Tarot Quick Hit: The Ten of Swords
Busting out something new as the seasons change, the cold creeps in, and many of us writers start retreating into our cozy, warm spaces to hammer out new worlds…
In the past, I wrote fairly comprehensive profiles on each random card I pulled for the blog. However, since these articles are meant to highlight the use of tarot (among other things) for creative inspiration, I thought mini-articles on the Minor Arcana may be more useful than a tome you’ll never scroll all the way through.
So, here’s our first Tarot Quick Hit for artistic inspiration:
The Ten of Swords
Pictured: Ten of Swords from the Linestrider Tarot deck
The Ten of Swords is a card intrinsically associated with pain, suffering and exhaustion. As you can see from the various versions shown here, the card frequently depicts the slaying of someone via a barrage of swords (10 to be precise, and oh btw – that someone being slayed is usually you).
The general ethos of the card is that you’ve been nearly defeated by suffering. Be it past wounds that have overwhelmed you or burn-out creeping in from overextending yourself, you are (or are about to be) taken down by that suffering. In reverse, the card usually means the release of that pain in order to heal and move on.
Pictured: The Ten of Swords from the Wild Unknown Tarot deck
So, how does this play into creativity?
Pictured: The Ten of Swords from the Ethereal Visions Tarot deck
In a Goals-Motivation-Conflict (GMC) spread for your character, wherever the Ten of Swords falls, your character has some work to do. Whether that’s seeking to heal, being propelled by past pain, or finding that they encounter near-defeat in pursuit of their goals, the Ten of Swords underscores the anguish your character has/is experiencing.
You get to decide how they tackle that suffering (though, if you need a little more inspiration, you can always pull additional clarifying cards).
In a personal reading as an artist, maybe this is telling you to step back for a moment. Expressing yourself, then trying to sell that expression can be an extraordinarily painful and exhausting experience. For me, it’s been easy this past year to get caught up in the act of selling myself/my work at the expense of my actual writing. For obvious reasons, this soon leads to burn-out and even depression.
Pictured: The Ten of Swords from the Tarot of the Abyss deck
So, maybe it’s a good time to pause and focus on what you can do to take care of yourself, so you don’t get taken out completely by the battles you’ve been waging.
What makes you feel healthy? Happy? Whole?
Whatever the answer to that question is, maybe it’s time to do more of that thing for a while.
