Notes on: The Ten of Wands
(Bearing the Weight)
Artist’s Notes:
The ant carries home, the biggest piece of food that he can find. So eager is he to be able to satisfy his queen and his colony, he fails to notice how heavy his burden is. Still, it is not only his job but his reason for being and it is said that ants can carry ten times their weight. Too bad, this chip is at least twice that. He could give it up and find a smaller piece or put it down and make it smaller but for him, duty has outlasted reason and functionality. Still, if he is successful, he will be a hero.
About the Archetype:
The suite of Wands deals with force-creative, spiritual, and vital. Tens show the ultimate completion of the energy involved leading ultimately to a new beginning. Here the creative spirit and force have no new battles to be won. The creative work has been accomplished. All the burdens we’ve taken on are there but none of the challenges that have brought us here. Our routine has become a burden to us and in many cases, it has made us bitter towards those around us adding still more to the burden. If only we could lay everything down (throw it away or even let it collapse) and just take off to when every day was new and unexpected and we had to work for everything. But no, we tell ourselves, we have responsibilities. We know this can’t go on forever and that one way or another it will collapse but even though we may be happier if we did, we dutifully stave it off as long as we can.
Astrological Correspondence
Saturn in Sagittarius – This energy takes itself very seriously. It works hard and wishes to provide for others especially when it comes to imparting knowledge. It is resistant and slow to change. Saturn in Sagittarius has a strong sense of duty and can appear rather humourless at times. It can paint itself into a corner with its own logic but it will stay in that corner believing that to adopt a different viewpoint would be to abandon that in which it had always believed.
In a Reading:
When the Ten of Wands turns up in a reading it often means that we have taken too much on ourselves and find ourselves unwilling or unable to drop anything. Eventually, if our burden is not lightened, we will collapse under the weight of what we have to get done. Sometimes when this card occurs it is more of a feeling of being overwhelmed than a fact that we cannot do what is expected of us. Quite often this card tells us to drop what we are doing if only for a moment, step back and see whether there is really something that we can delegate to someone else.
The Ten of Wands reversed or badly aspected in a reading may mean that the oppression has been lifted and the responsibilities are seen through. Will we dive right back into the fray and overburden ourselves again or will we have learned from the situation? The reversed Ten of Wands may also mean that the burden has been increased to the breaking point where if something isn’t lifted off of our shoulders, it will soon become disastrous.
–GAR
Fate’s Whisper:
In the words of Taoism:
“The excess of anything can become a poison of your own undoing.”
The more burden we take as we walk the stronger we become. There comes a point when enough is enough though. When we need to sit down and look at all we carry and deem what needs to be left behind. This can be difficult at times, especially when you have emotional ties to these burdens. Though it is important to remember that you are only one person and can only carry so much. It is better to make room for better things as you go along, however, you must drop that which no longer serves you. This could be a relationship, habit, or even an impending addiction. Just know the more you carry, the more you are held back.
–NF