Western Tarot symbolism
Eight of Swords
The account gives a woman bound and blindfolded with swords around her, but contrasts temporary confinement with irretrievable bondage. Its main meanings then include censure, crisis and conflict. The supplementary list supplies a gendered scandal prediction upright and departure of a relative reversed. These are separate from the main reversed list of difficulty and unforeseen circumstances.
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In the sources
The card account
LiteraryThe account gives a woman bound and blindfolded with swords around her, but contrasts temporary confinement with irretrievable bondage. Its main meanings then include censure, crisis and conflict.
Comparing the lists
LiteraryThe supplementary list supplies a gendered scandal prediction upright and departure of a relative reversed. These are separate from the main reversed list of difficulty and unforeseen circumstances.
Context & interpretation
The active library scan carries L. W. de Laurence’s name and reproduces material associated with A. E. Waite’s Tarot exposition. This entry follows that supplied edition’s card prose and supplementary lists. Historical divinatory assignments and period character labels are distinguished from the pictured symbolism and from independently supported judgements about people or future events.
Original passages
Source 1
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
temporary durance than of irretrievable bondage. Divinatory Meanings: Bad news, violent chagrin, crisis, censure, power in trammels, conflict, calumny ; also sickness. Reversed: Disquiet, difficulty, opposition,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, supplied de Laurence edition; card description, active reader leaf 126
Exact supplied-edition extracted passage actually read; whitespace-normalised quotation anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Image descriptions attributed to printed prose; no new full-plate visual inspection asserted.
- Edition
- IMJ-0149-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0149-E001-P0126
- Original scan leaf
- 132
- Recorded leaf number
- 132
- Current Reader position
- 126
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Source 2
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
Eight.—For a woman, scandal spread in her respect. Reversed: Departure of a relative. Seven.—Dark girl ; a good card ; it promises a country life afterOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, supplied de Laurence edition; additional meanings, active reader leaf 151
Exact supplied-edition extracted passage actually read; whitespace-normalised quotation anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Image descriptions attributed to printed prose; no new full-plate visual inspection asserted.
- Edition
- IMJ-0149-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0149-E001-P0151
- Original scan leaf
- 157
- Recorded leaf number
- 157
- Current Reader position
- 151
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Ace of Cups
A cloud-borne cup, water and a descending sacramental emblem give this Ace several symbolic layers.
Shared source pageEight of Cups
A departing figure gives the Eight an image of leaving an earlier concern behind.
Shared source pageFive of Cups
Three fallen cups and two remaining upright make loss and remainder part of one composition.
Shared source pageFive of Swords
A figure controlling the field watches two others retreat while their swords remain on the ground.