MINOR ARCANA

Ten of Swords Tarot Meanings

We’ve reached the final minor arcana card of the swords, our next step is not the realm of the court cards, so any ten card marks the end of this particular cycle within the realm of the four minor suits. The Ten of Swords, like a lot of the swords cards, looks a little bit depressing in the Rider Waiter-Smith tarot deck. The man is lying face down with the ten swords sticking up out of his back, it doesn’t look good for him.

The things to focus on with this imagery are the rising sun in the background and the position of the man’s hand in front. At first glance, you may think you’re doomed, but actually, this is a card of rebirth, of rediscovery and evolution. You are rising from the ashes to start again and leave the dark past behind.

Ten of Swords Upright Meanings

There is great wisdom and clarity that comes with the Ten of Swords as we’ve reached rock-bottom or at least a place where we feel unable to move forward. Remember that this is a swords card so it is referring more to our internal world than our external one. Some of the key meanings of the Ten of Swords are:

Wisdom
New dawn
Ascension
Enlightenment
Self-pity

When the Ten of Swords appears we’re not hurtling downwards, we’re actually dusting ourselves off and getting back up. If we step into this card, the worst has already happened, we’re already down and out, so the only way forwards from this point is up and that’s always a positive thing!

Ten of Swords Reversed Meanings

In the reversed position, the Ten of Swords marks the point where we are asked to step over the threshold and into a new light. Often, when the Ten of Swords comes up in reverse, it’s because we are fighting with ourselves to stay where we are, we are more comfortable in our suffering than we care to admit and change is a scary thing to consider right now. Some of the main reversed meanings of the Ten of Swords are:

Survival
Relapse
Ignorance
Martyrdom
Threshold

The Ten of Swords in reverse is our reluctance to fix things ourselves, to take responsibility for picking ourselves up and finding a way to carry on. A lot of the time this is out of fear for the unknown. Being down at the bottom is safer and more familiar than rising through levels you’ve never experienced before.

Reading Ten of Swords in a Tarot Spread

As soon as the Ten of Swords enters the picture, think about what you or the person you are reading for could be overcoming. Is there anything that has really thrown a spanner in the works? It’s the sunrise in the back of the card that helps anchor us in the core meaning of the Ten of Swords. The indication that things are going to get better, it’s just up to us to figure out what the context of the card is and how we can move forward from it.

Ten of Swords as An Invitation

As an invitation, Ten of Swords asks us to look for that light at the end of the tunnel. It may not be an easy thing to find, but you are invited to set off on that journey and spend some time trying to find it for yourself.

For Ten of Swords, this invitation could be the following:

An invitation to sit up and take notice of the positives in front of you
An invitation to grab onto something that brings you true peace of mind
An invitation to try something new, potentially something that challenges you in some way

Ten of Swords as Sage Advice

The advice offered to us by the Ten of Swords is most often centred around optimism. It tells us that the darkness can’t last forever and no matter how long the night feels, the sun will always rise again. We can’t allow negativity to keep us down, we have to keep faith that better things are coming.

Some advice Ten of Swords may offer is:

Focus on what you have learned from this rocky situation instead of dwelling on it
Only you have the power and ability to pick yourself up and dust yourself off
See this as an opportunity to ascend to a higher level rather than a way to keep you down

Ten of Swords as a Lesson

Ten of Swords comes to us when we need to learn about our own power. It often shows up at a time when we are doubting our capabilities or when we are finding it hard to take a risk that could potentially be a game-changer for us.

Some lessons that Ten of Swords may offer you are:

That you are your own saviour. don’t wait around for someone to raise you up, take the leap yourself
Sometimes we are choosing to stay in the dark, it’s not always forced upon us
Even the very best of us reach a point where we feel like we can’t go further, all we need is to find that breakthrough in order to show us a new way
With every end, there is a new beginning

Ten of Swords as a Redirection

When it comes to redirections, there’s no greater push than that of the Ten of Swords. It comes to us when we need to shift our way of thinking about our situation and a lot of the time, about ourselves. It is a sign that we may have outgrown the space we had created for ourselves and now we are in need of finding a new way of being.

As a redirection, Ten of Swords could symbolise a need to:

Pick yourself up and assess your surroundings to see what is in your power to control or manifest
Stop relying on others to solve your problems
Move away from the martyrdom of your current mindset and realise that you have the ability to make things better for yourself
Embrace change and the prospect of a new and arguably better beginning

Swords

The Swords represent a cycle within our intellect, thoughts, ideas and communication. For example, they can be a cycle of an idea from the initial conception in the Ace of Swords, all the way to the end of the cycle with the Ten of Swords.

This sword card is the end of that cycle. We have reached the finish line and now we have to assess the lessons we’ve learned along the way and reflect on what could have been done differently.

Air

Air is the elemental energy of the Swords and so we work with this elements properties when dealing with all of our Sword cards. For the Ten of Swords, we are faced with the aftermath of air in its full force.

For the Ten of Swords this can look like a complete burnout, or even learning the lesson around what can and can’t be controlled. An example would be spending time worrying about something that was inevitable and the realisation that comes with that.

Tens

In numerology the tens can mean completion. It is the very first double digit and therefore the cycle of single digits comes to a close. From here, we start to look at the collaboration between digits and the properties that offers us.

We can reduce the number ten down into a single digit number by adding 1+0=1. This gives us a core number of one, the number of creation. Therefore, we can see how creation forms the very core of the number ten and opens up a new avenue for endless possibility.