Yes, it's come to this. I've already knocked out all of the other big scary cards that most people hate to see come up in a reading -- and for the most part I've offered explanations that prove them to be necessary (and often, welcome) phases in one's personal growth and development. But sometimes nasty, traumatic events occur for no apparent reason, and these times are particularly challenging because they shatter our logic and and threaten to erase the notion that progress is even attainable. "What did I do to deserve this?" one might ask. "Nothing," hisses the Ten of Swords in reply, "and that's the point."
Drawing this card doesn't guarantee catastrophe -- but it warns of the possibility. It could also indicate a situation which has reached its nadir or isn't salvageable, and this actually might come of a relief: if you can bring yourself to accept it and admit failure, then you can just move on instead of continuing to struggle. The figure we usually see on this card is prostrate, completely resigned to his or her fate. And maybe that's what makes this card so threatening when we see it in a reading -- we tend to consider surrender as a last resort, even if we're fighting a battle that we suspect can't be won.
If you want to avoid this sort of disaster to begin with, then you need to start paying serious attention to the signs in your life that point toward reason and safety. At least that way you'll know you did the best you could, and you can move on blamelessly if tragedy still finds a way to strike. Do you know why stick figures are used on caution signs all around the world? It's not just a matter of making the stencil-cutter's job easier; it's because of how easy it is for us to psychologically project ourselves onto a completely featureless figure. Once our imagination has been triggered, we're more likely to take the sign seriously. Maybe once your own imagination has been triggered by seeing the Ten of Swords in a reading, you'll be similarly prone to fits of self-preservation and acceptance.
10.20.2008
Ten of Swords
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I like this idea of the card a lot. It calls to mind the sort of existential crisis encountered in the Book of Job where Job, having lost everything, demands answers from God. God comes back at Job in the form of a mighty hurricane and points out how little and insignificant he is in the grand scheme of the cosmos. One can't help but think Job must have thrust himself to the ground in prostration of the mysterious, terrible presence before him--that which was responsible for his suffering, yet provided no meaning or answer as to why.
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