10 of swords -- Bad card? Good Card?

[icic]

Shouldn't 10 of sword be a fully negative card, and if a question is asked and with this card drawn, it's a definately "no, over" answer?

But recently, when I try to do a 1 card reading for my friend, on both attempts, the question was "will he get the offer letter tomorrow?" and "will he get the email of offer tomorrow ?" both on the same company, but different letters.

On both attempts I've got 10 of swords. So I explained, it's over, you'll get bad results or no results. And what ended up happening is he got the letter, and on both occasions, good results..

Is the card playing on me? Or I'm doing something wrong?

 

[Sophie]

Well, the classic 10 of Swords shows a man with swords in his back...looking towards a sunrise. I sometimes interpret that as - "worry over, good things will start happening now". Especially when you think of the 9 of swords being in the middle of the worry.

Swords represent the mind & conflict - and 10s are the end of the suit: it reduces back to 1/Ace. So it is both culmination and movement. If there has been conflict, conflict will cease. If the mind has been tied up or overwhelmed with worry, it will pull itself together and move beyond worry and negative thinking.

Swords are also communication by letter/email. So it makes sense that 10 of Swords might mean - worry is over, wait for your good news email (letter).

 

[icic]

Thanks Helvetica.

But I'm still abit confused as on the book's meaning they all seem to say, this is as bad as it can, or this is the worest result you can imagine.

How do i differentiate when it's trying to say, bad results is over, now you're goin to expect to get good results? Or when it really means this is the worest results you can imagine getting?

 

[Sophie]

which book do you have? Maybe it's not that good. I've never seen it described so one-sidedly before.

I think you need to learn to look at the actual picture. Put the book away for the moment

As for when it means something hopeful - well, usually you would have it in a spread. Why don't you practice with 3 card spreads? These will help you interpret the cards in relation to each other.

 

[icic]

It's a chinese tarot card book, if the title were to be translated into English would probably mean "everything about tarot". I can't tell if it's good or bad, as I'm only at the stage of following the instructions..

What do you mean by 3 card spreads? I once went to a tarot reader and every spread she did, she draw 3 cards for it each position. Is that what you mean by the 3 cards spread? Or just the past present future spread?

I sometimes try to draw extra cards to clarify things, but most of the time I just end up to be more confused. -_-!

 

[MercyMe]

If you remember that swords represent thoughts and communications, and 10's represent, like Helvetica said, the culmination of something, then literally the 10 of swords means there need be no more thought on this matter. It IS a "done deal" and thinking about it or talking about it anymore won't change a thing. Instead, a new day is dawning. But "done deal" doesn't always point to failure or loss. It's simply the end of the struggle, often a struggle of the mind, as Helvetica also pointed out, no more worries.

~Mercy

 

[hedgecub]

If it was possible to interpret a tarot reading using nothing but the meanings given in a book, then there'd be no need for tarot readers.

The RWS 10 of Swords shows a man lying on his stomach with 10 swords in his back; he's about as dead as he can get. On the flipside, when you've hit rock bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up. Whether the card should be interpreted as "prepare for the worst to happen" or "prepare for things to get better" depends on the context (i.e. the question asked and the surrounding cards) and your intuition.

Single card draws are actually rather difficult to interpret since they give very little context to work with. I agree with Helvetica's suggestion to try 3 card draws instead; just don't go overboard and head for the Celtic Cross, which tends to be far too complex for the vast majority of situations.

 

[mythos]

I was going to post pretty much what Helvetica posted. If you are using the Waite deck, you can also see that the figures on his hand are held in a 'blessing' position ... like in the Hierophant. Between that, and the fact that the sun is rising (the direction the figure is looking) ... the worst is over.

Helvetica's recommendation of looking at the cards closely, doing three-card readings to gain a context, and to consider that the book you are using is a tad one-sided is very much to the point.

For example ... in a 3 card reading you might have the 9 of swords ... the mother of all mental anguish and worry cards (though not without hope ... the bed spread has the signs of the zodiac suggesting that all things have their time, and all things pass). Then in the present - 10 swords .... the situation is completed, worry is over ... and, for example, the Ace of Pentacles ... the beginnings of new things, especially around issues like work. Provides a context. Of course we don't know what the cards would have been, so this is just an example of how, by using three cards, you set the background and context for the question and end up with far more information.

Also, "Will I' questions are closed questions demanding a yes/no answer. Better, if you can, to use an open-ended question, use a few more cards ... thus have more information to work on. Open-ended questions start with 'what', 'why' 'how' and so on.

Hope this helps,
mythos

 

[Adjustment]

What i think in this one is that perhaps the cards were addressing a different issue within the company he is receiving the letters from, like an underline situation that he should pay attention to besides the letters. I see this card more like an advice to your friend. Sometimes a card will show up in a reading addressing a completely different situation than the one we have asked for, the reason for this is to make us look at a more important issue that deserve our attention right now.

 

[icic]

Thank you everyone for the thorough explaination!! I used to think the one card answer is the simplest, guess the book was wrong again!

I'm goin to try the 3 card spread from now. What's the position meaning in the 3 card spread? like 1. for past, 2 for present, 3 for future? or 1,2,3 all for one thing? read it jointly?