10 of Swords = Over thinking?

Amanda_04 said:

I just had this card come up in the position of "The key to harmony" in a spread and it's from the Vanessa Tarot and the LWB only says, "..suffering at the hands of another.." and shows a woman holding a Voodoo doll... I have no idea how to turn that into something harmonious... LOL Unless I need to give a "final word" or something... drive my thoughts home into someone else (like the needles sticking out of the Voodoo doll)? Being "dead serious" in a way? Maybe these thoughts will be beneficial to you...

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Just had a look at the card and it may be advice on not letting peole's comments or remarks affect you too much. The "key to harmony" may be to try and remain as cool and collected as the lady facing you in the card. Quite neat twist to the 10 of Swords, I think !

ana luisa said:

Just had a look at the card and it may be advice on not letting peole's comments or remarks affect you too much. The "key to harmony" may be to try and remain as cool and collected as the lady facing you in the card. Quite neat twist to the 10 of Swords, I think !

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Yeah, she does seem kind of cool and collected, huh? In a little bit of a scary way with that Voodoo doll! LOL

The 10 of Swords often indicates a state of disconnection between thoughts/ideas and the actual reality of a given situation. Often the mental pictures we paint in our minds don't quite match up with real life events.

In a relationship context this can result in a person not seeing what is really going on in a relationship. Sometimes people can be so desparate for a relationship to work that they blind themselves with their own ideas. Or it may indicate that a person has rigid or fixed views of the relationship that might stifle any kind of natural development. When these views and reality inevitably clash, the problems begin. In either case less thinking would probably be a good thing.

To me the Ten of Swords is about mental anguish, whether real or imagined, and overthinking definitely morphs into mental anguish at some point down the road if action of some sort is never taken. Thinking things to death certainly fits the card!

Canadian Girl said:

To me the Ten of Swords is about mental anguish, whether real or imagined, and overthinking definitely morphs into mental anguish at some point down the road if action of some sort is never taken. Thinking things to death certainly fits the card!

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Would you see it as a culmination of the 9 of Swords then ? Because to me the 9 is ALL about anguish...

ana luisa said:

Would you see it as a culmination of the 9 of Swords then ? Because to me the 9 is ALL about anguish...

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Most of the time I do. To me, the eight, nine and ten of swords definitely follow a progression in the sense of going from bad (8S = frustration), to worse (9S = anxiety/anguish), to the pits (10S = anguish/depression/hitting rock bottom). I realize many readers see the 10S as being a "drama queen/making a mountain out of a mole hill" type of card, but in my experience, it almost always represents some sort of very real mental/psychological trauma.

ana luisa said:

Would you see it as a culmination of the 9 of Swords then ? Because to me the 9 is ALL about anguish...

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I think 10 Swords is 9 swords put into action.

9 Swords is mental anguish, but 10 swords is taking your mental anguish in order to do an actualize a thought. For instance

I am feeling suicidal (9 swords) and no longer wants to live, so I decided to commit suicide (10 swords).

Another example...

I can't stand the fact that the woman I love left me for another man (9 swords), so I decided to kill her and her new boyfriend (10 swords).

Another example...

My boyfriend bored the hell out of me and I can't stand the idea of having sex with him for another day (9 swords), so I decided to break up with him and end the relationship (10 swords).

One last example...

I am distraught that I was raped by my father several times as a child (9 swords), which left me feeling helpless; so in order for me to feel powerful and in control, I decided to rape and kill children myself as an adult (10 swords), since dominating others makes me feel empowered.


10 swords is beyond the feelings of anything, it is the need to act out those feelings, because there is just so much anguish you can bear to keep inside before you go nuts unless you physically do something in your material world in order to dissipate those feelings by means of action.

Sir Rushing, how about some more mundane examples. Those were OTT for my clients!

Carla said:

Sir Rushing, how about some more mundane examples. Those were OTT for my clients!

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That was mundane, since life is exactly what I expressed for many people in the world. Millions of people live OTT lives.

Carla said:

Sir Rushing, how about some more mundane examples. Those were OTT for my clients!

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I can try to give you an example from experience based on what SirRushing is saying.

My next-to-last term of college was very 9 of Swords. I don't think I *really* slept for that entire 10 week term. I was personally, totally, and completely exhausted because my mind just kept going and going and going, but it was also because of that constant thinking that I couldn't sleep, even though I was totally exhausted. In my very last term, there was a sense of "release" from so much mental pressure, because I knew my schooling career would soon be over (10) and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. So, even though I still had to perform, the pressure was not so great on myself that last term, because I knew it would be ending soon, and with that came a sense of freedom to finally be near the finish line and have it all over with.