Magical Forest - 10 of Wands

karen0205

from lwb: a new beginning

The frog is carrying 10 wands, a very heavy load. He looks like he is
going to buckle under from the weight. He keeps going though.
A period of hard work in order to have success.

I don't understand the 'new beginning' that the artist is saying this
card represents unless it has something to do with taking your
possessions and moving to a different place, a new beginning?
Maybe someone else can help me figure out how that applies
to this card.
 

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r0sered1ster

Magical Forest- Ten of Wands

It might be beginnings as in the burden he bears is so big and sooner or later the frog will drop all the wands and need to start again. I think it says not to carry so much on yourself that does not belong to you such as worry or other peoples issues and problems that rightfully belong to them to solve. I think, not too very long ago, I read that this can be understood as the card for co-dependancy which does make a lot of sense if you look at this little frog struggling along with his load of wands. How many wands does he really need to be responsible for?
 

karen0205

Thanks, that's a good way to look at it, the codependency thing.
 

Extoria

I don't really get the "new beginnings" meaning either. I mean, I suppose there is symbolism of it in the drawing itself - the light in the background is like a sunrise on a misty day and the wands are spread almost in a half-disc, like the sun peeking above the horizon - but these feel like a stretch. Perhaps the frog is moving to a new home and is going through a current period of struggle before settling at a new situation in life.

I see more of duty, whether actual or perceived. Responsibility, assigned by others or taken on under your own will. Are you capable of carrying everything you've taken on? Doo you need to relieve your load or are you content with slow movement (the frog looks like he's taking slow, deliberate steps)?

The frog seems to have bags under his eyes, and he is on a dark path, which does tend this card more towards indicating you may be carrying more than is necessary. But could the frog carry the wands in two trips or is the castle in the far distance (I think his starting point) simply too far from the destination to make that efficient? The card indicates re-evaluate what you are carrying and whether it is necessary to shoulder it all.
 

Metafizzypop

The new beginning meaning might be there because the card is a ten. That's the number of completion. Once things get completed, they start all over again. So that would be a new beginning.
 

Extoria

That could be part of the reason, but it is a trait that applies to the other three '10' cards as well and they don't all mean the same, so it can't be the /only/ indicator of this card meaning a new beginning.

Maybe, if the light behind the frog is the rising sun, and take that in conjunction with the frog and his burden, it means moving onto pasture's new. But that light could also come from a setting sun, and it may just be the art style but his eyes don't look happy.

Then again, new beginnings aren't always desired. And he is walking from the darker side of the card to the lighter side.

I'm just rambling now really.
 

Metafizzypop

But it's interesting rambling. :)
 

Richard

The human (or frog) spirit naturally wants to soar to the stars but gets mired down by earthly responsibilities and concerns. The frog is very tired. To see it as indicating a new beginning is quite a stretch.
 

Extoria

Are you a reader entirely from the card images itself then, L Richard? Cause I see where you're coming from in terms of the image itself - the frog does look tired, carrying 10 staffs is hard work I bet - but somehow the artist thought it related to new starts cause that's the meaning given in the LWB.

Maybe this is a case of dissonance between the artist and the author. The artist interpreting the author's brief in their own fashion, leading to a darker card when perhaps the author had originally envisioned a frog carrying his burden to a new home, weary but undaunted and thus more indicative of setting out on a new start. But I am not a mind reader and I don't know what was in the artist and author's minds.
 

elinne

I am not sure where the new beginning meaning comes from. I have the original Taiwanese companion book, and while I don't know Taiwanese, I do know Japanese and can generally recognize some of the characters (and look them up in google translate, etc.). From what I can gather a new beginning is not mentioned in the original Taiwanese book anywhere... The book mentions: over tiredness, responsibility, integrity, overtime, needing to ask someone else to share the work etc...

Unfortunately I think this is one of the cards which got lost in translation...