As a reminder, the suit of swords is driven by masculine energy and channels the power of the intellect and mind, including all the concepts, knowledge, and beliefs that it holds. Scholars and academics have connected the suit of swords to the classical element of air, and most of the cards from that suit embody the symbolic attributes of this element, one way or another.
The Ten of Swords Tarot Card Keywords
Upright: ruin, backstabbing, and taking things too far
Reversed: hypocrisy, delusion, denial, and false hope
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Modern Representations
Like many of the numbered minor arcana from the suit of swords, the Ten of Swords is an extremely difficult card to receive in a tarot drawing or spread. Even when dealing with something that has not happened yet, the negative message is so strong here that it will hardly be possible to fully avoid it. Something important is about to come to an end, and something dear to the subject of the reading will eventually probably be lost in that final struggle.
The Mythic Tarot (1986/2008)
The Haindl Tarot (1990)
Osho Zen Tarot (1995)
Law of Attraction Tarot (2011)
Spellcaster Tarot (2016)
Ostara Tarot (2017)
Upright Ten of Swords Meaning
The Ten of Swords concludes the series of negatively charged cards in the numbered Minor Arcana from the suit of swords. This might be the most depressing image in the series. It shows a young man’s corpse lying on the ground, stabbed by ten swords still planted in his back.
The sky in the Rider-Waite tarot version of this card is ominously black. The horizon itself seems to turn into a shroud for the victim. Some of these swords were likely planted by former allies, echoing Caesar’s final moments.
Dividing the meaning of the Ten of Swords into regular and reversed meanings might be more suitable. Echoing the image of the man stabbed to death, the core message represents ultimate loss and defeat. Anything that can go wrong does. This is the ultimate crisis. Defeat leaves a bitter aftertaste due to betrayal and abandonment by someone close.
The best way to deal with such a disastrous situation is to acknowledge defeat. Further struggle or attempts to fight back would only prolong the inevitable agony or cause more collateral damage.
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However, this loss and final ending are figurative. The swords represent matters of the mind and intellect. This card does not signify any actual violent death, only the death of a project, concept, or hope. The Ten of Swords means defeat, not literal death.
In a Question about Love and Relationship
The painful and final sentence found in the Ten of Swords meaning also applies to love and romantic relationships. In this context, it often deals with the devastating end of a relationship. Communication has broken down between former lovers, turning pleasure into pain and good memories into painful reminders.
This card could represent a long, drawn-out legal battle for a divorce. No agreement could be found between former partners, so the courts had to be involved.
Career encompasses school and education, necessary work that is not a career path, and your actual career path. Regardless of your current stage, the Ten of Swords represents ruin and great loss.
As a student, drawing this card indicates you likely chose the wrong major or college, or did so poorly you cannot restore your GPA. You need to start over and accept that the time spent up to this point is time lost.
If you are doing necessary work but not a career, this card may foreshadow disaster if you stay in your current job. You should “see the writing on the wall” and find a way out before everything is ruined.
In your career, the Ten of Swords warns that your career path has been struggling for some time. If you continue on this path, the results will be dire. If your career is ending with financial loss, the sooner you let go and start in a new direction, the better.
When the already extremely negative Ten of Swords minor arcana card appears reversed in a drawing, it brings about an almost melodramatic emphasis to the situation. This is what happens when the subject of the reading refuses to let go against their inevitable defeat, prolonging the inevitable without any hope to change what is bound to happen.
As such, a reversed Ten of Swords often embodies the concept of denial, the refusal to accept an ill-fated end, no matter what happens.
In a Question about Love and Relationship
Reversed, this card indicates that you are trying to deny that the relationship is extremely toxic and needs to end. Each day you stay in the relationship the unhealthier it is for you. If you are not already dealing with illness from the mental anguish, the negativity could start affecting your physical as well as mental health.
In a Question about Career and Work
When this card appears reversed in a question about school, work, or career, then you are probably in the 4th stage of grief, depression. The longer you resist acknowledging that the situation is a total loss or failure, the more damage it will do to your long-term goals and survival. You need to move into acceptance in order to begin healing your academic, work, or career path.
