The Ten of Swords is a card of finality. Tens for me, in general, represent completion – the end of a cycle, preparation for a new one. This Ten, in particular, resonates with a sense that something is ending for good. My cheat sheet entry for this one is “it’s so over.”
The RWS rendering of this card shows a man (reputed to be Julius Caesar) face down on the ground in a pool of his own blood with ten swords in his back. That’s about as “over” as one can get.
The Ten of Swords is thought of as one of the darker cards of the Minor Arcana, but as always, it depends on the context. Even in Waite’s version of the card, despite the dark night surrounding the body, we can see the sunrise on the horizon.
Ben-Dov has this one as a complex situation with many conflicting interests. Certainly the complexity is evident even in the Marseille version of the card. It reminds me of the phrase “what a tangled web we weave.”
This week, my wife and I are praying a Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots. I wonder what knots exist in my life that may be nearing a final resolution.