TAROTNine of Swords
Upright
Mental anguish, distress or over-thinking.
You are worrying, but worry achieves nothing.
Address your problems before they become nightmares. A wake-up call.
Share your problems. Tackled alone, they become much larger.
Intuition
The card shows Melinoë, the Goddess of Nightmares and madness. Like dreams themselves, she is neither good nor bad, but neither is she a shade of gray either.
She is whatever you read into your dreams. They could be predicting disaster or a warning that helps you avoid it!
Reversed
The end of a period of anguish.
You are coming to terms with a period of anguish or distress.
You are over the worst of a painful situation, are starting to make sense of it, and will soon be ready to move on.
You are coming to terms with a previously troubling facet of yourself.
Astrologia
Quick-witted and quick to meet intellectual challenges. Talking through problems rather than allowing escalation. Very adaptable. Can be impulsive or become frustrated in emotional challenges, both of which can lead to arguments or internal anxiety.
Nine of Swords
The Nine of Swords represents stress caused by past thoughts, actions, or failures. It represents anxiety born from a current situation beyond your control.
The important message of this card is that the anxiety is based on your interpretation of the situation and this is not necessarily the true story.
It does not include the solution to your problem either. For that, you need to wake up from your nightmare and put your fears to one side. You must unearth the root of the problem and address it, so the specter of your fears can subside.
And talking of specters…
Melinoë
Melinoë literally means dark minded. She is a bringer of nightmares and madness.
She presided over the appeasement of ghosts and the unwilling dead via offerings and prayers. She secured justice and retribution for the deceased. If you murdered someone and could not sleep, Melinoë was the force invading your waking thoughts and nightmares.
She acts as a dark facet (or epithet) of Hecate (The High Priestess) or Persephone (The Queen of Pentacles). For this deck, these associations with Melinoë are intentional and deeply meaningful. Melinoë represents the failing of an attribute held by both Hecate and Persephone: intuition. When intuition fails, it manifests as nightmares, a general sense of dread, or the ghosts of past mistakes returning to haunt you.
Melinoë is historically depicted as wearing greenish-yellow of to the fruit quince (which matches the pallor of the recently departed) or being equal parts black and white to reflect her half chthonic (underworld) and half ouranic (heavenly) parentage. Sometimes only her arms are half black/white.
In this deck, Melinoë’s dress carries the black/white motif. The surrounding swords represent the balance of our rights and wrongs that come to haunt us.
Description and Symbology
A man awakens from a nightmare, his head in his hands, wracked by fear and anxiety.
Around the figure we see black and white swords ready to stab him. The two colors represent our conscience trying to internally balance our deeds.
Melinoë hovers above the man. Her outstretched hands hold larger black and white swords in a gesture of judgment, weighing the man’s good and bad actions.
Her pose matches that of Hecate in the High Priestess, proving these nightmares originate from the Unconscious and intuition. We might ignore our guilt or try to hide it, but intuition sits deeper than our ability to lie.
Eight of the swords are silhouettes, existing purely in the mind. The ninth sword hangs directly above the man’s head, rendered as solid and real. Thoughts exist in the head, but they inflict physical injury and illness when they become extreme.
Yet Melinoë remains a phantom. Nothing in this scene is real, except the man and his bed.
Our minds can create a large and beautiful palace in which we live. Our minds can also construct the smallest prison in the world, in which we gleefully torture ourselves.
Our minds can create a large and beautiful palace in which we live. Our minds can also construct the smallest prison in the world, in which we gleefully torture ourselves.
The sleeper
The man has awoken from a dream through fear and anxiety, shame, or a realization.
The sword shapes
Eight of the swords are black or white silhouettes. They exist in the man’s dreams and represent the good and bad thoughts and actions that made up the dream.
The real sword
The ninth sword appears more real than the others. Our thoughts may be in our head, but some can cut and wound us as surely as any real sword!
Melinoë
Melinoë holds a black and a white sword as if balancing and judging the thoughts of the man. The strength of his nightmare is the result of this judgment (and also represents the way the ancients would have thought the concept of having a conscience works).
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
This card is a bad sign for a relationship. It either points to a cycle of worry and stress within the relationship or that someone is not ready to love because they will be constantly coming to the table with issues and excuses.
The card suggests breaking the cycle. Either fix the underlying issues or walk away.
Past issues in a relationship have passed their worst and the problems should now start to subside.
This is a good card overall for new and young relationships, as it signifies a great level of trust between the partners and moving forward together no matter what.
Your job is causing stress through either the lack of pay, workload or responsibilities, lack of job security, lack of progression, or personality problems. It could be several issues all together (they tend to come in at least pairs!).
This card could be a wake-up call to handle your work-life balance better because issues in career are getting the better of you or taking too much priority.
Whatever the problem, making a realistic plan to fixing it or moving on is better than worrying about it or turning it into a contest.
Previous problems with career are now becoming more obvious and actionable. You will become more realistic and practical in your decisions.
You may have been previously overworked, undermined, or even over-promoted or lied to, but a new awareness will stop you turning it into an argument or contest, and instead move forward with solutions.
That is not to say it will not be painful, but a resolution and ability to move on is close.
Other issues in your life are causing stress and anxiety and this is affecting your health.
Although it is often impossible to switch the mind off when it is in worry-mode, a focus on yourself and what you do have rather than your problems and what you do not have may be beneficial.
Sharing your problems may also be better than turning them into personal nightmares.
You are ready to move forward after a stressful period in other areas of your life, and this should start recovery or a return to a more balanced lifestyle.
It is important to stay on this path and not treat life as ‘periods of binge and rest cycles’!
You will go through a period of stress, anxiety, or fear.
The card asks you to realize this happens for a reason – you must grasp the problem and address its cause rather than worry about the effects.
This may be painful, but is necessary to move through this period.
You should also be open to seeking help rather than sitting in a dark corner and allow your worries to become fearful specters that keep you awake.
You are approaching a period of inner recovery and the beginnings of regrowth after a period of stress and worry.
It is important to use this change of mindset to fully recover from previous issues, rather than jump back into them. This can happen for addictive behavior or any co-dependent relationships and behavior.
The best way to do this will often be painful; to discard the worst of the past you and embrace the new you growing in its place.
Unexpected bills, debt, or lack of steady income may cause worries and stress.
It is important that you do not ignore these issues to cause further stress. Instead, solve the root problem through addressing both income and outgoings.
You are beginning to turn around previous financial difficulties by addressing the realities of the situation.
This does mean that things will get better, but does not necessarily mean there will not be difficult short term decisions, including changes to lifestyle and expectations.
A future you will probably thank yourself for having a more practical outlook!
No, through allowing your worries get ahead of your problems.
Yes, because you are addressing current problems, although the final result may take longer than expected.
Reading the Card
The Upright Card
The Upright Nine of Swords signifies being haunted by a current or past situation, negative emotions, a sense of helplessness, or poor confidence. These manifest as nightmares, poor sleep, and a constant preoccupation with the issue.
The core message is that your fear of the situation and the situation itself are two different things. You are so consumed by the problem that you make it much larger and far scarier than it truly is.
Rather than creating fearful specters, nightmares, and stress are all indicators that tell you something needs to be addressed. Failing to address the root issue makes the problem appear larger (much like a phone alarm that is programmed to get louder the longer you ignore it).
The card urges you to prioritize your problems and sort them out in that order. Anything keeping you up at night must go to the top of the list, because it is preventing you from doing anything else with any efficiency.
The Reversal
The Reversed Nine of Swords delivers the same message as the Upright card, but brings good news: the worst is over. The path to moving on from the problem can begin.
It does not mean the issue is resolved or the path will be easy. It means you have recognized the root problem. This is the first step in taking action.
Problems become large when you internalize them via self-blame, poor self-image, or comparing yourself to others. These issues require attention; otherwise, progress will stall.
A problem not shared grows huge because you dwell on it, magnifying its importance to a point you can no longer manage. Sharing the problem is beneficial because it allows you to finally talk about it.
Card Design Process
Rather than the standard Nine of Swords layout (consisting of a single person haunted by bad dreams or emotions), this design introduces a tangible figure to do the haunting. This makes the scene significantly more powerful.
Although previously obscure, Melinoë has become known in popular culture. She fits perfectly, both graphically and thematically.
Final Words
The Nine of Swords represents thoughts of failure, loss of control, or helplessness magnified far beyond their actual size. They occupy far more space in your mind than they deserve, leaving no room for thinking about the solution.
Most of the problem is the fear of the problem, rather than the problem itself. Identifying the root issue quickly reveals the monster to be nothing more than a shadow, created by a much smaller and less ferocious worry, mistake, or doubt.
