10 of Swords

Teheuti

HoneyBea said:
what it really is, is a card of opportunity - the opportunity to move on and fulfill one's life instead of stagnating in a position that does nothing for you except pin you down ;)
I see what you're getting at but I would not call it specifically a "card of opportunity." Rather that it clears the way for that opportunity. It is only when the ending is fully accepted that the opportunity has the potential to emerge. I agree this card is about being pinned down - and finding the blessing (see hand) in that. Otherwise the new cannot be perceived, much less appreciated.

Mary
 

HoneyBea

Teheuti said:
It is only when the ending is fully accepted that the opportunity has the potential to emerge. I agree this card is about being pinned down - and finding the blessing (see hand) in that. Otherwise the new cannot be perceived, much less appreciated.

Mary

Ah yes when the ending is fully accepted - that is what I see the message of this card is about, the symbolism brings you to see that the end has arrived and that in order to see a new dawn you need to recognise it. This is why I also personally see this card as presenting you with an opportunity here, it conveys that one needs to give up a line of thought - now that gives you the opportunity to move forward.


I guess what I personally see in this card, is that it presents you with the opportunity to change your perception by reminding you that something is coming to an end. As you say the opportunity has the potential to emerge.

I personally like to see the Swords suit as giving us a chance to see things in a different light as opposed to being about sorrow - but that is just me and I fully appreciate that other will see it differently based on the symbolism presented within the card. - That is why we can have many different interpretations of one card and even I have a diversity of interpretations depending on, as I said before the question, spread and positional definition coupled of course with my intuition.

It is the diversity that makes it so interesting - it is about how the symbolism speaks to us - and in my case an understanding of what Waite and Pixie Smith were trying to convey is what I am trying to explore in these threads. :)

Thank you Mary for all the information in the previous post to the one above, most useful and enlightening. :) << these are the only two smilies I know how to code *lol*
 

Teheuti

HoneyBea said:
it conveys that one needs to give up a line of thought - now that gives you the opportunity to move forward.
I guess you could say that for the Ten of Swords I emphasize the first half of your statement above and I see the Aces as the 2nd half, but I realize that many people emphasize what I'd call the dawn imagery in this card.

It is the diversity that makes it so interesting - it is about how the symbolism speaks to us - and in my case an understanding of what Waite and Pixie Smith were trying to convey is what I am trying to explore in these threads. :)
Once I got that you wanted more discussion of what Waite and Smith were trying to convey I offered the materials I had, emphasizing the research I've been doing on Waite for the past couple of years. Sorry, I've got nothing about Smith's intentions for this image, so I explained one way that I get information from her pictures - by acting out the card.

Thanks for the smiles. I'm on a Mac/Firefox and can't seem to find how to do html except by manual coding which I know little about.

Mary
 

Alta

Teheuti said:
This is the suit of Swords taken to an extreme - the nth degree. Yet in reaching its ultimate conclusion, nothing further can be done in that direction through either thought or aspiration, and so there's room for a new possibility to emerge [the rising of the black clouds revealing yellow light] - though it has to come from a new and different place.

Mary
Thanks so much for this Mary! Useful and thought-provoking references.

I don't usually think in such poetic terms, but I also think that although 'hope'; can be an adjunct or outcome of this card, that readers should refrain from taking that as the main meaning of the card. The card means what it it means, the hope is something that may, or may not come afterwards.

Edited to add: I wrote the above after your reading your post at the end of the previous page and hadn't realized there was further discussion until I posted.

I agree that the swords suit points the way to penetrating understanding, but lacks other aspects of understanding such as compassion.
 

Alta

Teheuti said:
<snip> so I explained one way that I get information from her pictures - by acting out the card.
I have not done this with every card, but in moments of perplexity this method of getting into the meaning has been very revealing. To just 'be the card' and feel, see and hear what the chosen actor would.

I have also seen this as the culmination of the 8 and the 9 as seen from a purely mental viewpoint, so it could even be suicide.
 

Imagemaker

I got this card in a reading today that brought the thought out--"the drama is over."

In the specific situation and in general, it made so much sense that finally, the person sees that his approach (line of thinking) hasn't worked, in spite of his over-dramatic acting and prostration to make his point.

So yes, the show is over and a new approach can begin.
 

WalesWoman

Since there is no sign of struggle, and often martyrdom comes into play with this card, it could be also a willingness to be struck down or a sacrifice of self for your ideals. IT simply could be a matter of pinning down the problem, so that you can see things in another light, instead of the constant going in circles, anxiety factor of the 9.

I had another thought earlier too, since swords and law are connected, that it would be making all your points and resting your case... much like a lawyer does in his summation before the jury goes out to deliberate it's verdict.

There, I've done my annual 10 Swords post!
 

Teheuti

Marion said:
I agree that the swords suit points the way to penetrating understanding, but lacks other aspects of understanding such as compassion.
Good point (LOL). It sometimes helps to look at what's NOT involved. Yes, something else would be needed (some other card in the spread) for compassion to come into play.

Mary
 

Teheuti

WalesWoman said:
IT simply could be a matter of pinning down the problem . . . making all your points and resting your case... much like a lawyer does in his summation before the jury goes out to deliberate it's verdict.

There, I've done my annual 10 Swords post!
I like the lawyer analogy. Please, don't stop here.
 

HoneyBea

Mary and I had a conversation about this card and Mary suggested I post some of it here as it may well explain what I am thinking. *lol*

Your breakdown and analysis of the symbols below makes a lot of sense. I can see that it is what you were getting at before, but in this message you've been much more detailed in putting together all the evidence that you spoke of. You might want to post this entire trail. It now makes much more sense to me.
Mary


I was trying to convey what the symbolism had come to mean for me. As you say Waite did not write much about this card, and looking at that along with researching what the symbols could mean - this was the conclusion I had come to. - I think at times Waite's explanations of Pixie's illustrations in this deck are more than lacking, and I also think that Pixie's connection with the theater also seem to at times appear in her illustrations.

I am a strange creature and I like personally when discussing the cards whether it be the RWS or any other deck to look at the symbolism and try to get down to what the creator wants to say about this deck.

I guess I have put together those symbols, looked for instance at the yellow horizon and seen it as a colour that is associated with mental activity and because it is there seen that to symbolise that there is an opportunity here to use one's mind in a more positive way that may just help to dissipate that black and empty sky - coupled with the grey clouds, grey being a mixture of black and white seen it as a message here to reconcile some of those negative thoughts and combine them with some positive ones.
The mountains in the back ground could symbolise boundaries of the mind and the colour purple can be associated with wisdom, so again putting that together and saying with wisdom we can get over some of these mental blocks that pin us down.

I saw all of these symbols as a message within this card to say that if you can accept the end of this situation you can replace the negativity with positive thoughts.



HoneyBea