10 of Swords

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Diana	01 Dec 2002
Baba-prague (Karen) asked me in another thread what my take is of the 10 of Swords, because I do not see it as necessarily bad or scary. I said I'd start up a new thread, so as not to get off-topic. So here is my take. So that no-one gets all upset about my way of expressing certain opinions, let me remind everyone that this is just my point of view and that I am not laying down the law, because you are all free to believe whatever you like. Okay? This is just my understanding, at the present time in my life, of the 10 of Swords. Forget that Rider-Waite card with the guy sprawled on a deserted beach like a squashed jelly-fish with 10 enormous Swords sticking out of his back. Whenever I see this card, I snigger. Not nice of me, I know, but hey, I am no angel. I am allowed to snigger. What is a 10? What is a Sword? That is what we have to look at. What is a 10? A 10 is the first number with two figures. The only one that integrates so perfectly the yin/yang aspect (1 and 0). 10 is the number of perfection, in the pythagorean system. It's the number that includes both the divine and the human. The Tetrakytis : 1+2+3+4 = 10. The All, the Absolute, Harmony. The 1 is the beginning, the 0 is Ouroboros, the snake that bites it's tail - the principle of Eternity. A ten is the end of a cycle, and the beginning of a new one. Don't forget the Wheel of Fortune. Now, what happens when this 10 gets associated with the Swords, or rather, the Element of Air? What is Air? Air is the breath of Life, the breath of Spirit. Air raises our consciousness higher and higher away from material realms. Air can penetrate everything - even the tiniest little nook and cranny (so can Water, by the way). Air needs no support in order to exist - it is highly independent. Air is the first thing a human being needs in order to live. It is more important than water and food. Air in Tarot relates often to creativity, to ideas, to intuition. It is not the most practical of the elements (the most practical is the Coins or so-called "pentacles". I say so-called, because that is another of my pet-peeves which I will be only too happy to bring up if someone is interested. All you need to do is ask.) The Air element allows man to discriminate between the true and the false. The Mental is wide awake. Now I ask you: When you put a 10, and the Element Air together, what do you get? Do you get a guy lying flat on his stomach like in some melodramatic B-series sitcom? Or do you get someone who has reached a state where he is ready to accomplish great new projects? Someone who has reached such a state of mental dynamics that all he has to do is to reach out his hands and DO. This card is one of the most powerful of all the minors. There are dangers inherent in this card. Dangers that the person may NOT put into action what they have achieved on the mental level, will stagnate and will waste all their potential. Then their minds will start rotting. Also, this card can bring along a sense of responsibility, and it would be wise to retain some humility. I could go on for a few more pages, but I think this suffices for the moment. Otherwise the post gets too long. Baba-prague/Karen: May I suggest you look into the Marseilles decks for some inspiration, and not only the Rider-Waite decks and clones? And also, just look at the number. Associate it with the element. That's all there is to it. Number+Element. It's as simple as that.

Diana	01 Dec 2002
ihcoyc started up a great thread some time back on Swords, by the way, where the 10 of Swords is discussed. Here is the link: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?threadid=7417

WolfSpirit	01 Dec 2002
Thanks for this explanation Diana :) From other threads I have noticed that many people are struggling with the rider-waite meanings of the swords that seem to involve an awful lot of pain and anguish. I am now doing my daily draws with the Animal Wise tarot- which is not a standard deck and may not be to everyone's taste, but the meanings make a lot of sense to me. Well the AW has for 10 swords the peacock and the keywords are: new cycle of death and resurrection. The situation becomes problematic, when we don't realise a cycle has ended: things become difficult and we don't know why. If we don't realise that everything we have to leave behind will be replaced by something new, this may lead to depression. It also mentions the phoenix, a legendary bird of resurrection, sacrificed in the fires of life, and then rising from the flames out of its own ashes. This makes a lot of sense to me. BTW please tell us about the pentacles.

baba-prague	01 Dec 2002
Thanks Diana, I've sent a private message, but also to say that I have the Marseilles and I suppose like many others went on to the Rider Waite because the books I'm reading (like Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom) refer so much to it. I'll get the Marseilles out again and have a rethink. In talking about the number "10" you reminded me of a friend of mine who was a mathmatician. He said that when he got up in the middle of the night with that kind of "what is life for?" feeling that can hit you at four in the morning, he used to pull out a calculator and go though a sequence. I will try to remember it exactly, but I know it started with "10", which you then divided (I think by 3 to get 3.333333333.....) and then divided again, and I think once again (this is the bit I can't quite remember) - and the final sequence came out as 1.23456789. He said that the symmetry of the whole thing made him feel that the world was in balance. So - I will think more, as you suggest, about the number "10". Also - got to say it - I'm glad someone else confesses to sniggering at the RWS 10 of swords. I had a giggle about it last week and felt almost guilty - I'm glad it has that effect on someone else! When we come up with a proposed design for our 10 of swords can I put it up here for some comments? I promise not to take offence if anyone sniggers - as long as you tell me your honest opinion... Karen

mehrdad	02 Dec 2002
Diana, That was really great! Specially, relating Numbers with Elements that you discussed so eloquently sparked a lot of ideas in my mind. Please enlighten us (me) more often.

divinerguy	02 Dec 2002
The cards are what you make of them. Like your home, you can dress it up however you please. For me, the 10 of swords is always going to be bad juju. On the other hand, I don't see the Tower as being necessarily a bad thing. Go figure.

SlyR	02 Dec 2002
divinerguy: I agree that different cards can mean different things for different people, but I would go one step further and add "...at different times, in different positions within different spreads." I like to give the cards a lot of flexibility. Context is most important. Plus, I'd add one element to the interpretation of small suited cards: Sephiroth. How does Malkuth affect the 10 of Swords, or any other 10?

Diana	03 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by WolfSpirit Well the AW has for 10 swords the peacock and the keywords are: new cycle of death and resurrection. (.......) BTW please tell us about the pentacles. WolfSpirit: Your 10 of Swords sounds interesting. What exactly is the peacock doing on the card? Strutting around with his beautiful tail feathers fanned out? I would be curious to see a scan of this picture. (Oh, and about the pentacles: that's off-topic, but it's the old story that Waite (deliberately, I have read) "mistook" the word "pantacle", which meant "talisman", and turned it into "pentacle" rather innocently, which suited his needs at that time. His needs were to use the Tarot for Golden Dawn stuff. And why not? It's a free world. Trouble is, most anglo-saxons seem to think that his way of interpreting the Tarot is the only way, and I find that a big pity. However, where he found the original word "pantacle" to describe Coins, I have no idea. There were never any "pentacles" before Waite. This began when Tarot started being used for Golden Dawn Magical (Magickal) stuff.)

Original Destiny	03 Dec 2002
:tfool ....the ten of swords is the NADIR..the lowest point...this might seem bad but looking at it from the opposite...this is it...things can only get better! so at the lowest point hope is the thing!

Laurel	03 Dec 2002
Thank you for your point of view Diana. It was very helpful. I'm very biased against the 10 of Swords, and remarkably, particularly biased when it comes up in the Hanson-Roberts deck. That's because when my daughter Mariah was young, and I did readings about her in my life, it ~always~ showed up in that part of the spread. I was really afraid she'd die young. Well, she's 11 years old and healthy and smart and beautiful.... but I have suffered tremendous pain and loss over her b/c of the deceitful way her father tricked me into signing over permanant custody, and the way he's controlled and limited my relationship with her every step of the way. So I tend to view the 10 of Swords in a negative way. However, I am sure that if I hadn't had this particular series of events and associated them so much with that card, I'd be more open-minded. I hate it when something "personal" affects my association with any card in an extreme way, but I'm not over this one yet, not even after 7 years. Laurel

MeeWah	03 Dec 2002
Diana: I ditto Laurel's comment. This card is one instance where a non-illustrated pip might serve better; or create a less prejudicial reaction. Laurel: I heartily agree that personal experiences & events can affect the way one views a card. Given the strong emotional qualities that accompany such an association, there are lasting effects. 'Tis evident the love ye bear for your daughter. If she does not already know, perhaps she will know the truth one day soon that the custody arrangement is not of your doing. I think in some states, a child can be consulted as young as 12 regarding preference. I hope I am not going too much off-topic to tell ye that I can personally relate to a negative association albeit the card that oft grabs me in the gut is the RWS Ace-Swords. It presaged the break-up of my marriage (appeared first in a dream) & its ensuing events, including deception, manipulation, cruelty. That was years ago; my ex no longer has the same power to affect me, but at times when I see the Ace-Swords, I get a familar gut-wrenching feeling & I remember how it appeared back then.

Talisman	04 Dec 2002
'Lo all, It is wonderful when folks are able to find a jolly light in a deeply troubled situation, like Diana has with the 10 of Swords. Alas, there are times when a dark cloud really does hide the sun from up above. Laurel's story, MeeWah's story, are so sad. Someday Laurel's daughter will know. Time will heal MeeWah's wounds. But the hurt in the past will always be there. Tarot reflects both the light and shadows. To say I was deeply touched doesn't help a damn bit, so -- I'm with divinerguy. I mean a guy sprawled there, with 10 swords jammed into him, piercing his spine and vitals, and even his pips are punctured, this can't be good, right? So, from Talisman's "Tarot for the Really, Truly Simple Minded" this mnemonic for the 10 of swords: (Candles flicker in the still air, the beaded curtains rattle, the music strikes a weird minor chord, and the reader says in a low, sinister voice -- ) Peanut sitting on the railroad track, His heart is all a flutter-- 'Round the bend Comes a hundred and ten, Toot! Toot! Peanut Butter. Talisman

Alex	04 Dec 2002
offers a very positive interpretation for this card. It portrays the Judgement of Orestes, who's finally set free from the curse that hanged over his family. A curse that he was not responsible for to begin with but which gave him a lot of pain. May be you are the first woman in 5 generations of co-dependent wives who decides to take charge of your life and send off your alcooholic, abusive husband to take charge of his. "From now on there'll be no co-dependent battered woman in my family", and that's a 10 of Swords. Whenever there's someone saying, "I've had it, enough is enough", there's a good probability, that's a 10 of Swords. I don't see bad in it. Now, what's great about the 10 of Swords: there's no 11 of swords in the Tarot. Alex.

raveneye	05 Dec 2002
I like your take, and the mind that made it... I like Vicki Noble's (I think) interpretation - the ideas that one has held as gospel have brought only "ruin" ( a traditional assignment for this card), what once was believed to be true and absolute has cracked and opened a way to renewed thinking, symbolized by the braiding that connects the body's arm to the Earth. It is a very powerful card and I thank you for your citatations about the number ten...after the agony of the nine of swords, the ten can be a welcome release from blind faith and rigid adherance to outmoded opinions Namaste Raveneye

Laurel	06 Dec 2002
Alex- that was a great positive look at the 10 of Swords. Thank you!

WolfSpirit	07 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Diana WolfSpirit: Your 10 of Swords sounds interesting. What exactly is the peacock doing on the card? Strutting around with his beautiful tail feathers fanned out? I would be curious to see a scan of this picture. Diana, I'm not at home right now and don't have the animal wise with me. If I remember correctly the peacock is showing its lovely feathers, but I'll check when I get back and try if I can get the card scanned.

allibee	07 Dec 2002
I like Alex and Raveneye's take on the ten, but isn't it a bit similar to Death - the cosmic roadsweeper coming along to sweep away outmoded thoughts and patterns of behaviour? allibee

Sea Sprite	07 Dec 2002
Diana, Thanks for the interpretation! I use the Rider-Waite and struggle with it. So now I am working with Russian tarot of St Petersburg doing daily one card draws. :D

Karenwhe	07 Dec 2002
Allibee mentioned that the 10 of Sword and Death are similar and I decided explain the differences from my point of view (thought they are similar at first glance). The main difference I see between those cards is the earthly matter and spiritual matters (so to speak). As the both supposed to say something similar there are major differences. I will try to explain: 1. I don’t think that in our life time we will ever see a skeleton riding a horse in the sun set/rise. But we can see a guy stabbed or get stabbed (so to speak) in the back with one or more swords (you can also imagine knifes, guns and other earthly weapons for that matter). Hence, Death is something more spiritual or cosmic or whatever, or just simply not mundane, an event or set of events that changes ones thinking (this is put in a mild way), changes a way of life a path or whatever. The event or events may be very mundane but the transition and rebirth is at a different level. This change is of an important sort, the old dies while new stuff comes. But again, you don’t need to feel yet the old dead nor do you know, feel or see the new coming as yet – but Death comes to illustrate that bigger picture. As an example: one may get divorced and Death may show in a spread, but Death is not the one talking about the divorce. Death will illustrate the transition of the old that finished and the new to come. Other cards will be the once that will details the pains or glories of the divorce and everything else entailed in it. 2. The 10 of Swords is more mundane and definitely from my opinion not cosmic, but in the same time more painful and shorter in terms of events and time span. Why more painful? Because we humans feel the pain more when something attacks are our immediate life not some ideas of change, transition and rebirth, even though Death is more powerful we still feel more the 10 of Swords. 3.Why shorter? Because it just deals with earthly matters, and earthly matters as we all know bad or good don’t last forever (but they are the once creating our highs and low in life). 10 of Swords may leave scars, but the scars will be illustrated by other cards. On the other hand, Death which portrays a state of transition and rebirth can last for a long time and in this transition many events can occur some wonderful some not so wonderful (all depends how open we are to change). I am personally going through a major time of transition and it has been this way for 1.5 years now and not over yet. 4. I also find that Death is more significant than 10 of Swords and therefore as a card I can’t interpret it alone. To fully understand Death and its facets I had to open more than one spread usually. While 10 of Sword can be an event and can be at times interpreted by itself, or alternately the card can illustrate one thing only. Death from my experience never illustrates one thing but many things that sum up in a major transition. For the last notes: I think Alex mentioned that the good thing about 10 of Swords is that there is no 11 of Swords. Well there need not be, just by seeing the 10 of Swords in so many spreads over a long period of time can be the 11 and 12 and 13 of Swords. Cards may not have 11 or 12 or 13 in any suit but that does not stop life to make things more painful or joyful. I think that Laurel just experienced the 12 and 13 and 14 of Swords in the custody events of her daughter. I agree that the RW deck is a bit offish (or some cards in it are), but then again our life sometimes a bit offish, and I personally like to use the RW because it gives that little bit of extreme that jumps at you when you need it in a reading. It is not all nice and pretty, as life never really is and I like to live in a realistic world and understand things for what they are and what they supposed to teach me (but that is just me and my personal opinion). I see the RW deck using a higher frequency than other decks, but then again I like to read that frequency (frequencies is another theory of mine and doesn’t belong to this thread so I will leave it at that).

Alex	07 Dec 2002
the strong association people seem to make between the numbers in the suit of swords and the amount of pain contained in a situation. Technically speaking, at least, this suit deals with ideas and beliefs, and the results they may have in one's life. Pain is a possible outcome of holding certain assumptions; of having followed a particular path because of one's ideals, ideas, of lack thereoff. I'll use an example from my own life because I know how much I can duel on it without constraining other people. Two years after I married someone gave me an unrequested yet acknowledged rel. reading. The "present situation" card was the A of Swords and the outcome was the 10 of Swords. I still remember how sceptic I was of what that lady said to me, for my husband and I seemed to be doing fine. OK, now, my marriage had a somewhat dramatic end, and that was the outcome of the crash between my ex- and I's belief systems, ways of looking at life, "issues", shadows, psychological problems, or whatever you wanna call it. Don't think however that my struggle ended there, for I had a custody battle, and lots of other little struggles to go through. I'm still paying my deeds to that bad idea I had, to marry that man. As I see it, the 10 of Swords marked the end of a cycle and as I was sett off into another, not so promissing but yet ANOTHER, cycle, I have had a certain amount of pain and the chance to make something else out of my life. It's not that, IF I suffer, it is less, or more than before; it's that, if I suffer, it is within a different context, for that one had no possible continuity. Of course on a divinatory level the 10 of Swords may be taken to signify things that don't strictly comply with the numerological and suits associations and that's fine. I just wanted to give a second input on it that better explained my thoughts. They are just thoughts for I have no much exp. reading Tarot. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Karenwhe I think Alex mentioned that the good thing about 10 of Swords is that there is no 11 of Swords. Well there need not be, just by seeing the 10 of Swords in so many spreads over a long period of time can be the 11 and 12 and 13 of Swords. Cards may not have 11 or 12 or 13 in any suit but that does not stop life to make things more painful or joyful. I think that Laurel just experienced the 12 and 13 and 14 of Swords in the custody events of her daughter.

Alex	07 Dec 2002
take so lightly. When people tell me about "live after Death" I can't prevent myself from secretly smiling. It's not Life as we know, after Death. It can't be, for everything that is left behind and we can't ignore. I have a hard time with the Death card. I think it entails, among other things, some mourning. We don't arrive on the other end without having left a whole lot behind. And compare, after the 10 of Swords, there's nothing. The Ace may be? After Death, there's a whole lot, like the need to come to terms with it. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by allibee I like Alex and Raveneye's take on the ten, but isn't it a bit similar to Death - the cosmic roadsweeper coming along to sweep away outmoded thoughts and patterns of behaviour? allibee

Karenwhe	07 Dec 2002
Alex I totally agree with the Death card when looked upon in that way. Nevertheless as everything in life there are two sides to the coin. 1. I personally believe, and I emphasize "Personally" that Death in the tarot cards has nothing to do with death or afterlife. I do know people who connect/channel through tarot with spirits, but that is another story all together. I also believe that death as per say should never be predicted in tarot cards or any other form of deviation as only God has control of that issue and the check-out time. Therefore Death to me is transition and the rest on that I wrote previously. 2. On the afterlife stuff. I would recommend from the bottom of my heart to read this url: http://www.globalpsychics.com/lp/SpiritWays/afterlife.htm, and other stuff in that web site. This is for a good giggle or further understanding or whatever but there are quite some perspectives written there. From my opinion for anyone ever wondering about afterlife this page can be interesting to read and also other pages there. This site has also tarot stuff, but I never go there for the tarot stuff, in any case the index is here: http://www.globalpsychics.com/lp/index_psychic.html I pasted two urls as the site is quite big and stuff is not easy to find unless you know your way around it. On the practical side of things if you are interested in that stuff here is a url for all sorts of divinations and people channeling with spirits in chat rooms and some people channeling through tarot with spirits: http://www.psychic-chat.org/index.php Hope that helps.

Alex	07 Dec 2002
I'm a member of that forum and I visit the chat rooms once in a while. I can't prevent myself from being weary of the media, i.e., the Internet. I feel extreemly insecure when I can't see the person on the other end, in a real time situation. But it's interesting, no doubt about it. In Brazil, where I have lived most of my life, there's a common cult called "candomblé". The people who practice it claim, they communicate with spirits, and that they "receive" them into their bodies etc. On new years eve, they go on the beach, dressed in white, "get spirit", perform cures, speak other languages etc. I've witnessed it many, many times, in different situations. The only widely available record of that, that I know of, is a French movie called "Black Orpheus", made in the late 60's. Some incredible stories exist and I've always wondered about them. And wondered. May be at some point I can tell some of them in the "spirituality" aeclectic forum. Anyway, thanks for the sites. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Karenwhe On the practical side of things if you are interested in that stuff here is a url for all sorts of divinations and people channeling with spirits in chat rooms and some people channeling through tarot with spirits: http://www.psychic-chat.org/index.php Hope that helps.

tarotbrat	08 Dec 2002
Hi Diana, Thanks for sharing what your idea on the 10 of swords means to you. I am currently taking a beginners class on tarot and I remember all the things I am learning on this forum and also what one of my best friends teaches me. If you have anymore idea's, please share them because I would love to read more and incorporate them in my readings as well. Thanks!

firemaiden	14 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Alex In Brazil, where I have lived most of my life, there's a common cult called "candomblé". The people who practice it claim, they communicate with spirits, and that they "receive" them into their bodies etc. On new years eve, they go on the beach, dressed in white, "get spirit", perform cures, speak other languages etc. I've witnessed it many, many times, in different situations. The only widely available record of that, that I know of, is a French movie called "Black Orpheus", made in the late 60's. Some incredible stories exist and I've always wondered about them. And wondered. May be at some point I can tell some of them in the "spirituality" aeclectic forum. -------------- HI! (Is this wrong to ressurrect an old thread?) I just read through this thread...Alex I saw Black Orpheus ... do people still practice candomblé? That was truly amazing film.

Alex	14 Jan 2003
off-topic so as to say. Yes, they still practice it. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden HI! (Is this wrong to ressurrect an old thread?) I just read through this thread...Alex I saw Black Orpheus ... do people still practice candomblé? That was truly amazing film.

firemaiden	14 Jan 2003
Diana's positive reading of the card is very interesting to me. Her rationale for a positive reading of the card makes perfect sense, though the RW picture doesn't go with it for me, and the 10 of Swords on my new Dürer deck even less, nevertheless, the LWB says to read it positively. Why? I am quite puzzled: the Dürer Ten of Swords shows:a very dead looking man lying on his back with one sword in the heart, one sword in each breast, one in the liver or something, and one in the thigh. The remaining swords are staked all around him. The wounds are all oozing blood. To me this looks much worse than the RW ten swords in the back, yet the LWB said: <<upper hand over every obstacle; improved life, positive forces and vibrations>> ... I thought "Hunh???? Where are you Riccardo? Che c'è???? I thought it might rather mean: a past accumulation of un-resolved wounds that are now paralysing/numbing, creating immobility.

firemaiden	14 Jan 2003
Is there any tradition with the 10 of swords for the wounds having any symbolic significance? i.e., stigmata? or something to do with chakras or something?

sagitarian	14 Jan 2003
wow, this is intriquing and there's so much to read. First of all, thank you for sharing Diana this is a wonderful thread that you started! As for my 2 cents...I can see where Diana is coming from, I also know that swords is suppose to represent air aka the mind or intellectual on goings. To me, swords is a symbol of violence, and to me the most violent element is fire. So, I associate fire with swords...however, to save a bunch of arguing on this here's my thoughts on the ten of swords. If I was to see it to represent air, then to me, I would interpret the card meaning to be a intellectual struggle. This is the time to use your creative mind to help you in the matter at hand, otherwise, you will find misery. Use your brain or else! Hope isn't lost (then again, is it ever?) but your not seeing the big picture. Stop focusing on the inner emotional issues at hand and start using your brain to figure out how to get out of the mess that your in. It's not going to be easy, as this is a huge messy situation. However, if you CAN manage it, your life will be richer b/c of it. Death ~ Tranisition, the beginning of a new experience/journey/type or way of life. Something is being put "away" or behind you as you move on to a new beginning. Accept the change as best you can. It may bring a darkness right now, but at the end of the tunnel, there will be a better you. The difference ~ 10 of swords is the "here and now" and may be dealing with something minor, (and it does come up with major issues too) like an issue with a friend, or a stupid arguement. The death card is a card that represents something that will stay with you for the rest of your life, a MAJOR change (it can and has come up with lil changes too) like divorce, career change, buying a house, etc. Again, just my opinion and two cents worth.

juice	27 Jan 2003
I thought I should revive this thread as the most recent one on the 10 of swords rather than start a new one. As I've been thinking about the 10 of Swords and looking at cards and reading in a few places a theory has been bouncing around my head for that mostly disliked picture in the RWS deck. Just imagine if you will Pamela and Arthur sitting around talking about the designs for their deck. Both of them have done some of their own study or at least their own thinking about the meaning of each of the cards. Some of the descriptions of the cards are almost as if the author AEW had never seen the cards. But that was later. A and P are sitting there talking. Pamela says "I can show a stack of coins. I can show someone doing something. I can even see someone crying over spilt milk. What we're going to have a killer problem over is showing what is happening inside somebody's head." After some long convoluted discussion about the 10 of Swords Arthur asks if she can see it yet. Pamela answers "After all that mental wandering, the only word you said that I can see hanging a picture off of is the word overkill. The ten of Wands is carying around this huge bundle for overworked. 10 of Cups is overjoyed. You'll tell everyone that swords are mental and not physical. Right?" At this point I wonder if I should add in from Arthur "yes yes the publisher wants a picture on every card. It's only a minor." And so was born the card that everyone loves to hate, the picture representation of a single keyword that is worse than the key word itself. :P I keep wondering if PCS designed the cards, the minors at least and AEW got the credit as was VERY common at the start of the 20th century.

Mimers	27 Jan 2003
Juice- I think you were right on with that and I love the way you went into the minds of the creator. I just want to add that neither one of those cards ever bothered me. Why you ask? Because when I see the ten of swords all it does is remind me of how I feel when there is so much to worry about, jobs, kids, responsabilities, my mind just wants to explode!(nine of swords)Too much thinking. I go hike a mountain or take a walk by the river and I leave the mom, the business woman, the budget manager, meal cooker (you get it), I leave it all behind they are no longer a part of me and I set myself free. The man in the 10 of swords is free not to think. It is a wonderful feeling. May not be the tradition interpretation, but it is alway what I think of when I see it. I would love to comment on the death card too, but I have to pick my daughter up from Girlscouts!(See what I mean!)

juice	30 Jan 2003
Ahhh now theres an image for the 10 of swords. Not so much freedom to not think, the jailhouse has gone into lockdown to keep the prisoners from joining the riot. I would see freedom to not think as 4 of swords. But jail IS a kind of freedom from having to move. The syntax error from five has become abend as another stated in earlier thread. :) It's the divide by zero. Other referrences could be the 601 code from Andromida Strain, the Daleks running around groaning illogical or Robby the robot waving his arms "that does not compute". The picture in RWS is one of those this-is-what-happens when the card comes true. Can you think of a time when your brain went into overload that something didn't go to hell in a hand basket? The first stage of recovery from tauma (9 of swords) is denial. Or is that the last stage of trauma is overload? Does that mean the 10 of Swords is also the obsession card? (Overkill, had to get my original key word back in ya know.) :P Viewing it that way we bring the 9 and 10 back into the realm of mental process and away from emotional. The upside view is the circuit breaker on your house electric keeps the house from burning down. I love these threads where we tear a card apart atom by atom.

Moongold	30 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by divinerguy The cards are what you make of them. Like your home, you can dress it up however you please. I think I agree. It is interesting to consider how some astrological writers see air. This is similar to the way you defined it, Diana: The Air realm is the world of archetypal ideas beyond the veil of the physical world; in the air element the cosmic energy is actualized into specific patterns of thought. The Air signs have the inner need to detach themselves from the immediate exprience of daily life, and thus to gain objectivity, perspective and a reflective approach to everything they do. (Arroyo) In the Osho Zen deck Swords are represented as Clouds = Mind and the 10 Clouds is called Rebirth. The card is beautiful and says that whatever the situation is right now, it will change, evolve into something else. The Shining Tribe deck represents Swords as Birds. Birds are messengers of the Gods. They may be associated with foreboding but generally Rachel Pollack gives much more positive interpretations than traditional Tarot. The 10 Birds shows fantastic birds hovering near a woman. They could be seen as brilliant ideas or frightening ones. I guess it depends on your perspective. I would prefer to interpret the traditional RW 10 Swords as meaning simply that something has finished, a cycle has ended. Implicit in some of the various contributions to this thread has been the thought that everything depends on your perspective and on how you're feeling at the time. If I'm feeling really down and fearful I'm more likely to experience some cards as negative. I dislike some of the traditional Tarot images intensely as they are so full of mediaeval heaviness. My experience has been that the cards seem always to give hope in some way and there is very often a sense of irony, sometimes outright humour in the most desperate situations. The familiar figure punctured with 10 Swords often makes me smile now. It is a grotesque image, so bad that it begs not to be taken literally. This is merely my opinion. Moongold

firemaiden	30 Jan 2003
Since Moongold mentioned many other 10 of Swords cards, I thought I would mention the beautiful 10 of Swords from the Roots of Asia deck. This is what I see: it is a red eagle-- a phoenix-- rising, over ten blazoning swords. His spreading wings, outstretched like a cloak, drape the form of a portal, through which we see a churning sea of clouds the colors of fiery dawn and sunset; and above the eagle's head, the bleak entrace to infinity. The ten swords point upwards like spears of light, forming a formidable barriar to the portal; but the rising eagle, unpierces himself from them as he rises, and the way will clear. The Phoenix theme obviously emphasises the death and resurrection aspect, the cycle end and rebirth; the barred and clearing portal...a new way of seeing things that will open??

mags@Treadwells	07 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Talisman [/b] : Peanut sitting on a railroad track... ...Toot! toot! Peanut Butter LOL! Wicked. Yess, I always tend to smirk whenit turns up too, as it's one of THOSE loud&clear cards that tells me tons about the client/someone round them & how they react.

mags@Treadwells	07 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by baba-prague Thanks Diana, So - I will think more, as you suggest, about the number "10". Also - got to say it - I'm glad someone else confesses to sniggering at the RWS 10 of swords. I had a giggle about it last week and felt almost guilty - I'm glad it has that effect on someone else! you have PM on this x

The 10 of Swords thread was originally posted on 01 Dec 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.