The Eight of Swords is also known as the Lord of Shortened Force and is aligned with Jupiter in Gemini. It represents an inability to take decisive action and worry about a situation that immobilises you.
It describes being caught in a situation where you feel you are damned if you do and damned if you don't so you close your eyes and hope that the situation will resolve itself.
If you can't see what surrounds you then maybe it will pass you by. But like the child who plays peek-a-boo, hiding behind your hand does not guarantee your invisibility and your protection. Sooner or later the situation must be faced and dealt with.
The thing about this card, and look at the imagery to confirm it, is that the woman is surrounded by the swords and the other dangers but still remains unaffected by them. Because she is blindfolded, her senses perhaps are more acute, but they are also not telling her that if she could only see what surrounds her she could formulate a plan of escape rather than cowering in fear.
This card describes accurately the power of the mind to cripple us when we are not looking at the situation with a critical eye - our thoughts tell us that we need to be fearful and that we have no power and so we act in accordance with this belief. But it is simply not true.
It is time to take away the metaphorical blindfold and understand that you are more powerful and aware than you realise. Instead of the swords being barriers to your freedom, you can use them as allies to cut through all the barriers and blocks that stand in your way.
And so it is with one's thoughts, which is what the swords represent. You may use your thoughts to create a powerful and meaningful reality, one that serves you - the sword and the mind for that matter,are just tools after all. When you understand this properly, you will no longer be bound by fear or lack of understanding of your own power.
Ask yourself - what limited belief systems do you hold that, if you turned them on their heads, would offer you the freedom that you so crave?
Image from "Team Chow III - Tarot Cards" © Pavel Elagin