Nine of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

The Nine of Swords tarot card description is associated with grief, fear, anxiety, despair, isolation, and reaching your breaking point. It’s no wonder many people opt to reshuffle their decks whenever they draw the Nine of Swords. However, drawing the Nine of Swords doesn’t imply your life is messed up; it insinuates there’s a possibility you have become overwhelmed by negative thinking and heavy emotions.

If you generally feel overwhelmed at work or have trouble sleeping due to bad dreams and anxiety, then it’s worth investigating your worries to avoid amplifying minor issues. Let’s examine the Nine of Swords upright and reversed tarot card meanings and the card’s connection to life aspects, such as love, money, career, health, and spirituality.

General Meaning

Nine of Swords is a tarot card often linked to fear, grief and anxiety or even mental health issues. It represents all disturbing thoughts and negative feelings that torment you and cause insomnia and depression. Your worries could stem from a situation at work, school, or in your relationship. The excessive worries and fear of the unknown can swiftly overwhelm you leaving you stressed and depressed.

The longer you dwell on your insecurities, the more likely they will consume you. Eventually, the obsession over your worries creates a vicious cycle that triggers a chain of negative thoughts that stack on top of each other like the nine swords on a woman’s wall.

Sometimes this minor arcana card symbolizes trauma, where the affected person feels ashamed about confiding in others about their situation. When overdone, fear and anxiety can become self-fulfilling and affect your life and relationships with others. Obsessing what may have gone wrong will most likely bring up the worst version of yourself.

The Nine of Swords card challenges people facing emotional trauma to end the cycle by replacing negativity with a positive life outlook. The card serves as a reminder that the anxiety and fear are all in your head rather than a reflection of your life. Overthinking and stressing over unwanted outcomes only worsen the situation. Rather than digging up unwanted memories, consider focusing on what’s going right in your life and build on that.

Nine of Swords Upright

Nine of Swords Tarot Card Meanings (Upright): The Nine of Swords tarot card captures the grief and sadness of a woman sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. From the looks of it, a terrible nightmare has quickly jolted the woman from her sleep. She looks disturbed, upset, and overcome by fear. Nine swords dangle on the wall behind her. These swords are believed to depict all the negative thoughts tormenting the woman.

At her bed’s base is a carving symbolizing the defeat of one person by another. The quilt wrapping her feet and legs features drawings of roses and astrological symbols.

This tarot card has a special meaning during the medieval period. It highlights the plight of many women at a time when women lacked personal rights and were unable to inherit property. The woman griefs about her future after losing all her protectors, husband, father, sons, and brothers.

Love & Relationship – Upright

In a love reading, drawing the Nine of Swords minor arcana card may signify that you have doubts or fears about your partner’s faithfulness even when there’s no hint or evidence of cheating. The longer you entertain these worries, the more likely your insecurities will drift you apart until your partner gets disconnected and moves on with another person. Dwelling on negative thoughts increases the chances of these negativities becoming a reality.

Singles who draw this card may be dwelling too long on past relationships. The guilt and remorse of a previous relationship could be hindering your happiness. While it’s impossible to re-write the past, you can explore ways of healing from past traumatic experiences and learn from them.

Career – Upright

Drawing this card during a career tarot reading implies that you are dissatisfied with your current workplace. Possibly, your work conditions are taking their toll on you, leading to severe anxiety. These feelings may give you the impression that you’ve hit your breaking point.

Financial – Upright

In a financial reading, this card implies that you have financial insecurities weighing you down, leading to anxiety. Your financial worries may make you feel deprived and uncontented about life. You need to tame your fears and assess your finances logically. Working with a personal finance coach can help quell your fears and pave the way for financial recovery.

Spirituality – Upright

In a spiritual reading, the Nine of Swords represents feeling overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. This is a good time to try some sort of spiritual practice such as prayer or mediation to help ease the stress.

Nine of Swords Reversed

Nine of Swords Tarot Card Meanings (Reversed): On one side, the Nine of Swords reversed appears to depict hope and relief after a period of grief. The reversed version can symbolize recovery from mental health issues or trauma, depression, and negativity. It implies the willingness to learn and cope with stressful outcomes. It means that you know that your fears are not as significant as you first thought. It symbolizes preparedness to prevent your worries from hindering you reach your full potential. Every effort you put into emotional well-being puts you one step closer to overcoming your grief entirely.

Alternatively, the Nine of Swords reversal can also point to a deterioration of emotional well-being leading to pronounced fear and depression. You may be too harsh on yourself because you are burdened by extreme guilt, shame, remorse, and self-pity.

Whenever the reversed Nine of Swords appears in a reading, you may need to examine the origin of your anxiety and explore ways that will bring relief. If negative self-talk is dragging you down, you must nurture positive reinforcement.

Love – Reversal

For singles, drawing the Nine of Swords reversed implies a turn of fortunes after a period of despair. The card suggests that you are willing to lay aside feelings of regret and remorse from a past relationship. It shows that you are finally ready to move on or start over.

For couples, drawing this card signifies that you are ready to confront the truth regarding infidelity or other deception in your relationship. If you are suspicious of your partner, opening up about your fears can help iron out many issues responsible for your depression. You commit to a healthy and mutually satisfying relationship by conversing with your partner.

Career – Reversal

In a career context, the Nine of Swords reversed card implies that your workplace issues will worsen or improve. You are coming to the realization that your work commitments aren’t as stressful as you initially thought, and all you need is a change of mindset. All your negativity and resentment towards your workplace is starting to fade as you anticipate better days.

On the other hand, this card can point to your inability to cope with work stress. A job loss or a business failure could be behind your worsening emotional situation.

Financial – Reversal

In financial contexts, the Nine of Swords reversed signifies easing financial stress or a worsening financial situation. It could be that you are embracing good financial management practices, or your financial mess is driving you into meltdown. Engaging a professional career coach or money management expert will help your financial situation.

Spirituality – Reversal

In spiritual interpretations, the Nine of Swords reversed indicates that you are gaining clarity and overcoming darkness in your life. Alternatively, it could mean that you are sinking deeper into darkness and need salvation. The remorse, regret, and guilt you feel could mean that you are veering off your course and need to trace back your spiritual roots.