Nine of Swords Tarot Card
Nine of Swords Meaning
The impact of words and rational choices on the heart, on the vulnerable and unprotected feminine inside of each of us, is seen in the Nine of Swords. The pain shown by this card is a necessity for personal growth, as it represents the way our disconnected nature and our attempts to be rational and “grownup” in fact influence our emotional world. Each cutting action, movement and word leaves its consequences, and bruises brought on by others make us stronger as we rise to the occasion and realize that we are able to protect ourselves. With enough faith, painful circumstances will be resolved and overcome, and never again will similar things leave such an intense trauma or the feeling of loneliness and loss in our world. Here, lessons are learned the hard way, but they are learned for good, as we allow ourselves to feel the pain and grow through it, learning just how much we can handle and what we can do to protect ourselves in the future. The right way to grow is through faith in the Universe, God and higher forces that hand over actions of any one individual in our lives.
Love
Nine of Swords is deeply connected to sexuality and its inhibition, as well as the lack of contact of physical relationship with the one felt in our heart. Such a love story can be a hurtful experience, as there seems to be no room for feelings that should be the core of contact in an intimate bond. Some distance needs to be made, in order for us to be ready to interact in a healthy way, instead of overthinking and allowing those who are emotionally unaware to get us into their train of thought that doesn’t support actual closeness. Sexuality and emotional intimacy need to go hand in hand, or someone will get hurt.
Career
When career choices and aspirations come with the Nine of Swords, there is something we have chosen against our own better judgment. Authorities could be too strict and unforgiving, judgment is to color our world when we are meant to shine, and the feel of the situation is simply wrong. This card advises us to move no further and stop going against our own heart, while also showing how worried we get over issues that feel right just because our mind gets involved. Clarity is needed before taking any big steps, and our body needs proper nurturing in order for our ideas to find a way to manifest in the real world.
Health
This is the card advising us to work on our immunity, protect ourselves from the outer world, and determine the course of action and healing on our own, without too many “intelligent” solutions that aren’t authentic and ours to carry out. It requires time to cry out, face the victim we stood to be, so we can end our own suffering as we find new ways to protect ourselves without compromise. The battle here is real, even if it isn’t in plain sight and clearly visible to all. Signifying insomnia, our restless mind, anxiety and our inability to let go to the moment, it shows the burden that leaves a mark on our body if we absorb too much of senseless responsibility for too long.
Nine of Swords Reversed
Reversed Nine of Swords is quite an obvious signal of our own roughness towards Self and the pointer that our interpretations of words and deeds of others is an issue we should attend to. Everything comes down to perspective and instead of jumping into battle and to conclusions, blaming others for our fate, we should face the emotional content triggered by other people's wounds. It is most probable that everyone is acting on their own moral imperatives and out of the best intentions, even if we don’t understand them at the moment.
Nine of Swords Time Line
Past - Nine of Swords will appear in our past typically when we have been victimized and haven’t had a chance to deal with all the bruises and trauma left on our plate. This doesn’t have to be obvious abuse, but one that isn’t recognized as threatening by the outer world, which is the reason it remained unresolved and there for us to face today again. It is a reminder that we’ve been through a lot and we deserve some tenderness today, as we have grown through pain and gained enough strength to give our hearts room to heal.
Present - This card often comes in the present as if to show that we are hurt at the moment, and that we don’t have to pursue certain rational goals if we don’t feel good about them. Relating isn’t much of our strong suit, or the strong suit of those surrounding us. Still, this doesn’t require sacrifice but strength of personal boundaries that will protect us and keep us warm, cozy and asleep at night. Here, we must turn to our inner world and see the importance of I.
Future - Crossing all of our own limits, we are obviously pushing ourselves too far if we are heading into such a tense and hurtful future. This card is the first warning sign that we are trying to be tough in a world where more tenderness is needed, and a reminder that things won’t turn out right if we take words and opinions of others personally. Too much questioning and overthinking need to find their place, and the best way to deal with the situation is find more stability and grounding, walk, exercise, and let our mind unwind until we are free.
