Showing posts with label ten. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ten. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

Ten of Wands


Keywords & Phrases:
Heavy burden. Overload. Uphill struggle. Taking on too much responsibility. Being too willing to please. Overextending yourself. Believing there is always a price to pay. Resigned to being a workhorse. Feeling accountable. Struggling with your workload. Blocked thinking. A heavy weight. The fruit of one's labor. The weight of ambition. The burden of success. Work-related stress. Weighty responsibilities. Determination. Inability to delegate. Taking full responsibility. Buried in work. Pressure. Hard work. A demanding project. Heavy responsibilities. Striving for success. All work, no play. Biting off more than you can chew. Information overload. Creative blocks. Home stretch.

Summary:
Whenever this card appears in a layout, it indicates that you have some kind of burden which you are carrying. Before you immediately put your finger on the cause - too much work, too much duty, too much anything - think about whether your perception of life is in need of a revamp. It is possible that you are so wrapped up in the normal "burdens" of life that you have no direction, no current goal, or just can't see where you're going.

This card signifies that it is time to lighten the load. To drop some of your tasks, delegate, cut back and take time out for pleasure and play. This card asks you to expand your awareness, and to see the value of other viewpoints or that letting go of the huge burden you've created for yourself won't mean you give up on yourself.

This is the card of the workaholic - and of the individual on a mission. You've assumed so much responsibility you feel burdened. You probably don't want to delegate because you believe the old age, "If you want something done right, do it yourself". However, you refuse to let your real or imagined responsibilities overshadow the joy of living.

This card has a double meaning. On the one hand, it is a card of richness and abundance, linked to its actual value, but also to good luck. On the other hand, the weight this fortune brings cannot be denied, and the limits of strength needed to sustain it. Perhaps this is because beautiful things cost effort.

You are struggling now to shoulder your load and meet your many commitments and responsibilities. You may have taken on too many responsibilities and are carrying a heavy load. You are in the final stretch and are wondering if you have enough energy to make it past the goal line. Despite the oppressiveness of your burden, you do have enough energy to complete the task.

Your ambition to succeed and receive acclaim drives you onward. You must, however, realize that you cannot do everything. Learn to delegate responsibility and do not take on more than you can handle. Otherwise, some of your plans will not proceed to completion. You need to develop a better appreciation of your limits.

Although greatly burdened, the man depicted in the Ten of Wands card struggles on. This card may be asking if we are overextended or pushing ourselves too hard, in which case we may need to lighten the load for the sake of our health and well-being.

The accumulated responsibilities you have taken on can hold you down and keep you from doing what you want or need to do. Prioritize your life. Concentrate on what is truly important, and discard the rest - at least for now.

It is hard enough to keep track of your own actions and their consequences. Trying to control or manipulate everyone around you is sheer madness. You just need to worry about you.

Before I was a goddess, I was a warrior. I was defeated and my strength is disappearing. I close my eyes, I let myself go and fly through the sky. I am Caenis, divinity of Greece.

Questions:
What responsibilities are weighing heavily on your shoulders? What are you feeling burdened with? What is your goal? When will you get there? Who (or what) is restricting you and keeping you from manifesting your full radiant energy? Why have you taken on these responsibilities? How can you best use your powers and energies?

Monday, April 11, 2011

Ten of Swords


Keywords & Phrases:
Breaking up. Destruction. Endings. Enlightenment. Turning point. Exaggerated self-pity. Feeling life is against you. Playing the victim. Cutting through illusions. An irrevocable ending. The end of a cycle. Defeat. A forced change. The death of a matter. Death of an illusion. Time to let go. Negative thinking. Loss. Hitting bottom. Hardship. The only way is up. Paralysis. The end of a problem, defense, ego hang-up, hostility. Letting go. Death of the old way of thinking. Release. Relief. New dawn.

Summary:
Always a rather alarming card to draw in a layout, the Ten of Swords isn't as bad as it looks. There are differing interpretations of the Ten of Swords, because it is one of the most powerful and complex cards in the deck. Like all tens, this card indicates the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. But before you can embark on a new journey, you must liberate yourself from old patterns of behavior, drop emotional baggage and say goodbye  to the "old you". It's time to declutter your life. In this sense the Ten of Swords represents enlightenment; it is timely now to accept your illusions for what they are. Even if you're feeling disillusioned, this can only lead  to a new self-awareness. Right now you must look forward and put the past behind you.

You're facing forced change and the final resolution of a situation or the dramatic end of a cycle. You must give up on a lost cause and get on with the true purpose of your life. Ultimately, you feel relieved, accept the inevitable, and move on. You've experienced disaster and survived: there's little left in life for you to fear.

For obvious reasons, this is one of the least popular cards in the tarot deck. It often is interpreted as meaning failure and defeat, with connotations ranging from plans going awry to being stabbed in the back. But if this card indicates hitting an all-time low, the good news is that things have gotten just about as bad as they can get, and things are finally going to start getting better.

Considering the mental aspects of the suit of Swords, this card also can mean that we have analyzed something to death, sucking all the joy and excitement out of it. Also, when we overanalyze something, we may come to confuse our thoughts about it with the thing itself, effectively destroying it by replacing it with our concept of it.

You have hit bottom. Your plans are not working out. You have reached the outer limits. A situation or relationship is coming to its irrevocable end, and you may be feeling on the threshold of depression because of your loss. You have done all you can and it is time to make a definite break or suffer the consequences. This ending is accompanied by a deep sense of loss and sadness. You may be feeling emotionally cut off. You must let go to make way to the future.

I am the innocent victim of a cruel curse. I am alone, afraid, and desperate in this gloomy forest. Who knows what will be of me... I am Sakuntala, the unlucky Indian nymph.

Even when all appears to be lost, we must remember that everything comes to an end and no enemy is invincible.

Even as you mourn a great loss, you see the beauty, the continuity within it. The sadness, the darkness, transforms you and you move through it, gracefully toward a new day.

Questions:
What must I accept? What can I change? Do I know the difference between the two? In what way are you feeling paralyzed or unable to act? Where do you feel that you have no choice? What are you being forced to accept? What is being sacrificed? What problem can you let go of? By accepting defeat, what are you now free to do?