Tarot of Prague Cafe club - 8 Swords

13thFaeChylde

Moongold said:
Some further thoughts. I love this deck!

Coldness be my kiln.
From damp clay I sculpt myself
A tigerlily soul.

Oh, that's memorable. May I put it in my journal?
I wish and hope you'll write a haiku for each card :D
Or maybe all who are interested should...take a card and write a haiku for it.

I'll give it a go this evening.
 

Gardener

Another lily for Moongold. I love talking in flowers...
 

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lunakasha

A woman stands quietly with her hands behind her back....it is not obvious to me whether or not her hands are tied or if she is willingly holding them there. She has a blindfold covering her eyes, but again....if her hands are free to remove the blindfold, then perhaps she is content with being "blind" to the situation, or afraid to see things as they really are. Her facial expression is calm and relaxed, indifferent almost....she does not seem to be in distress over her situation. Again, this makes me think that she has more control of her own freedom than she realizes. It almost reminds me of someone who is literally parallyzed by fear or anxiety; whether or not the threat is real, her fears are holding her back.

Sitting at her feet, in shackles, is a cat-like creature holding an apple. Again, it looks to me like he is free to leave if he so chooses, but he remains by her side. The light shining behind the woman may represent a "light at the end of the tunnel" for her....if she is only willing to open her eyes and embrace it.

:) Luna
 

annik

Looking at the card and I can empathize with the woman. She is blindfold. Maybe it's because she doesn't see a way out. The swords are in front and behind her. So, she can not go forward nor backward. But she can go sideway. It's just that she haven't realised that option. There is a little cat with an apple. Maybe the cat took the apple to give it to her.

For me, the meaning of the card is that the solution is not an evident one. Just look at the problem with a different angle.
 

Elmcarra

Something different in her

Hey everyone,
I literally got my deck today and this is the card that captured me. Oooh what a weird way to put it, if she is in fact captured, but thats not the point, let me stay on track.

The panic attack idea: she doesnt look panicked to me, but that I think is important. She is not OUTWARDLY showing panic, perhaps because that would allow others to see her vulnerability, she is staying cool on the outside.

In the LWB it notes the nine of swords as representing "severe anxiety" so this further leads me to think this card has a much different tone.

This could possibly represent the sort of "learned helplessness" behavior some people might display, waiting for another to "rescue" them. Just a thought...and this one goes better with the authors interpretation I guess.

Other than that, intuitively when I see this card, it tells me that she chooses to stay blind to SOMETHING for a reason. Perhaps she is distracted by the chaos or hopelessness of the situation and prefers to or allows the withdrawal of her senses to listen inwardly for a solution. I dunno, that is a bit of self disclosure on how I sometimes deal with a situation, but she speaks to me, so I thought I'd share.

Anyway, I think she is striking...based on her expression and posture, a beautiful card.
 

Gardener

Hello Elmcarra and welcome to the cafe! I want to thank you for your thoughts on this Eight of Swords because I strongly related to what you said. I can also react to overwhelming situations by freezing up. As you suggested, I also wonder whether it's a useful response: are we doing it to play for time, to get more information to help us decide how to react? Or is it a form of helplessness, hoping someone will come to the rescue? She really does suggest that moment of immobility in the face of danger, it's not exactly voluntary but not exactly involuntary either. Such a different response to, say, the Knight of Swords, who would always prefer to face danger by charging right at it. Sometimes we are one, sometimes the other.