Mystic Monkey: The 8 of Swords

All righty, back to classic Mystic Monkey! In which I return to the original Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck for my one-card draw–just in time to leave town again and probably not post again ’til I’m back! Woo!!

Eck. Sorry. ‘Tis been one of those years with a lot of back-and-forth and disruption, and I’m horrible at maintaining routine during these times. I absolutely could maintain routine, I have the ability to, but I get overwhelmed when pulled in different directions, and my reaction is to just freeze. Press pause until distractions magically disappear and the time is somehow “right.” Which is probably why today’s card pops up for me so often…the Eight of Swords.

While the Swords can be a scary suit, I must say I love this card. It looks negative at a glance–and the situation it calls out is indeed not positive, per se–but it’s really quite empowering. Or maybe that’s what I have to tell myself because, as I said, I get this one a lot. Why? Because I’m constantly stuck in my head. My mind whirs with this thought and that, and it gets to where I’m paralyzed with indecision or fear. But it’s all in my head.

Look at this gal, for instance. She’s blindfolded, bound up, and seemingly trapped within a cage of swords, but they don’t form a complete circle, so if she could just see clearly, she’d realize she can just step right out of her confinement. There is nothing and no one else keeping her there but herself. And if she really thought it through clearly, she could even use one of those swords to cut herself loose from those ropes. In a nutshell, she has psyched herself out, wallowing in emotion that gets her stuck in the mud like the puddles at her feet. She might be throwing herself one righteous pity-party in her mind, but this card is a call to escape that victim mentality and free ourselves from the cages of our own making. It’s just a matter of shifting our mindset, gaining a new perspective and realizing that we have the ability to take our power back after giving it away in the first place. We truly do have control over our situation–at the very least, how we choose to think and feel about it–which is why this card rules. It calls you out on your shit and reassures that you can make the changes you want once you shed your self-limiting beliefs. Mind over matter. So, get over it and get going!

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Crystal pairing: epidote to enhance personal power.