Swords interpretation in spirit placements?

I've been experimenting with health readings and I am constantly stymied when swords come up in the spirit position. I'm just not sure how to read them. In particular, the three and nine of swords seem to indicate an illness but how do I relate that to the position/subject?

One meaning for either of those could be in the area of emotional or mental health.

.traveller. said:

I've been experimenting with health readings and I am constantly stymied when swords come up in the spirit position. I'm just not sure how to read them. In particular, the three and nine of swords seem to indicate an illness but how do I relate that to the position/subject?

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I'm not quite sure why you'd have a "spirit" position in a health reading. To me swords can signal illness or health problems--but if it's not to the body, than surely it's mental heath.

9/Swords is very much a case of insomnia and anxiety attacks.
3/Swords, as mentioned in the thread on 3's & the Empress, could very well be mental anguish and grief over something destroyed or lost.

In any case, I would say swords in a "spiritual" position would be an indication that the person's mind is fixated on something unhealthy--something that is making them spiritually sick, as compared to physically ill.

But that's the catch, they are showing up in the Spirit part of the reading. I do believe that problems in the spirit and heart can manifest in the mental and physical, and in a reading would look at the interactions.

What sorts of illness are associated with the spirit? What recommendations/guidance does one give? If the source of the illness is in the spirit, then treating the body or mind will not cure the problem. Two examples, one with the nine and the other with the three.
1st example: mind/Emperor, body/2swords, spirit/9swords, heart/Devil
This one clearly shows an imbalance in the heart and spirit, with the mind clear but inflexible, and the body neglected with a host of petty ailments.
2nd example: mind/Emperor, body/Prince of swords, spirit/3swords
In this one, the imbalance is tilted towards the mind, with the body and the spirit being neglected or abused.

In both, there is a connection between body and spirit. Now I can see with the second case, that the problem may originate in the mind and through treating the mind through counseling should alleviate the imbalance indicated by the swords.

.traveller. said:

1st example: mind/Emperor, body/2swords, spirit/9swords, heart/Devil
This one clearly shows an imbalance in the heart and spirit, with the mind clear but inflexible, and the body neglected with a host of petty ailments.

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Does this reading have a name? I'm not familiar with it but it seems a bit odd to only be these four cards and not have some type of summation card to pull them all together. Also, I think heart would be part of one of the other three and not really on it's own. What would an imbalance of the heart be?

Maybe perhaps you're having difficulty with the interpretation because of the spread you are using.

I found the spread in an intro to tarot book that came with some cards I bought. It's just called Mind Body Spirit and supposed to provide a snapshot of the person's overall health at the time of the reading, there wasn't much else written about it. I added Heart to the one to balance the spread: Mind-air, Body-earth, Spirit-fire, Heart-water. A broken heart can cause a host of physical and mental ailments, so I felt it should be included. I think the spread is supposed to work on the cause and effect principle.

It may be true that the spread just doesn't work well for this type of question.

traveller,

I think I have heard of the Mind, Body, Spirit spread but I wouldn't really call it a 'health reading'. At least not in the sense of predicting someone's health problems. Keep in mind that most spreads that have been around for quite a while (such as those published in books) are already 'balanaced' with regards to their intended purpose. If you add cards to them, then you are changing things and creating a new spread which may or may not work. I personally wouldn't consider a broken heart something that is separate from the other three cards (it would be included in at least one of them).

You might want to check the spreads index on this site http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=31867. There are Health Spreads listed there.

There are also spreads called Elemental Spreads that include air, earth, fire, water but I think they all have a fifth card (or more) as well.