IX, Suit of SwordsNine of Swords tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedNine of Swords in shortIn short
The Nine of Swords is the sleepless night. Someone sits up in bed, face in their hands, nine swords hanging across the dark wall behind. Worry at its heaviest, the hour every fear feels true.
- Anxiety
- Nightmares
- Worry
Piece oneThe dark wall
Behind the bed: a flat black wall, no window, no light. Waite calls the card one of utter desolation. It is the dark of the small hours, when worry feels endless and nothing in the room argues back.
"It is a card of utter desolation."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe black wall takes away the room. No window, no door, no hint of morning: only dark behind the bed. It makes the swords stand out and leaves the woman nothing else to look at. The quilt is the only warm thing set against it. The darkness is the night the worry lives in.
Piece twoThe nine swords
Nine swords lie flat, stacked across the black wall. They never touch the figure. They hang over the bed like thoughts that won't stop. Waite only says they are over her.
"...with the swords over her."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe swords are the worry, laid out in rows. They're stacked flat across the wall, one above another, filling most of the card above her head. None of them touches her. Their weight comes from number and nearness: nine at once, right over the bed. Her hands over her face are her answer to them.
Piece threeThe sleeper
A figure in a white nightgown sits up in bed, face buried in both hands. Waite calls her a woman lamenting, sure no sorrow matches hers. He calls the card utter desolation.
"She is as one who knows no sorrow which is like unto hers."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe woman is the only person on the card, alone with all of it. She sits up in bed, face in her hands, so she sees none of the room: not the swords, not the quilt. Waite says she knows no sorrow like hers. The bed and the quilt could comfort her, but the swords hold her attention.
Piece fourThe quilt
A quilt of blue and yellow squares covers the bed, a red rose in each yellow one. Waite doesn't explain it. Here it's the one warm, homely thing in the room. The room is safe, even if the night feels otherwise.
Why it is hereThe quilt is the proof that the room is safe. Blue and yellow squares, a red rose in each yellow one: homely, warm, made by hand. It covers her lap and spills toward the floor, right under her, but her face is in her hands. The comfort is there. She can't see it past the swords.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
-
The dark wall
Near pure black, no light source: night and fear. The grey swords and white gown loom against it like thoughts in the dark. The Ten of Swords keeps the same black sky, but a strip of yellow light opens below it. The Tower burns against a dark night as well, lit by lightning and fire. This card gets no light at all.
Also in -
The nine swords
Pale silver on solid black, the darkest ground in the suit: the middle of the night. Swords on a wall come back in the Four of Swords, where three hang above a knight resting on his tomb. Those point down and stay still, and he rests under them. These lie across the wall in rows, and she can't sleep at all.
Also in -
The sleeper
A cream gown and brown hair, the only soft shapes on the black. She looks small and exposed. Grief with a hidden face returns in the Five of Cups, where a figure in a black cloak stands head down over spilled cups. In the Ten of Swords a man lies face down on the ground. She's still sitting up.
Also in -
The quilt
Soft blue, mustard yellow, small red roses: the brightest colours here lie right under someone who can't see them. Red roses bloom in The Magician's garden, around a table set with all four suit signs. Death carries a white rose on a black banner. On this card the roses are sewn into a quilt, the smallest and most homely kind.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Nine of SwordsUpright
Worry, anxiety, sleepless nights. Waite's meanings rank among the darkest in the deck: death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair. He calls it utter desolation.
Most readers today point to the picture: the swords hang on the wall and never touch the figure. Much of the pain lives in the mind, in the dark hours, and shrinks in daylight. Talk to someone. Don't carry it alone.
Nine of SwordsReversed
Waite's words: imprisonment, suspicion, doubt, reasonable fear, shame. The fear stays, and it may now be well founded, or turned inward as guilt.
The worst of the night may also be passing. Name the fear, check which part is real, and deal with that part.
Yes or noNo.
No. The card is grief and worry, and Waite lists failure and disappointment. Ask again once the fear has eased.
Nine of Swords in your lifeIn your life
Love
Worry, jealousy or grief in love, usually worse in your head. Tell the other person what you fear.
Work
Stress and fear of failure. Write down what is really at risk, and get help with the heaviest part.
Money
Money worries keep you up at night. Look at the numbers in daylight. They're easier than the fear.
Health
Anxiety, bad sleep, stress. A card can't diagnose you; if sleep or worry is getting to you, or something feels wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
A dark night of the soul. Prayer, meditation or plain company gets you to morning.
Advice
Decide nothing at three in the morning. Rest, talk to someone, look again in daylight.
As a person
Someone carrying a heavy worry alone, anxious and tired. They need to be heard.
Past, present, future
Past: grief or sleepless worry. Present: fear is louder than the facts. Future: the night passes and the problem shrinks to its real size.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Swords
- Element
- Air
- Astrology
- Mars in Gemini
- Sephira
- Yesod
- Upright
- Death
- Reversed
- Imprisonment
QuestionsCommon questions
It's one of the hardest cards in the deck, and Waite calls it utter desolation. Many readers today see worry that feels worse than the facts.
Anxiety, jealousy or grief. Talk openly before the fear grows.
No. Let the worry settle, then ask again.
Waite only says the swords are over her. They hang on the dark wall and never touch her. Many readers see fears that live in the mind.
Mars in Gemini, in the Golden Dawn system. Gemini is an air sign, like the suit.
Waite shows a woman grieving on her couch under the swords, sure no sorrow matches hers. He calls it complete desolation.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Swords