Ten of Swords
The Ten of Swords signifies reaching rock bottom, often reflecting pain, defeat, and exhaustion. While it represents a painful ending, it also holds potential for change and healing. The card encourages self-reflection and recognizing the validity of feelings, allowing space for healing before rising again. It suggests understanding and confronting internal negativity rather than dismissing it.
Keywords
General Overview
This is just the worst damn card. Honestly. The best thing that you can say when this card shows up is that at least things won’t get any worse. This is literally the bottom. It’s excessive, painful, excruciating, and final. So in the card, the guy is flat on the ground. Ten swords are stuck in him. Not near or around, but in and through. There isn’t just ill intent around this card, there are goddamned flesh wounds. Let’s not take this too lightly, right?
Reflection on Death
Is he dead? I hope so. If he isn’t, he’s awfully uncomfortable. Let’s think about what death means in the tarot. The Death card means change is coming whether you like it or not. The Ten of Swords can mean literal death, but it more often refers to the person hitting rock bottom. In this way, I see it as a positive card.
Internal Struggles
The weight of it all is that the missteps, the mistakes, and the powerless feelings have won, and he is down. This isn’t always self-inflicted. Sometimes he’s been attacked. The doubt, though—that comes from within. The swords are all about your brain, remember. It’s one thing for someone to call you a name; it’s another entirely for you to believe it and take it into you. That saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? That’s not true. Not at all. Most of the time when this card comes up in a reading, I can hear what the client is doing to themselves in their head, and it’s scary. People can be so mean to themselves, so abusive. If a stranger on the street said those things to me—“You’re stupid, you’re weak, you’re a coward, you’re ugly, you’re worthless”—I would probably punch them in the fork. However, we’re so quick to say those things to ourselves. We are unable at times to self-differentiate and to tell the difference between someone’s opinion and the truth. It’s hard, and oftentimes we’re taught to listen to the criticism and take it into us. Ouch, Mom and Dad. Quit doing that to your kids. Teach them to question everything, please. Even you sometimes.
Motivational Quotes
I keep seeing all of these motivational memes that say, “Get up! You only fail if you stay down! You can do it! Yay!!” There are a lot of exclamation marks, and it’s kind of patronizing. Of course, I am not advocating digging a hole and then setting up house in it, but there is some value in recognizing that life just kicked your ass and you need a minute. Those saccharine-sweet quotes (I saw one that said, “If Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters”) can be condescending and abrasive and—when I’m not feeling my best—can cause me to tell my computer to shut its stupid face.
Taking Time to Recover
If you’re flat on your face, you should probably just lie there for a second and catch your breath. It’s not going to get any worse, and if your luck has driven you to the ground, you’re in no condition to go anywhere. I think that a lot of people feel they can’t stay in depression for too long or they’re a failure. That’s not fair. Sometimes depression is a soft place to land so that you can heal and grow stronger and carry on.
Acceptance of Pain
I think rather than embracing the “You’re a failure if you don’t get up” ethos, maybe we can accept that wounds need healing. That sometimes everything really does suck and you need to lie down on your couch and watch all of Broad City while eating boxes of cereal. (That’s not a typo. I said boxes.) Sometimes you need to whine and cry and tell your friends that everything is awful—because sometimes everything is awful. This is valid.
Time Limit for Recovery
I do not recommend staying in this place for more than, say, two weeks. (And I’m not talking about clinical depression. What I’m talking about is different.) I would give yourself two weeks to pout and be pissed and sad and apathetic. This is the perfect time to assess what you’re going to do next—what you’re going to try in order to avoid this feeling in the future, to decide what you want, to figure out how to make tomorrow different than today. If I were to sum up the Ten of Swords (which, evidently, I’m about to do), I would say, “Stay down!” You’re down there for a reason. Figure out what it is, and then have a nap, okay?
Ten of Swords Inverted
Oh, it’s still terrible. Just like, post-nap terrible. At least you got some rest so you can stand up and learn how to deal with all of the terrible.
Exotic Cancer Tarot
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