Swords · IX

Nine of Swords

Anguish of the unquiet mind. Worry, grief, a rehearsal of catastrophe. The swords are on the wall, not in the body — which does not make the night less real, only less prophetic.

ELEMENT: air
NUMBER: Nine — near-full: night grief, nine on the wall, a figure at the edge of the bed.
SYMBOLS: a seated figure in a dark room, face in hands, a quilt of roses on the bed · nine swords hung on the wall, thought as a rack of night · carved figures in the bedframe, old stories under the insomnia · no window, the mind as the only weather

UPRIGHT

+naming the 3 a.m. script
+seeking help for a mind that will not lie down
+compassion for a suffering that is mostly invisible
−catastrophizing as a full-time job
−isolating with the wall of blades
−using night-pain to refuse the day's smaller remedies

IN LOVE: Anxiety about the bond, a sleepless quarrel. The other cannot fight the nine swords for you. They can sit on the edge of the bed if you will let them.
IN WORK: Dread, rumination about a mistake, a future invented in the dark. Write it down at dawn. Not all of it will survive daylight.
IN SELF: You are not your night. Get the body help. The roses on the quilt are still roses.

REVERSED

The night is lifting, or it has gone wordless — a first sleep, or a despair that no longer even makes images.

Blocked — the upright current exists and is dammed.
Internalized — the drama is inner rather than worldly.

Reversed Nine of Swords can be relief after a vigil. Inner Nine is private torment. Blocked Nine will not admit the room is dark.

PAIRS WELL WITH: The Moon Four of Swords The Star Five of Cups
TENSES WITH: The Sun Ace of Cups Three of Cups The World

WHAT WE WILL NOT SAY ABOUT THIS PLATE

it's all in your head, relax
you will have a breakdown
your fears are coming true