Nine of Swords
The Nine of Swords depicts acute anxiety, nightmares, and a mind overwhelmed by fears and regrets. Its imagery points to worries that may be imagined or exaggerated, piling up until they feel like a crushing reality. The card urges distinguishing between real threats and mental constructions, because peace depends on separating fact from fantasy. In reversal it can indicate movement toward logic, contentment, and diligence, or warn of lingering rumor and doubt.
Keywords
Keyword
Imagined Misery
Description
A man wakes from a nightmare, still caught in the shadows of anxiety. His fears, concerns, and regrets pile up sharply at him like sinister foes. His thoughts have piled up in his sleep, created in worry and doubt, creating a very intimate brand of misery. He can feel the darkness closing in. The Nine of Swords challenges you to sift reality out from the imaginary—your peace of mind depends on it.
Meaning
Imagined or inflicted concerns, worry and anxiety, muddled thoughts, being overwhelmed, a crippling cycle.
Reversal
Logic, contentment, humility, diligence, rumor, doubt
Visual Description
A solitary figure crouches in a pitch-dark space, arms tightly wrapped around drawn knees and head bowed. The person wears a white robe with streaks of red, and numerous red diagonal lines extend from the foreground toward the figure like blades or beams. The background is almost entirely black, isolating the figure in shadow. The composition emphasizes the lines leading the eye up to the curled form at the center.
Fountain tarot
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