X of Swords - What's positive about it?

Pargatho

In the RWS deck, the 10/Swords tells the tale of Hiram, Solomon's architect. He's a big deal when it comes to the Masons. Which makes the 10/Swords one of the most important minors in the deck (if you belonged to the Golden Dawn order, as Waite, the author of the deck, did). The story goes like this: Being an architect/master mason in the ancient world was like being a rocket scientist in today's world. The smartest and most brilliant of the brilliant. And Hiram was chief architect for the wisest of kings, creating that king's temple. He knew all kinds of architectural secrets. He passed these onto his fellow, master masons. But lesser masons working under him wanted to know these secrets, too. They accosted Hiram, but he refused to tell them anything. So they murdered him. Found out, they were executed.

He was, in short, a martyr for the sake of knowledge and wisdom, and the message of the story was that a Mason should be willing to die rather than spill Masonic secrets.

So. What's positive about this card? You know what information you value; and you have a very strong idea of who should and should not be told this information. If Swords are about the intellect and communication, this is the card where the person (you) says, "I cannot communicate what I know with just anyone." This card can indicate knowledge, secrets or intellect so above the rest that it cannot be parsed out, and your refusal to share it might create resentment. The resentment isn't positive...but what you know, having that rare wisdom...and having the strength of mind to know who you will and will not communicate with...that's positive.

That's really interesting because there are a variety of people I am trying to keep it a secret from (even though it's in a very public place.) Do you think it's more of a potential warning of being open or an outcome?
 

Thirteen

Let someone else have a go

That's really interesting because there are a variety of people I am trying to keep it a secret from (even though it's in a very public place.) Do you think it's more of a potential warning of being open or an outcome?
That depends on where you get it in a spread. A near future position simply means what is coming next, which is resentment from those you're keeping secrets from. But that's not the outcome. So they might get over that. But if it's the outcome position in a spread, then people getting angry with you for keeping secrets is the upshot of all this, and YOU need to decide if you're okay with that. If not, then you can always change the outcome. That's the secret of tarot cards--they give you the opportunity to have a different "future." A tarot reading is like looking at a map on your phone. "Where am I going? Wait! I don't want to end up there..." The phone map lets you see the road you're on and where you'll end up if you stay on it (outcome). If you don't want to go there, you don't stay on that road. You turn the wheel onto a different road, or back up, or just stop. And you get a different outcome.

In a more general sense, however, I don't think this is a warning about being open. The suits are rather like four answers to the question: what should I do? Swords tell you "Think and talk about it," Wands say, "Take action," Cups say, "trust your feelings" and Pents say "hold fast." The advice might be painful given the circumstances, like with 3/Swords where talking leads to hurtful revelations. But it is the thing to do. When you get to the 10's, however, you reach the end of doing that. And the 10's all essentially say: "You've done enough of this; stop and let someone else have a go." So, stop taking action, stop trusting your feelings (trust the feelings of others) and "let go!" Because, the 10's say, it's someone else's turn. To act, to feel, to stay put.

And in the 10/Swords case, Hiram is dead but his secrets are passed on to the worthy. So, you need to stop thinking/talking. You did share this secret with "worthy" master masons. Let them take it from here. Let them do the thinking/talking.
 

Pargatho

That depends on where you get it in a spread. A near future position simply means what is coming next, which is resentment from those you're keeping secrets from. But that's not the outcome. So they might get over that. But if it's the outcome position in a spread, then people getting angry with you for keeping secrets is the upshot of all this, and YOU need to decide if you're okay with that. If not, then you can always change the outcome. That's the secret of tarot cards--they give you the opportunity to have a different "future." A tarot reading is like looking at a map on your phone. "Where am I going? Wait! I don't want to end up there..." The phone map lets you see the road you're on and where you'll end up if you stay on it (outcome). If you don't want to go there, you don't stay on that road. You turn the wheel onto a different road, or back up, or just stop. And you get a different outcome.

In a more general sense, however, I don't think this is a warning about being open. The suits are rather like four answers to the question: what should I do? Swords tell you "Think and talk about it," Wands say, "Take action," Cups say, "trust your feelings" and Pents say "hold fast." The advice might be painful given the circumstances, like with 3/Swords where talking leads to hurtful revelations. But it is the thing to do. When you get to the 10's, however, you reach the end of doing that. And the 10's all essentially say: "You've done enough of this; stop and let someone else have a go." So, stop taking action, stop trusting your feelings (trust the feelings of others) and "let go!" Because, the 10's say, it's someone else's turn. To act, to feel, to stay put.

And in the 10/Swords case, Hiram is dead but his secrets are passed on to the worthy. So, you need to stop thinking/talking. You did share this secret with "worthy" master masons. Let them take it from here. Let them do the thinking/talking.

Makes a ton of sense. I think I have told the most important people in my lives. It's on a need-to-know basis and those that need-to-know do!

Thanks again.
 

Scarlet Air

Totally agree with everyone saying that the positive in the card is that the suffering is now over. It's darkest before the dawn but its finished now and the sun is rising in the background.

Besides who says its you in the card? Maybe its your enemy, so to speak and their attacks against you are over? An ending for someone else can be a beginning for you.
 

equeue

I don't know if it can be of any help, but I almost always see the 10 of swords as over-thinking, big time. It's when you make something worst than it really is only by the power of your own mind. 9 of swords relates to anxiety, but 10 of swords is the culmination of your thoughts. So in your case, you might be over-thinking all details and possibilities related to your debts, this new business and the support program.

On a completely different note, 10 of swords can be someone with an extremely smart mind, able to produce different hypothesis and work under pressure in a chaotic environment. In other words, inspecting every detail and elements of a problem/situation can sometimes be very positive in a work context, when writing a novel or trying to find a new research hypothesis.

I get this card a lot when I have what I call "the spins" meaning obsessive ruminating. I agree with overthinking to the point anxiety wipes you out.

For me it is also a card of exaggerating (depending on the circumstance) the worst as the swords are so big (RW) and yet there is no blood. Basically obsessive thinking as self-sabotage.

So, the positive in that would be that things are not as bad as they seem or that you are advised to have a change in your thinking because you have indeed hit rock bottom and how you are viewing the situation has come to a head.