Well, looks like it is a Swords kind of day; lots of focus on the workings of my mind.
The True Black X of Swords image shows a large Sword, point down and grounded, surrounded by nine other Swords with points up. Impaled on six of those Swords is a dead bird; sitting on the hilt of the large center Sword is a live bird. Behind the bird is an orange sun in a dark sky. The keywords for this card are crisis, breakdown, perseverance, and closure.
The VIII of Swords image shows eight Swords, all points facing downward, with one large Sword in the center. The blade of the center Sword is glowing almost to the hilt, brilliant yellow down at the tip and gradually getting more orange moving up the blade. One of the other smaller Swords is also glowing with a color more orange than yellow. The keywords for this card are test, crucible, stress, persecution.
The message here is pretty clear. The traditional image on the VIII of Swords shows a blindfolded and bound woman surrounded by eight Swords, points down into the rough and wet ground, with a large craggy mountain in the background. She appears to be trapped, but is she really? In the True Black Tarot, this card tells of a test, one that appears difficult if not impossible to pass, and of a struggle that is sapping our energy. However upon closer examination, we find that a few of the Swords that ring the large Sword in the center are broken. That center Sword may be glowing with the heat of effort, but the foes partially hidden by the gloom are not as sturdy and powerful as they seem to be. The X of Swords reinforces this. A battle has occurred and six dead birds impaled on Swords with other Swords surrounding them, are all evidence of a brutal fight. But the fight is over and sun has risen in the dark morning sky, and a survivor is perched atop the center Sword, ready to face the new morning. Yes, there has been suffering and trauma and mental stress, but there is also completion. The limitations we see upon first glance within both of these card images are not as limiting as they first appear; they can only hold us back if we let them.
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