing where she is or could go.

Her upper body is also tied with several ropes, which make it impossible for her to move her arms freely and to free herself from the bandage around her eyes.

The shackles represent a negative self-image, doubt, and confusion that prevent the woman from moving forward on her life path and immobilize her. Her feet are free, so she could go and get help.

Here, however, she must push back her doubts and fears and instead trust her own intuition, which can show her a way out of her oppressive situation.

Around the woman, eight large swords are lined up, which act as a prison and prevent her from finding a way out of her dilemma.

However, a closer look reveals that the swords are merely blocking the way back, while the path forward is completely clear.

Likewise, the woman could use a sword to free herself from her bonds, but she seems too powerless at the moment to realize these possibilities of liberation.

At her feet, a small river meanders, representing her intuition and allowing the woman a way out of her precarious situation if she finds the courage to follow her inner voice.

Upright Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

The Eight of Swords shows you in a Tarot reading that your self-doubt prevents you from achieving your desires and goals in life and instead hinders you in many areas of life.

Your thoughts are the cornerstone of your actions, so pay attention to what you think.

By fomenting self-doubt in yourself and having little confidence in yourself, you will have great difficulty in realizing your desires in life.

Have more confidence in yourself and set yourself small achievable goals and develop a concrete plan to achieve them.

With time you will be able to remove the bandage around your eyes and see new abilities and talents in yourself, which were previously hidden from you by your self-doubt.

The Eight of Swords Tarot card also reveals that you are currently confused and do not know how to move forward in a critical life situation.

On the one hand, you want to move forward and face the critical situation. On the other hand, you want to run away and forget the challenge ahead.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for you to predict the consequences of your actions, so you remain in a kind of rigidity, and your emerging thoughts and feelings of fear and doubt continue to confuse you.

Free yourself from this dilemma by putting your mind in the background and letting your inner feeling decide about your further way. As soon as your intuition shows you a way out, trust it and courageously go your way.

Another meaning of the Eight of Swords is that you feel very limited in your choices for a problem.

You may feel trapped in your job or your relationship and see no other way out but to just hang on and keep going.

Your own thoughts and doubts tie you down more and more and rob you of the power to escape from your prison.

First of all, free yourself from your fears and talk to a good friend about your situation, so you will experience relief and get new perspectives and ideas.

By considering these new choices and opening yourself up to new solutions, your mental shackles will loosen as if by magic and give you the chance to walk your life path again, free of fears and worries.

Do you want to know what today holds for you? Draw your Daily Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Tarot Love Meaning

Single

As a single, the Eight of Swords Tarot card shows you that you have strong self-doubts and therefore don’t dare to approach other people.

You may think that you are not lovable enough. That’s why you won’t get a partner, but at the same time, you suffer from your loneliness.

Realize that such doubts exist only in your head and that you can change your inner attitude to the positive at any time.

Put off your inner shackles and approach potential partners. You will feel how lovable your environment finds you and that you can find a partner for life like every human being.

Another meaning of the Eight of Swords is that you are very confused because of your ambivalent feelings towards someone. The first spark of love has already jumped over, but something deep inside you leaves a bad inner feeling.

Your intuition sends you important messages, especially on an emotional level. They can confuse you at first but at second glance reveal the truth about your counterpart.

Relationship

In a relationship, the Eight of Swords symbolizes strong feelings of confinement and being locked up. You might want to have more time for yourself and meet friends without your partner.

But your partner opposes this with all his might and thus strongly restricts your freedoms. Such a prison in a relationship only works if you put up with this shackling of your freedom.

By standing up for yourself and not letting constrict yourself any further, you will take the first step towards more freedom and your partner will have to adapt to the new situation.

The Eight of Swords also represents that you feel very powerless and exhausted in your relationship. That exhaustion can come from the fact that you have many quarrels among yourselves, which cost a lot of energy.

Try to create more happy moments in your everyday relationship that fulfill both of you, like a meal together or a hobby. Furthermore, small acknowledgments and attentions are important for your partner, as they mean that you care about him and value him.

Do you want to know how your love life is developing? Draw your Love Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Health Meaning

The Eight of Swords means for your health that you feel very depressed. You lack drive for your daily tasks and threaten to slide into depression.

Counteract this in time by structuring a fixed daily routine for yourself. In any case, go to a doctor to have your symptoms clarified.

The Eight of Swords can also indicate a physical illness, which
mainly affects your eyesight. Perhaps you have not recognized certain distances very well for a long time, or you have difficulty in reading.

A visit to the optician can save you from more serious vision damage. It is important to take measures in time to help you see your surroundings clearly again.

Do you want to know how your health situation is developing? Draw your Health Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Career Meaning

Professionally, the Eight of Swords reveals that you feel trapped and constricted in your current job.

The same work routines are getting to you and you hardly can unfold your true potential. Try to free yourself by improving your qualifications and facing new professional challenges.

In addition, the Eight of Swords can indicate strong self-doubt concerning professional requirements. Especially when you start a new job, the beginning can be quite challenging.

Doubts grow quickly, whether you are up to the new tasks at all. All beginnings are difficult, which is why you should exercise patience. Over time, you will adapt to the different work processes and gain more self-confidence.

Do you want to know how your professional situation develops? Draw your Career Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Finances/Money Meaning

For your finances, the Eight of Swords means that you have lost track of your income and expenses. That means that you are constantly worried about not having enough money for necessary purchases.

Bring order back into your documents. Then you know exactly how much money you have left for expenses in the month and can plan accordingly.

Furthermore, the Eight of Swords stands for a strongly limited financial leeway. Due to high debts or expenses, you have hardly any money left for your daily needs.

You feel very restricted concerning your finances and often worry about not having enough money to pay your bills. Get professional help to get your financial situation back under control.

Do you want to know how your financial situation is developing? Draw your Finance/Money Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Destiny Meaning

As a destiny card, the Eight of Swords stands for the fact that you are a prisoner of your fears and doubts. The more you shy away from facing your fears, the more they will bind you.

Alone it is often difficult to free yourself from your own chains of fear. Therefore, seek support in the form of a counselor who can help you to see clearly again and loosen your inner chains.

Do you want to know what your destiny has in store for you? Draw your Destiny Tarot Card now for free!

Upright Eight of Swords Personality

The Eight of Swords symbolizes someone who is very narrow in his views. The person has fixed thought patterns which he tries to apply to every situation, making him less flexible.

Likewise, the card describes a character with strong self-doubts. He has little confidence in himself, which causes him to fall far short of his actual potential and remain in place.

Upright Eight of Swords Tarot Past/Future

Past

Deep self-doubt from your past continues to plague you. You can do more than you think you can. Just take the first step.

You are strongly constrained in your actions by a past event. Do not dwell too much on yesterday, but look ahead.

Future

On your future path, there will be several forks that will confuse you. Just follow your gut feeling and trust your intuition.

Shortly, your power reserves will be strongly attacked. Therefore, you should already plan enough time for recovery.

Upright Eight of Swords Tarot Card – Yes or No

The Eight of Swords is much about deception and therefore a clear no answer. You have a somewhat limited view of this question. Thereby you neglect many aspects which are very relevant to you.

A no is, in any case, the better answer. Thus you can free yourself from restrictive thoughts and look forward again.

Reversed Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

Reversed Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

The Eight of Swords Reversed symbolizes that you need to adopt a new point of view to solve a difficult problem. Often we don’t see the forest for the trees and limit ourselves too much with the same solution strategies.

A good way to get a new perspective is to use your intuition and spontaneously write down all the solutions that come to your mind, even if they seem silly or unrealistic at first.

Through this strategy, you learn to look at a problem from different angles and can create a new solution for yourself from a correspondingly large number of approaches.

Another aspect of the Eight of Swords Reversed is to free yourself from stressful feelings and thoughts.

By realizing that the shackles created by self-doubt and fear only come from your mind and your thoughts, you can just as easily get rid of them if you change your inner attitude accordingly.

By deciding to live your life courageously and actively, you will achieve your goals and desires faster and at the same time build up a high level of self-confidence.

A feeling of deep liberation will fill you as you realize that you are the architect of your own happiness and can actively shape your life.

The Eight of Swords Reversed also reveals that you have rediscovered your inner strength and are thus able to remove any obstacles on your life path. Inner strength means opening your eyes and seeing the world as it is and not as you would like it to be.

Through this, you will automatically deal with your own weaknesses and mistakes. You will be able to dismantle them bit by bit and transform them into strengths.

Your inner strength consists of skills such as perseverance, problem solving and courage, with the help of which you will master any challenge in your life with confidence.

Reversed Eight  of Swords Tarot Love Meaning

Single

The Eight of Swords Reversed Tarot card stands for being open and tolerant in your partner search. Instead of having a rigid image of your dream partner in your mind, you should be flexible and get to know other traits in your counterpart before you form a judgment.

By being open to different character traits, you will have much more choice of partners and also get to know and possibly even love many different sides of people.

The more tolerance and openness you show when first meeting someone, the better your chances of finding a new relationship.

Another aspect of the Eight of Swords Reversed is that you do not feel bound to the idea of entering into a relationship at any price.

Enjoy the freedom that being single gives you and dedicate yourself to your desires and goals that you still want to achieve in life. Freedom also means to decide for yourself if you want to be alone right now or in a relationship. You decide for yourself!

Relationship

In a relationship, the Eight of Swords Reversed reveals that you radiate tremendous power and energy as a couple. You have found a common path in life, which you follow together, whereby no mountain is too high and no water is too deep for you.

By complementing each other in the best possible way, you can combine your strengths and clear all obstacles out of the way.

Even if one of you gets stuck or can’t move forward, the other partner will use all their strength to help and rejoin the common path.

The Eight of Swords Reversed also symbolizes that your partner will help you to gain new perspectives and insights. Especially when you are in a personal life crisis or facing a challenging problem, your partner will open up new perspectives to help you get closer to a solution.

If you as a couple dare to say uncomfortable things to each other, which nevertheless contribute to a solution to a problem, your relationship will consist of mutual care and honesty.

Reversed Eight of Swords Health Meaning

Regarding health issues, the Eight of Swords Reversed encourages you to look at diseases from a different perspective.

They teach us how valuable our health is and that we should be grateful for it every day. An illness likewise introduces us to the truly important things in life that we need to honor and appreciate our health.

Another meaning of the Eight of Swords Reversed is that you slowly recover after a serious illness.

The limitations caused by severe symptoms will slowly become less and you will be able to participate in everyday life much more freely again. However, do not rush your activities, but slowly get used to your new freedom.

Reversed Eight of Swords Career Meaning

The Eight of Swords Reversed encourages you to look at your work from new angles. Working just for the money will not make you happy in the long run.

But if you can apply your knowledge of work to your everyday life, your job will take on a different meaning in your life. Make yourself aware of the contribution your work makes to the common good. Then you will be more motivated to work.

Another aspect of Eight of Swords Reversed for your profession is that you should use the freedom to follow your dream job.

Often we realize what our heart really beats for only after a few years of professional life. Follow your vocation and unfold yourself in it to experience true freedom.

Reversed Eight of Swords Finances/Money Meaning

The Eight of Swords Reversed means that you will soon be free of a huge financial burden. For example, a loan is coming to an end, so your financial room for maneuver will increase significantly.

Don’t get caught up in new monetary dependencies too soon. Instead, you should enjoy your new financial freedom and treat yourself to something.

Another aspect of the Eight of Swords Reversed is that you should not make your happiness dependent only on the extent of your wealth.

Otherwise, you make yourself a prisoner of numbers on the account. Rather focus on values such as friendship or love, which are not for sale, but have a lasting positive influence on your well-being.

Reversed Eight of Swords Destiny Meaning

The Eight of Swords Reversed means that you should look at strokes of fate from a new perspective. In the beginning, this is certainly difficult because intense feelings of grief and fear cloud our view of things.

But as soon as you can think a little clearer again, you will suddenly see new opportunities that arise from the new situation. Therefore, consider every loss or setback as a new beginning for your life.

Reversed Eight of Swords Personality

In the reversed position, the Eight of Swords reveals a person being open to alternative ways of thinking. Thus, hecan quickly find a way out even in entrenched situations.

Furthermore, the card represents a freedom-loving character. The person does not let himself be chained by ineffective ways of thinking but gives his thoughts free space.

Reversed Eight of Swords Tarot Past/Future

Past

Through a new perspective on past challenges, you can gain valuable insights. They will be useful for you in many projects.

Through past experiences, you are very constrained in some situations regarding your thought patterns. Only you can free yourself from these chains.

Future

Be open to alternative ideas and ways of thinking in the future. They will help you with an important project and show you the right way.

You will soon have the opportunity to gain new freedom in an important area of your life. Therefore, be mindful and do not hesitate when the opportunity presents itself.

Reversed Eight of Swords Tarot Card – Yes or No

Be open to alternative ideas and change your perspective. Then you will realize that with a yes answer, there are much more advantages.

However, you require a high degree of strength and self-confidence to really put your decision into action.

The Swords Tarot Card Meanings