Western Tarot symbolism
Nine of Swords
The prose describes someone seated on a couch in lamentation, with swords above. Its main list supplies despair and disappointment alongside other severe historical divinatory assignments. The additional list introduces an ecclesiastic or priest upright and calls the card a bad omen. Its reversed suspicion overlaps with the main reversed account's doubt and fear, but adds a judgement about another person.
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In the sources
The card account
LiteraryThe prose describes someone seated on a couch in lamentation, with swords above. Its main list supplies despair and disappointment alongside other severe historical divinatory assignments.
Comparing the lists
LiteraryThe additional list introduces an ecclesiastic or priest upright and calls the card a bad omen. Its reversed suspicion overlaps with the main reversed account's doubt and fear, but adds a judgement about another person.
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
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. ItOpen 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 125
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-P0125
- Original scan leaf
- 131
- Recorded leaf number
- 131
- Current Reader position
- 125
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Source 2
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
Nine.—An ecclesiastic, a priest ; generally, a card of bad omen. Reversed: Good ground for suspicion against a doubtful person. Eight.—For a woman, scandal spread inOpen 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 pageEight of Swords
A bound figure surrounded by swords is expressly described as temporarily confined.
Shared source pageFive of Cups
Three fallen cups and two remaining upright make loss and remainder part of one composition.