The Nine of Swords represents intelligence on the intellectual level of human expression. Nine of Swords upright: productivity. Nine of Swords reversed: busyness, unproductiveness.
The Nine of Swords stands for the sphere of energy on the intellectual level of human expression, i.e., intellectual energy.
Have you ever been too lazy to think? Then you lacked intellectual energy. We don’t have a proper word for this energy, which manifests as industriousness.
Andrew Solomon said, “The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality.” People who lack mental energy are prone to depression. People who have too much mental energy are prone to ADHD. The former is a weakness, the latter an inner demon.
The intellect deals with our daily life and adversity. If we lack intellectual energy, we lack the energy to get out of bed and through the day. That causes anxiety. This is where the secondary meanings of fear, nightmares, hopelessness, unhappiness, and feeling overwhelmed come from. If we project worry onto other people (worry + blame), we get suspicion, another secondary meaning of the Nine of Swords.
Sexual energy (Nine of Pentacles) is the source of intellectual energy. While the sexual act is physical, sex takes place in the head. An inauspicious Nine of Swords may indicate sexual weakness (dysfunction) or a sexual demon (sexual hyperactivity). Mind that a lack of libido differs from frigidity. In the case of frigidity, sexual energy may be present, but sexual desires are lacking. Also, emotions (fear) may stand in the way sexual expression.
If the querent’s mind is sensitive or even psychic, an inauspicious Nine of Swords may indicate the dangers of telepathy. You don’t want telepathy. Imagine you’re in a room with a hundred people. They’re all chatting about, and you can’t make them shut up. Now, imagine you want to go to sleep.
Eighty percent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia hear voices. Voices may be auditory illusions, but they could also result from psychism. In this case, these voices come from inorganic sentient beings and discarnate souls. They flatter, blamestorm, and use scare and shame tactics to trick psychic people into serving their agenda. This is no joke. Connor Betts from Dayton has heard menacing voices in his head since he was young. One day, he succumbed to their verbal onslaughts and shot nine people dead.
We can calm such voices through medication, therapeutic voice management techniques, and meditation.
An auspicious Nine of Swords calls for budgeting intellectual energy. People are prone to wasting mental energy through unhealthy life- and work-styles. That’s where the secondary meanings of prodigality, wastefulness, and stress come from.
The Nine of Sword calls for taking a time out, de-stress, putting worries aside, and allowing mental energy to regenerate.
An inauspicious Nine of Swords may indicate that the querent is too lazy to think things through and/or that she worries about taking the next step towards overcoming her challenge.
An inauspicious Nine of Swords may also indicate boredom. We are used to believing that dull circumstances cause boredom, but boredom is actually the consequence of a dull mind. Children prove that. Have you ever seen pictures of children playing in slums? Children don’t let circumstances get in the way of their creativity and happiness.
Nine of Swords Symbolism
The nine swords in the picture form almost a tree of life. Only the last sphere (materialization) is missing.
In numerology, the number nine signifies completion. While the ninth sphere completes the activities of a Tree, the 10th sphere produces the result of said completion.
Traditionally, the name of the ninth sphere is foundation. Foundation means the energetic foundation of the tenth, materializing sphere on the Tree of Life.
Think of the Nine of Swords as the intellectual, energetic foundation (industriousness) of the outcome of the Intellectual Tree, which is a mature plan.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Nine of Swords
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life. In the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Nine of Swords represents Yesod of Hod, i.e., energy on the intellectual level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produces either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
These are the five core meanings of the Nine of Swords:
- Enlightenment Tarot title: Industriousness
- Power of consciousness: Cognitive energy
- Constructive use: Productivity
- Unconstructive use: Busyness, unproductiveness
- Auspicious state of mind: Excitement
- Inauspicious state of mind: Depression
Reflective Questions
If the Nine of Swords appears in your spread, it may be beneficial to ask yourself the following questions:
- When have I noticed a shortage of intellectual energy in my life, and how did it affect my ability to navigate the day?
- Do I sometimes confuse busyness with productivity, and how does that drain my intellectual energies?
- Where in my life am I wasting intellectual energy, and what practices could help me budget it more wisely?
- How do fear and worry show up in my thoughts — do they paralyze me, or do they disguise themselves as vigilance?
- Have I ever projected my worry onto others as suspicion, and what does that reveal about me?
- When boredom strikes, do I blame outer circumstances — or do I recognize it as a lack of mental energy that I have the power to boost?
- Which daily habits contribute to intellectual energy, and which habits erode it?
Nine of Swords Summary
The Nine of Swords reminds us to honor and conserve our intellectual energy and use it constructively to overcome our challenges.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings have dominated because Astrology favors fortune-telling. But Astrological meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life mingle with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlapping. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot Cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective and holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical and, hence, easier to memorize.
What Various Tarotists Say about the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Let’s explore what various tarotists wrote about the Nine of Swords.
Tarotists emphasize the astrological significances of Tarot cards since these lend themselves to divination and fortune-telling. The Nine of Swords corresponds to the second decanate of Gemini, ruled by Mercury and sub-ruled by Libra and Venus.
Gemini is associated with the Lovers/Relationship card.
The primary characteristics of Gemini are intellectual, inquisitive, and dualistic.
The second decanate adds the following characteristics to the mix: kindness, cleverness, and tidiness.
Gemini rules the third house, which governs intellectual pursuits. This is the house of science, education, communication, correspondence, documents, and books. The Relationship/Lovers card shows the correct scientific attitude: harmony between our cognitive and creative abilities (the man and woman) and receptivity toward intuition (the angel).
The third house is also the house of brothers, sisters, cousins, short journeys, letters and other correspondence, documents and other writings, books, and education.
Libra rules the 7th house of adjustments of all kinds, in particular, karmic adjustments, transactional partnerships like marriage or business partnerships, legal matters, and open enemies or adversity.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
For the Nine of Swords, Paul Foster Case proposed the keyword worry.
According to Paul, an auspicious Nine of Swords signifies faithfulness, obedience, unselfishness, and patience — as suggested by the connections with the third house and the Relationship card (the Lovers).
The Nine of Swords may also foretell fortunate news about legal affairs or partnerships (3rd house), especially if the outcome has been delayed or in doubt, as well as aid or gain through relatives (3rd house), and short journeys or writings (3rd house), but not until the querent has passed through a period of uncertainty or worry (7th house).
The Nine of Swords may also foretell ultimate good fortune (good karma, 7th house), resulting from a series of events that, at first, present unfavorable appearances.
These are the inauspicious meanings: despair, cruelty, unfaithfulness, want, loss, misery, bad outcome of legal affairs, disagreements with relatives, or unfortunate journeys. These signify negative karmic responses in the 3rd and 7th house affairs, and provide ample food for worry (the keyword).
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Arthur Edward Waite considered the Nine of Swords a card of bad omen.
He suggested it may foretell death, failure, miscarriage, delays, deception, disappointments, despair, and imprisonment.
With this, he only considered negative karmic responses (7th house) to the misuse of the respective faculty of consciousness, which is industriousness. The intellect is prone to manipulation. Hence, an inauspicious Nine of Swords may indicate the presence of manipulative or even criminal energy.
Arthur also considered the projection of worry onto other people and suggested this card signifies doubt, reasonable fear, and suspicion, in particular, suspicion against a doubtful person.
Last but not least, he stated that the Nine of Swords may predict the appearance of an ecclesiastic or priest. How he arrived at this meaning is unclear. The astrological connections don’t suggest this.
What Etteilla Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Etteilla, a French occultist, wrote that the Nine of Swords may signify suspicion and celibacy.
We already covered the meaning of suspicion.
The meaning of celibacy is unclear, but it compares to Arthur’s meaning of ecclesiastic or priest. The two may have considered that the ninth sphere on the Tree of Life is the seat of sexual energy. Celibacy denotes either the rejection of sexual energy or its sublimation, which is required of priests. Having said that, sexual energy is a bodily energy and belongs to the Nine of Pentacles.
What Papus Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, wrote that an auspicious Nine of Swords may indicate the duration of hatred.
This appears far-fetched. Hatred is an emotional response to bad karma (7th house) resulting from blaming someone or a situation for one’s misfortune. This appears to be a tertiary meaning at best.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, believed, like Arthur, that the Nine of Swords may foretell an ecclesiastic or priest, but also shady characters.
He suggested the primary meanings of distrust and suspicion.
Gregor added that the Nine of Swords may signify positive character traits, like conscience, integrity, and good faith (7th house), or negative traits like fear and doubt.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Swords
Mme. Le Marchand, a celebrated 19th-century Parisian fortune teller, suggested the Nine of Swords foretells a temptation to infidelity, but the temptation is withstood.
Likely, she considered the card’s connection to sexual energy and the Lovers’ card.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you have come to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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Delve into the psychological mysteries of the Tarot with the Enlightenment Tarot deck — a contemporary Tarot deck with authentic Tarot symbolism yet immersive illustrations designed for psychological Tarot readings.
Trace your querent’s challenges back to her weaknesses or inner demons. Shadow work made easy.
This exceptional Tarot deck is based on an objective and holistic, psychological framework: the Tree of Life. All minor and major cards feature psychological titles. For example, the Magician has the title ‘Attention’, and the Six of Cups has the title ‘Decision’. The court cards exhibit psychological profiles. For instance, the Queen of Wands stands for a willful woman: generous or stubborn, resolute or revengeful, intense or tyrannical, magnetic or dangerous.