The Wild Unknown Tarot - X Swords

karen0205

Everybody's really hard on that 10 of swords. Hey, 10 of swords is supposed to be a little dark. Dark things (like bullfighting, for example) really exist, so it seems to me that including it in this manner is quite appropriate. The fact that its a bit disturbing means its doing its job well.

I think it's more disturbing because you normally don't see the face of the person in
the 10 of Swords, let alone swords through their eyes. It's just kind of over the top for
me. .... I would have preferred a more subtle version of this card.
I agree that there have to be dark cards but they don't have to be vulgar, which I think
this is. I would feel the same way if it was a person's eyes or an animal's eyes. It's not
the fact that it's an animal shown in the illustration. I mean the Fool card doesn't show
a duckling splattered all over the ground after it fell off the cliff to get the point across, lol.
It seems to stick out from the rest of the deck's overall tone. Just my opinion.

It's a deal breaker for me with this deck. Whenever I try to use the deck, that card
jumps out at me and is distracting during a reading. I know I won't use the deck if there's
a cards like that. It's disappointing, I like the deck. It seems to be such a 'nature' deck
and all. I wonder the thought process behind the image.
 

crystalwings

The thin vertical lines to the back of this card are in disarray and show the fragile nature of this cards meaning giving no stability or strength to the mind. Coming from the depths of darkness at the bottom of the card, light gradual filters through as we draw to the top of the card. The filtered light is first noticed around the top of the bulls head, showing still a fragile state of mind but the worst is over. A diagonal black sword strikes through the eye sockets of the bull in a downward direction indicating the Subject cannot yet see an end in sight, as his thoughts are moving in a negative direction. The bulls head appears slightly raised off the ground coming away for the blackness, as the bull is a symbol of physical strength and power he will eventually lift his head high enough to acknowledge the light and see an end in sight. The bull’s crescent shaped horns resemble the Waning and waxing crescent moons, so time is not stood still. The black swords penetrate the bull at various diagonal angles, expressing the movement of negativity to over kill. The swords in the top part of this bulls back make me think of a bullfight ring, were humans cause pain to animal, symbolic of the pain and suffering people can caused to others.
 

WolfSpirit

Crystalwings, I love your interpretation!
 

crystalwings

Thank you WolfSpirit I've had the deck about a week... so far I'm enjoying the experience, although the 6 of swords brought some tears.
 

Pixna

As others have already stated, this is perhaps the most disturbing card in the deck. I have a very difficult time looking at it. I, too, have fought against bullfighting and find it horrific, and the cruelty depicted in this card is extremely painful and upsetting to see.

That said, the cards are metaphors, and the swords are as well. This isn't an actual bullfight. The bull (representing toughness, ferocity, strength, and dominance) was taken down by thoughts, ideas, and words. He was attacked and blinded by truth, or ignorance, or envy, or prejudice, or simply a difference of opinion.

Oh how we hurt each other with our thoughts and self-righteousness! Oh how we murder the spirit of others, no matter how tough they appear on the outside! Oh how we gang up and bully those who are different from us (and this surely was a ganging up of swords)! Oh how we mock and wish to destroy those who seem to threaten our own nature just by being who they are!

This bull was an innocent. He was just being a bull. He wasn't looking for trouble, but trouble found him anyway. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is free now, but the swords are not. They will rust in the rain (and reign of tears) that falls on them and be haunted by their actions for the rest of their lives.

This card exposes the darkest side of human nature, and that's what I think makes it so very painful to look at. It shows how we can take the life and spirit of others when we allow the lowest, basest part of ourselves to control us, and when we encourage others (or join forces with others) to do the same. This card is a warning: "Although we may be tempted to do so, we must not look away." Only when we acknowledge the worst (or recognize it in ourselves or others) can we take action for positive change.

I hope those who rejected this magnificent deck because they were horrified by this one card will look again. There is much here for us to learn (and to teach others), if we have the courage to not turn away.
 

Water Lady

important stuff pixna and well said. I got past the snakes and hung in there --this is a incredible deck, I keep reading that but until I started reading the views of the cards it did not hit me. it is full of symbolism and for this card, melodrama really fits
 

Sagefire

I have never felt that I "get" this card. I am struggling with a situation in my life where a great amount of change is occurring and I seem to be unable to let it go, or just relax and stop over thinking. Then this fella pops up, and my initial reaction is, "Are you kidding me...!? ...yeah, I see it...shut up already." For some reason, I never thought about the person on this card being dead. There is something so...Shakespearean about the grandeur of it that it comes off as the tragic ending to a tragic play. Overkill for its own sake. I agree with everyone here, the card is THE most disturbing image in the deck, but it fulfills its role very effectively. The concept is far more striking when you put an animal in the situation than a human...let's blame exposure to violence for the desensitization.

I always think it’s funny when people I know, or friends, look at my tarot decks and remark on how dark the swords suit is. Generally because swords are weapons and to see a sword in action is to see how efficient it is at protecting and wounding. I understand the squeamishness associated with animal slaughter, but in nature as in the human food chain, the animal is not wasted, it is eaten and its energy is passed on and transmuted. I think that is the message behind this card, and clearly the image was intended to bring up these uncomfortable feelings. Anyone think it would've been really funny if it was a horse instead….??

The real zinger, is the sword through the eyes. We literally cannot see what is right in front of us.
 

Kgirl

I agree that the card is disturbing but that is what gives it its power IMHO.

There is no light, no hope and no way out with this card - I know with the Rider Waite equivalent, we have the sun rising to show the worst is over. Not such the case here. I actually think the imagery is more faithful to the devastation. This card is life. I know when I've gone through grief and felt like I was in a dark hole and that I would never get myself out, that is the X of Swords power here, it is that feeling that is captured here and its mindblowing.

This deck just gets better and better for me.
 

Pixna

Wonderful insights, Sagefire. I love how the Swords in this deck are really dark -- just the way they ought to be. And this card in particular causes a visceral reaction, which is perfect (because it should). Every time I look (or even glance) at this card, I find it disturbing, and it forces me to look deeper into it even though I also want to turn away.

Kgirl, I agree -- this deck just seems to get better and better. :)
 

Hash

I find it interesting that so many people react so negatively to this card. The negative reactions that reach the point of people letting this one card ruin the whole deck for them remind me of a quote from "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin. A character in the book, Tyrion Lannister, says, "Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it."

This is so true. There is suffering in this world. In fact, there are tremendous amounts of it. If we fail to acknowledge this suffering by turning a blind eye to it, how can we ever expect to grow?