← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 59/121
Nine of Swords
The Nine of Swords is the card of the sleepless night. It describes worry, anxiety, guilt or grief that circles in the mind — the thoughts that seem unbearable at three in the morning. It is a card about how things feel, not a forecast of what will happen, and it often shows fears that are bigger in the dark than they turn out to be in daylight.
The image
A woman sits up in bed with her face in her hands. Nine swords hang horizontally on the black wall behind her; none of them touches her. Her quilt is patterned with roses and astrological signs, and the side of the bed is carved with a scene of combat. The swords are usually read as thoughts rather than real dangers, and the roses and stars as comfort and order still within reach.
Upright
Anxiety, worry, nightmares, regret, feeling overwhelmed. Waite called it "a card of utter desolation" and listed despair and disappointment among its meanings. Modern readers tend to stress that the distress is real but that much of it lives in the mind, and that talking to someone, resting and seeing things in the light can ease it.
Reversed
Waite's reversal is suspicion, doubt and "reasonable fear". Many modern readers see the worst of the worry lifting, hope returning, or a fear finally shared — or, sometimes, anxiety that has been kept hidden for too long. Some readers do not use reversals.
Correspondences
Minor Arcana, the Nine of the suit of Swords, element Air. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, it is Mars in the second decan of Gemini, 10°–20°, in Yesod, the ninth sephirah. The Order called it "Despair and Cruelty".
In a reading
In the present position it often names a worry the person already knows well; as advice, to share it rather than carry it alone. Followed by The Sun or The Star, the night gives way to morning. If distress is ongoing, a reading is no substitute for talking to someone you trust or a professional.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Decan: Mars in Gemini, 10°–20°
Element: Air — the element of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius
Mode: Mutable — Gemini is a mutable sign