Gemini in the Druidcraft Minor Arcana: The Eight of Swords

In the system I follow, the first of the Minors that’s associated with Gemini is the Eight of Swords. This is linked to Jupiter in Gemini, as well as to the first ten days of the sign – so this year, from the 21^st to 30^th of May.

Gemini is the mutable Air sign – exchange of knowledge and information through networks, through language and ideas.  It’s about communication, as well as the market place.  Jupiter brings the desire to grow and expand through developing a wider range of skills, through broadening our learning.  It takes Gemini’s need to dip into a variety of interests and turns that into a way to bring greater meaning to life.  Jupiter is in detriment in Gemini, though – so the faith and optimism that we tend to associate with Jupiter can be hindered by excessive worrying, or over-analysis – and even by the constantly changing curiosity of Gemini.  And that, for me, is the clue to Jupiter in Gemini’s association with the Eight of Swords.

Druidcraft: Eight of Swords (detail)

The Eight of Swords has come to represent the idea of being restricted by our thoughts, about not being able to see (or choosing not to see) things as they really are. Most images show a woman blindfolded, but loosely bound, surrounded by eight swords. The ties that bind her do not necessarily prevent escape, and there is space between the swords so that she could walk away.  

The number ‘8’ is associated with re-birth/death or regeneration, both in tarot and in astrology, through the 8^th house, so we’re looking at ending old or invalid ideas and beliefs, and the beginning of something new. That ‘something new’ is symbolized by a the new growth in the background in the Druidcraft deck – something that’s hard to see if you’re blindfolded.  That combination of blindfold, ties, and barrier of swords represents the excessive worrying, or the over-thinking of Jupiter in detriment in Gemini.  

Gerd Zielger, in his ‘Tarot: Mirror of the Soul’ (published by Weiser Books), writes about Jupiter being a ‘harbinger of the unforeseen and unexpected change for the better’, and that it’s this, rather than trying to come up with an ‘analytical’ Gemini-type solution to the problem, that will show us the way out.  Jupiter is a gaseous planet:  gas, when heated, expands – so there is a way out!  We need to take of the blindfold – develop our reasoning so that we can see the fears and worries for what they are, and allow ourselves to trust (also symbolized by the bird) in ourselves – to have faith and hope in not only ourselves but also in life.  There’s a way out if you stop and breathe – taking a deep breath, expanding (Jupiter) the lungs (Gemini)!

Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections