Oppression

Always Wondering

The 10 of Wands is a particularly difficult card for me. I can see pulling it when I am stuffing or holding back or not dealing. But when I am taking charge of myself and feeling like I am making progress I still get this card. What does it want from me???
I also think it is very telling, and perhaps indicative of this card, that there is not much said about it on this site. I searched the card meaning on both this Thoth thread and also the Using cards thread and found nothing to little.

Feedback anyone?

Always Wondering
 

Scion

Hey AW!

I'll bite. I'm doing the IDS with the Liber T which is a Thoth clone with a decanic twist. :D

The Lord of Oppression is a card of which I have an intimate knowledge, and one that comes up for me repeatedly in certain situations (often involving stalled creative projects and running-to-stay-in-one-place situations). :bugeyed:

Firstly. the decan we're looking at is Sagittarius 3: Saturn in Sagittarius. So right off the bat we have astrological trouble: Saturn is the weightiest and gloomiest of the planets, and Sag is the most effervescent of the fire trine. So from an astro point of view this is like dropping a cinder block on a candelabrum.

The Picatrix says this is a decan: "of evil inclinations, of adverse and evil effects and of swiftness in these same things and in evil inclinations, of hostility, dispersion, and of doing evilly."

Not so good. :rolleyes:

Then we stir in the Qabalah for some extra morbidity. This is Malkuth in Atziluth, the most intangible inspired element in its most degraded and polluted form. Imagine the initial divine spark has burnt out, smoldered for as long as it could, and now is suffocating under a thick layer of ash.

Okay... so that's the theoretical bits about this decan.

Practically, I find that this card often points to overexertion with little reward. Needless investment in losing propositions. But well-dignified, it can indicate a kind of dogged sacrifice that will eventually bear fruit. Dogged is a good word for this card in positive and negattive readings. But it generally points to carrying a load you didn't sign up for and there's always the sense that injustice will factor into the reading. If you're getting this when you feel like progress is being made, I would look to the friction that you're working against... the elements that might be impeding you whether or not youre aware of them. I find that it indicates that things won't be fair and that good deeds won't necessarily be rewarded. Work lots, expect little.

Hope some of that is helpful... :)

Scion
 

Aeon418

I agree with Scion. Dogged is a very good word for this card. Saturn acts as a big restricting influence on the broad vision of Sagittarius. The only way to go is straight forward, and heaven help anything that gets in the way!!! This isn't the purifying fire of the 5 of Wands, it's a destructive fire that is out of control.

I often see this card as a lack of vision and a need for perspective. There's much to be said for persistence and determination, but when it turns into obstinacy it becomes very counter productive. It's like someone determined to make a square peg fit in a round hole. Yes, they may well make the peg fit after a lot of hammering, but both the peg and the hole will be damaged in the process.
 

Always Wondering

Ugh. :eek:
Did I mention I was a Sag? Not fair. Not fair.
I did want to find something optimistic in this card, but such is life and the cards and I appreciate the truth.
I will be taking some time to examine these issues that you both suggest.
I did wonder what helpful energies might be out there for me and pulled the Fool, so I think there is hope for vision and perspective. :bugeyed:
Thanks guys.
 

Aeon418

Always Wondering said:
I did want to find something optimistic in this card, but such is life and the cards and I appreciate the truth.
Well there is one small note of optimism. No fire burns forever. ;) All the 10's indicate the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Sooner or later the narrow, selfish energy of the 10 of Wands burns itself out. This explains why a well dignified 10 of Wands can sometimes represent generosity, disinterestedness, or self-sacrifice.
 

ravenest

There's your hint; the end of one cycle and the begining of another.

Visually the card looks like (IMO) a closed gate. All that stuff you were doing (or more acuratly - the WAY you were doing it) is all finished now.

It can be fun, to find the new way and the new expression. Theoppression comes from trying to fight your way through the closed gate, or just sitting there frustrated. The gate might be closed becasue the bridge is collapsed, or a bridge is being built .... come back later.

I mean SOMETHING's gotta 'reign' in that crazy spacehorsearcher.
 

Aeon418

ravenest said:
I mean SOMETHING's gotta 'reign' in that crazy spacehorsearcher.
Someone once told me this card held special significance for me because I'm a Capricorn (Saturn) with Sagittarius rising. I took it all with a pinch of salt at the time and a care free laugh. :laugh:

But as the years have worn by it has become increasingly apparent to me that I intensely resent being reigned in. I say let the crazy space-horse-archer have some fun. ;)
 

ravenest

The reigns are just one device ... if they insist there is always the other device .... the whip! })
 

balenciaga

Saturn in Sag - ethics and/or philo might be constraining, adding to the oppressive burden - you might want to explore where you are overburdening yourself in this regard.
 

Aeon418

ravenest said:
The reigns are just one device ... if they insist there is always the other device .... the whip! })
I see your game, Mr ravenest. ;) Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not into BDSM. :laugh: