What a sorry state we can feel about ourselves and our situation when we get the Eight of Swords in a reading. The person on the card is bound by a blindfold and wrapped up in white cloth, symbolizing that they have been wound up in their own thoughts and cannot find a way out. Thus, the Eight of Swords suggests that you may need to look upon a situation from a different angle.
Self-imposed boundaries have limited your advancement—either literally or figuratively. You cannot see the available choices, because you’re not in the right mindset to choose. Too many ideas, many of them based on fear, are running through your mind. Such rigid or overthinking is keeping you from pulling the blindfold off.
When looking at the card, the person amongst the swords does indeed some like a victim, a person in distress in need of saving. Should you see a part of yourself in this figure, then it is time for you to regain your lost sense of self. Open your eyes to what lies ahead. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with what is available, the end of the road will certainly be better than where you are now. Also, you don’t have to be constrained by others’ values. You are your own person.
A key symbol often found in this card is that the bindings are loose and not tied off. This means that releasing yourself from this situation can be a lot easier than you may think it to be.
