Tarot Post – Ten of Swords

 

Ten of Swords (Ruin)

 

Ten of SwordsTen of Swords (Revised) by G A Rosenberg

 

The swords have fallen
Painful wounds from head to toe
Better luck next time

Coda
lying here
in blood my own
I didn’t see that one coming
I guess
you miss
the signs
sometimes
tho I set it up
My life
always thinking
my way out
of trouble
and into worse
loving conflict
a disaster waiting to happen
and it DID
Now the puppet
with strings cut
has reached the end
At least
now suspense has gone
of when and who and where
Ruined
here now me
with nothing
yet now
something new

— G A Rosenberg

 

The suit of Swords represents thought, ideas, plans and conflicts. Tens show the ultimate completion of the energy involved leading ultimately to a new beginning. The energy of the Ten of Swords is somewhat reminiscent of the cliche “Live by the sword, die by the sword”. If conflict is all you ever know then ultimately it will end with ruin as every aspect of your life results in a conflict that can’t be won. Likewise the ultimate result of being in a state of constant internal conflict is a ruination of thought especially when we ignore how the inner conflicts impact on our external lives. Nothing is ever permanently destroyed, however. Ruination leads eventually to a new beginning with a clear playing field. After all after ruin, there is nothing else to lose

 

Astrological Correspondance – Sun in Gemini- This energy is an extremely mutable and active one, ever dancing from one idea to the next never stopping to rest. Sun in Gemini loves to reinvent itself, establishing a new way of being even as it leads the old one to fend for itself even if it means leaving it to ruin. Gemini being the sign of the twins tends to be of two minds in just about every area often in conflict with itself tho very rarely is the conflict taken as seriously by the Sun in Gemini as it is by the others drawn into the conflict.

 

I Ching Correspondance – 29) K’an-Abysmal

___ ___
_______
___ ___
___ ___
_______
___ ___

 

The Trigram for Water is doubled. In this case K’an is not only thought of as water but as a pit or darkness. In this case it is a double case of danger where conflict after conflict rears its head. It feels like one has fallen and kept falling where there may be no foreseeable end in sight but we know when we hit, we are going to hit hard and probably fatally. In this situation where we know that things are about as bad as they can be, about all we can do is hold on to anything good and positive within ourselves and follow it through to the end.

 

When the Ten of Swords comes up in a reading, it means that things have become about as bad as they can be. Almost anything that we’ve considered important has been taken from us and there is very little if anything left to lose. In some cases, it may be a matter of disappointment as something that we have set up for ourselves has failed to materialize but then how realistic were we in the first place? This card may be reflecting worries and fears that we have rather than the actuality of ruin so it is good to see both the position and the other cards surrounding the Ten of Swords to gather more insight. However the best thing about the feeling that there is nothing left to lose is that if we’re still here than there is the chance of rebuilding again from the ground up and establishing a new life, informed by our past, without the circumstances and problems that led to things collapsing in the first place.

 

The Ten of Swords reversed in a reading may mean that the collapse has happened and the new beginning has started. It can also mean that we have been managing barely to stave off the total disaster that is hovering over us and either we need to extricate ourselves from either the situations or mindsets that are causing conflict or things will become dire. In either case Ten of Swords reversed shows a need for clarity on how we want our lives to be and the follow-through to take the necessary steps to avoid the circumstances that we have just come through.

0 thoughts on “Tarot Post – Ten of Swords”

  1. A difficult card my friend, and I have known it. You have read and designed it in the best light possible.
    “When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose
    You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal. ”
    Bob Dylan

    1. YES for sure. These tens are all rather ‘heavy’ cards yet they all carry the seeds of renewal within them

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