Gilded Tarot - - Ten of Swords

Jpoor

A new (at least for me) take on this card.

Which way are the swords traveling?


Why is there this beautiful light surrounding them?


I get the impression tha the swords are being LIFTED from the body as opposed to getting ready to impale it. The light is healing energy. That would also explain the animals being drawn to the scene. In my (VERY LIMITED) experience with energy work and healing, animals LOVE to be in the room and close by when such events are on going.

Any thoughts??

Jim
 

souljourney

I look at this card a bit like that, except I don't think the swords ever were IN the body. There is still a hope that they won't be. The light surrounding them is that hope. The man is definately down and out, exhausted, pretty much given up. But hope still exists...
I think the light is also a healing quality like you said...hoping to energize him to continue on and not give up.
I love the animals in all the cards. I know that the deer is a peaceful animal, but not much more about animal symbolism. I do think it would help with this deck.
 

annik

Strangely, the swords and the light makes me think of acupunture. For sure, there is a painful mental situation. The light is there to give hope, that there is a way out. The person on the ground can crawl a bit before waking up out of danger.
 

Catpaw

Your discussion is very interesting. I see the swords as possibly impaling the body unless the perosn wakes up or stirs. My pets stay with me when I am in the bed not feeling well; they comfort me, fret over me, and sometimes wake me. (Maybe I am snoring or just having a restless nap/sleep).

Light around the swords offer us the wisdom to see the truth and perhps in this case that our own fears inflict pain in us through our dreams or restless periods. I used a magnifying glass to see if the person's eyes were open and to me they look as if they are -- waking up just in the nick of time.
 

Parzival

Gilded Tarot Ten of Swords

Light around the swords offer us the wisdom to see the truth and perhps in this case that our own fears inflict pain in us through our dreams or restless periods. I used a magnifying glass to see if the person's eyes were open and to me they look as if they are -- waking up just in the nick of time.[/QUOTE]

Very insightful little meditation on the image. The swords are aiming at the collapsed man, their tips down, out of the gloomy-blue mental air, with all their mental weight upon him. But they are in an aura of golden-orange light, as if their menace could be warmed away by a different attitude about the crisis bringing down the man. The mind can plunge in like a sword or lift up like the dawn. The man's anguish need not be final or fatal.
This image is like a scene from an unknown story, making me wonder: What happened to bring this man to this condition, and what will happen to him? Perhaps we should practice pre-scene and post-scene Tarot imagination with scenic cards.
 

Mystic Leo

Ten of Swords

I feel the cards surrounding this card would tell the story.

Though on its own I see the light as ...sudden change of circumstances, and the deer meaning rapid resoluton of conflicts.
 

ana luisa

I love this card. It has an aura to it... When my readings show this card it is usually about the END of a terrible ordeal, of a karmic suffering. The swords are there to remind the man that life is full of battles and that although he might get wounded, he will survive. The light is energy, his own and (perhaps) a celestial one as well.Also, the peaceful background adds to this relief feel.
 

beatrix

I love that some of us are mentioning our pets. The first thing I noticed about this card was the expression on the face of the deer, and the way its head is bent. That is exactly the look that my beloved little black dog gives me when something happens. As in, if there is a loud noise outside, or if I've just cursed in anger, or if I've just begun crying. It's almost a look as if to say- well, something disruptive has happened, what are you (and thus, 'we' as a pack), going to do about it?

This makes me believe that the man has done so much overkill (overTHINKING) that he has made himself pass out. The swords not piercing him seems to be an indication of this. He can heal from this and awaken himself, thus banishing the hovering swords. The deer is waiting to see if he will do just that.
 

MysticalMoose

This is a great discussion on this card, some wonderful ideas & points made that I had not thought of, thank you all! - I see these 10 swords with their light as enlightenment finally reaching the man with a new sense of self awareness so that he can put the past behind him. A sort of liberation & release from old habits,patterns etc in order to make a new start - so the thoughts of the healing energy make sense to me here too.
 

Windhorse

My understanding is that deer symbolise 'gentleness'. I found a great quote from the book to Jamie Sams' 'Medicine Cards':

"Deer teaches us to use the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are trying to keep us from Sacred Mountain... You are being asked to find the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds."

Perhaps the swords were rushing down to pierce the person in the back... but that gentle energy is slowing them down (the light surrounding) to make the pain a little more gentle... after all, doesn't this card refer to the endings and completion (the 10's) of a way of thinking/using our rational senses? We can choose how painful we want that ending to occur.... we can fight it and lose the gentleness; or we can accept it, and death will be painless (relatively) and gentle...

what do you think?

P