Kitchen Table Tarot

9 of swords, 8 of swords, 8 of pentacles

Hello friend, thank you for visiting me here today. There is so much you can choose to do with the hours you’re given, and I’m honored that you are spending a little bit of that with me. If the following resonates with you, I hope you find the guidance helpful; if not, I’m still happy to have you here. Let’s take a look at these cards, shall we?

So the 9 of Swords is, like many in the suit, a card of pain. Suffering, grief, anguish, haunted by things you regret and can’t stop thinking about. I like how in this deck, the Lightseer’s Tarot by Chris-Anne, the swords are represented by corvids—I’m not sure if crows or ravens—but the birds of that family are extremely clever creatures. Swords represent intelligence, logic, and to me, the pain that can result when we try too hard to suppress emotional responses in order to seem/feel more mature, capable, and adult. Another aspect, which I think these illustrations show really well, is how we can be trapped by overthinking and denying those human experiences that are seen and felt as unpleasant. We treat “negative” feelings as something to eradicate, trying to logic our way out of feeling the “ugly” feels, which only compounds it and makes it worse. The crows/ravens here are about to descend on this beleaguered figure, including one that may be a ghost, or the revival of memories and actions that cannot be undone. All they can do is hide their eyes and wish that they will soon wake from the nightmare. This could be the vibe of your current situation. You could be dealing with repressed traumas—things that you realized had actually been affecting you for years while insisting that you were fine and dealt with it in other ways, like self-medicating with a wide variety of distractions that are okay in moderation, but destructive when taken to extremes. Or maybe everything you’re dealing with feels just too big and too much—loneliness, social ills, job stress, questioning your identity, coping with illness, home and food insecurity, falling out with friends and loved ones. It might feel like everything inside of you wants to scream, but nothing will come out.

The 8 of Swords is a card of self-sabotage and victimization, illustrated fully by the binding and blindfolding in the image. While the crows/ravens seem to be in control, we can see that in actuality the person is not being attacked by anything, but mentally and spiritually they are under siege. It can feel like an attack, too, to understand and accept that—systemic injustices aside—you must take responsbility for turning your misery around. Even if traumatic things have come to pass in your life, you still have choices. You still have the power to decide to do things differently and do things for yourself instead of the people around you. You are stronger and more capable than you believe or have been led to believe, and the card shows it is something you can overcome. That said—how? How do you overcome things that feel insurmountable? The 8 of Pentacles suggests that you work. The interpretation of this varies on the individual and the situation. It could mean your literal job/career—putting more energy into being present in the path you’ve chosen. Or it could mean working on the nuts and bolts of whatever creative process to which you are partial. If you draw, work on the thing you have the most difficulty with, like hands or body proportions. If you write, work on the scenes and character development that feels the least exciting. You could take a class, read a book, or find a likeminded creative to learn from. Humble yourself to learn more in the material realm and you may find the keys to freeing yourself from a mental prison.

Thank you again for being here today. Go with peace and love, and remember, you are always welcome at my kitchen table. -KTT 🌻💛