I have been meditating on the 8 of Swords, as I mentioned in a previous article. While also reading about the question of Will, in spiritual, magical, and theological contexts, I keep finding the same rule. Will requires the reduction of options and possibilities. In the Spiritual Exercises of Loyola, in the Rule of Saint Benedict, or even in military life, there is always a surrender of personal will to a method, a rule, a spiritual guide, or a superior. This always comes with a strong mental or physical training, turning the person into an ascetic in the original sense of the word, an athlete of the spirit.
The 8 of Swords is a minor arcana in the mental and rational plane. Its decan is Jupiter in Gemini. So we have the planet of expansion, which is hot and moist, in a sign that is also hot and moist. The result is excessive. Jupiter loves to expand everything it touches and, in mutable Gemini, that expansion becomes a flood of options. The mind multiplies paths endlessly, unable to focus.
There is also a subtle double influence of Mercury. Gemini is ruled by Mercury and the number 8 is tied to Hod on the Tree of Life, the mercurial sphere of rational intellect. Everything in this card points to the thinking and rationalizing. Imagine someone trying to choose a holiday destination and getting stuck between dozens of possible places and postponing the decision. The same happens in any situation where too many choices create paralysis.
I rememeber an interview where Flake, keyboardist of Rammstein, spoke with nostalgia about the old East Germany. He said that back then, he went to a bar, asked for a beer, and got a beer. Today, with endless options (craft beers, IPAs, sours, and more) daily life is full of small, useless frictions. It is not an apology for the regime’s oppression, only a simple anedocte that captures the 8 of Swords in everyday form.
The same applies to Will. All classical methods aim to reduce those inner frictions. The vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, for example, are meant to free the one who accepts them. The paradox is fewer choices bring more freedom. It is the exact opposite of what modernity teaches, where more options = more happiness. The Operation of Abramelin, revived by the Golden Dawn, follows the same idea. A long, strict process of isolation and discipline, much like the practices of the cenobites and Desert Fathers that had to confront their own demons of dispersion alone in a cave.
The 8 of Swords is the weight of too many choices. Jupiter is not our friend in this case. It is a card of anti-asceticism, a mind trapped by excess. When it appears, its message is simple: Do as the ancient athlete did. Narrow your focus, reduce the noise, and move forward.
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