Nine of Swords

Upright meaning

Anxiety, guilt, or thoughts that repeat in the night. Mental distress can make feared outcomes feel inevitable.

Something to consider

A fear can feel certain when you have been turning it over alone. Write down what has actually happened and share the worry with someone trustworthy.

What is on your mind? Begin a reading →

Historical texts

Waite: the card

One seated on her couch in lamentation, with the swords over her. She is as one who knows no sorrow which is like unto hers. It is a card of utter desolation.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Waite: divinatory meaning

Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Waite: reversed

Imprisonment, suspicion, doubt, reasonable fear, shame.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Mathers: meaning

55. Nine of Swords.-An Ecclesiastic, a Priest, Conscience. Probity, Good Faith, Integrity; R. Wise distrust, Suspicion, Fear, Doubt, Shady character.

Source: The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play — S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1888) · Public domain