10 of swords upright vs 10 swords reversed

[Guest]

I have been having problems with the 10 swords card RWS. When I search it, some meanings of the reverse is the same as the upright while others speak of the reverse being about brighter days. I sat down with the card and asked for help. This is what I got. Please tell me if any of you see it any differently.

 

10 swords upright- failure and ruin. Everything that can go wrong went wrong. It is a card of betrayal. You have been betrayed and it is the final nail in the coffin. It is over with. What ever the situation is, it is over, and there is no hopes of fixing it, you should move on. It is time to move on but there is another chapter coming that is better, as the sun is rising the background. Also, I see it as something that was unexpected and blindsided you. Everything regarding that situation is dead but it can no longer hurt you and you can move forward. It speaks of painful endings.

 

10 swords reverse: (When I sat down with my desk this is what I got) The worst is yet to come. The swords DO NOT FALL OUT, but impale the person further. It is a card about trauma that will last a very long time as the person is slowly impaled by the swords. The initial piercing of the swords was a shock but as the swords impale the person further the pain continues. The reason I came to that conclusion is because I kept asking about the card and something point me to the fact that there is blood on the swords in a perfectly straight line. If you look at the card it looks like the red line is now where the body is currently sitting now. So the the swords didn't fall out but the person is being impaled. If you look at the water behind the swords, it is bloody and as if it is where the person is now laying as he is being impaled. The sun is setting and the body is descending into the darkness below. 

 

 

[gregory]

I quote from the best set of meanings I know - Thirteen's:

 

Quote

 

Turn the card upside-down, however, and the body sinks down on those swords. They impale him even deeper. What should be over isn't over, it lingers, torturing its victim.

Upright, I would read this as a querent's opponents putting the "nail in the coffin" in regards to the debate. They stab him in the back and leave. But reversed, I'd read this as his opponents turning the knife, making him suffer as long as possible. This is the card you'd get for a kid being mocked and insulted every day at school; it just never seems to end. Even worse, the querent may be lead to think that his suffering is over...but it's not. The kids may treat him nice just to get him into a position where they can make even more fun of him. Not a nice card.

 

 

I'd rather see it upright. It's over; it was awful, but it's over - move on. If you are still fretting and obsessing over the issue - forget it. There's nothing you can do. Move on. Maybe you were stabbed in the back - but there's nothing you can do, and no point discussing it any more. It's the ultimate MOVE ON card.

[Guest]

@gregory Is the card telling you to stop asking about the situation? Or leave the situation behind and start brand new somewhere else?

[gregory]

To move on from it. There's no point asking over and over - it's done. There's nothing you can do, so you have to start over. Rx - there, not so much. The pain carries on. 

[DanielJUK]

I've been reading many authors and different takes on reversals recently and some people see the swords as falling out and it's a recovery type card. So I think it's how you view the swords, are they falling out when they are upside-down or are they so stuck in they are defying gravity?

 

There is a reason painful endings happen in our lives, that situation cannot continue. The upright card promises this is as bad as it gets and it's about rebuilding now. But what happens if you are just stuck in pain? We have to move on from endings and grow and learn from it. Perhaps it's a relationship where it was just not going to work out, or any situation where it just cannot continue. We need to learn the lesson, make sure we are never in that position again. We can't run from an ending and situation in our lives but we have to feel the pain! This sometimes happens in our lives, we are wounded people and need to heal. You have to let things go and then you can heal and then you can have growth from the situation. This ending has to happen and you have to process it or you cannot move on to better things ahead 🙂

[Grizabella]

Swords are the suit of the intellect so the reversed card would say to me that someone is dwelling on an issue.  Obsessing over it and not leaving it behind.  

[Guest]

21 hours ago, gregory said:

To move on from it. There's no point asking over and over - it's done. There's nothing you can do, so you have to start over. Rx - there, not so much. The pain carries on. 

That how I see it too. In the upright and reverse. I tend to interpret the upright 10 of swords as a situation that is cumilivative depending on what the question is. As for the reverse swords, I call it the trauma card, pain that carries on for a long time.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

I've been reading many authors and different takes on reversals recently and some people see the swords as falling out and it's a recovery type card. So I think it's how you view the swords, are they falling out when they are upside-down or are they so stuck in they are defying gravity?

I see what you mean about defying gravity. As I look at the card, I see it as the sun is setting and the ground is dark from the lack of light. Could it be both, depending on surrounding cards?

21 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

There is a reason painful endings happen in our lives, that situation cannot continue. The upright card promises this is as bad as it gets and it's about rebuilding now. But what happens if you are just stuck in pain? We have to move on from endings and grow and learn from it. Perhaps it's a relationship where it was just not going to work out, or any situation where it just cannot continue. We need to learn the lesson, make sure we are never in that position again. We can't run from an ending and situation in our lives but we have to feel the pain! This sometimes happens in our lives, we are wounded people and need to heal. You have to let things go and then you can heal and then you can have growth from the situation. This ending has to happen and you have to process it or you cannot move on to better things ahead 🙂

Thank you.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, Grizabella said:

Swords are the suit of the intellect so the reversed card would say to me that someone is dwelling on an issue.  Obsessing over it and not leaving it behind.  

Do you see it as more of a reflection card?

[Grizabella]

Do you mean reflection as in looking back and just thinking in general about the situation or person? 

 

If so, that's not what I mean. What I mean is obsessing about it.  Just constant anxiety and worry and thoughts of the issue taking priority over every other issue.

[DanielJUK]

I'm not sure when you metaphorically have swords in your back, it's the best time for reflection 😉

But I think it's about finding a way to release the pain, maybe this is emotional pain or worries and thoughts like Griz suggested.

How can you find a release from this situation and move on to heal? Breaking the cycle of being stuck. That's the goal ahead from this card I think ❤️

 

 

[Guest]

@Grizabella I see the 9 of swords as more of an anxiety and worrying thought card. How do you see the 10 of swords compared to the 9 of swords?

[Guest]

@DanielJUK I see, the 10 of swords: It happened and it was painful. You can release the pain or die underneath those swords.- Thank you.

[thetarotlass]

I really love everyone’s interpretations of this single card. Just reminds you how an endless number of messages can be conveyed using Tarot. Not only from the cards themselves, but also from who is reading them.

 

For me, I think I would have to look at the other cards to determine how I want to read 10oS Rx in a reading. If there were happier cards around, perhaps the situation will improve, and the swords are, falling out, if you will. If darker cards are around, I would take it as twice the heartbreak, utter devastation.

[gregory]

11 hours ago, Cati said:

@Grizabella I see the 9 of swords as more of an anxiety and worrying thought card. How do you see the 10 of swords compared to the 9 of swords?

 

I'd see the 9 as nightmares, catastrophic thinking - but the disaster hasn't happened yet. There may yet be a way to avert it. In the 10 - it has; it's too late to prevent.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, thetarotlass said:

I really love everyone’s interpretations of this single card. Just reminds you how an endless number of messages can be conveyed using Tarot. Not only from the cards themselves, but also from who is reading them.

 

For me, I think I would have to look at the other cards to determine how I want to read 10oS Rx in a reading. If there were happier cards around, perhaps the situation will improve, and the swords are, falling out, if you will. If darker cards are around, I would take it as twice the heartbreak, utter devastation.

I agree, the surrounding cards would be a good indicator of how you should interpret the 10 of swords reverse. 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, gregory said:

 

I'd see the 9 as nightmares, catastrophic thinking - but the disaster hasn't happened yet. There may yet be a way to avert it. In the 10 - it has; it's too late to prevent.

The worries of the 9 of swords can be real or unreal? I've read many places where people have said that the worries of the 9 of swords is imagined and not real. I always thought of the 9 of swords as a card that can be both. The 10 of swords is saying; everything you've feared from the 9 of swords has happened. You either move on from the situation or die under the swords. The 10 of swords to me also speaks of an ending that is sudden. 

[gregory]

Like catastrophic thinking - they can be looking at the worst possible scenario. And when you let that thought take over, you risk falling into it. Sometimes if you face your fears they turn out not to be real - or at least far less awful than you thought.

And yes the 10 is an ending. Not necessarily sudden - it can drag on - and the more so if it's Rx.

[thetarotlass]

9 hours ago, Cati said:

I agree, the surrounding cards would be a good indicator of how you should interpret the 10 of swords reverse.

Thanks~ Yeah, a good rule in general. 😊

[thetarotlass]

9 hours ago, Cati said:

I've read many places where people have said that the worries of the 9 of swords is imagined and not real. I always thought of the 9 of swords as a card that can be both.

I only recently heard this same thing, and it’s funny - I have never interpreted 9oS as worries that were imagined. It’s a fairly new concept/point of view for me. I think the reason I have always interpreted 9oS as very real and genuine worry & concern, is because I’m a very anxious individual myself. I’ve suffered from acute anxiety since I was 15 (I’m now 33).

 

I’m now beginning to see this card the same way you do, and, besides using your own intuition on the matter, peeping the surrounding cards will guide you on how to interpret.

[Chariot]

I read not long ago that the reversed 10 of Swords CAN mean 'dodging the bullet,' but the card doesn't feel that way to me. At least not in the classic RWS deck. That reversed card also doesn't feel like recovery.  It just feels as if things are going to get worse and the effects will last a long time.   The reversed 10 of Swords is a card I really don't like to see, as there is very little that's positive about it.

I'm trying to remember back when I last had that reversed card appear in a reading (it's been a while; I should be thankful!)

I do actually like to see the 10 of Swords upright, especially if it's in a present position in a reading, or a near future.  It tells me that the worst has happened, and things will only start to get better.    

I particularly like the Anna K Tarot's interpretation of the upright card—the worst has happened and the wounded person is walking away, back bloodied, but still alive. And if it's reversed, it says to me that the situation is not over—you can't walk away from it—at least not yet.  
 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Chariot

[DanielJUK]

12 hours ago, Cati said:

The worries of the 9 of swords can be real or unreal? I've read many places where people have said that the worries of the 9 of swords is imagined and not real. I always thought of the 9 of swords as a card that can be both. The 10 of swords is saying; everything you've feared from the 9 of swords has happened. You either move on from the situation or die under the swords. The 10 of swords to me also speaks of an ending that is sudden. 

 

The 9 of Swords in the RWS deck and other decks, shows the person kept from their sleep in their bed. They sit upright, with their head in their hands and seem distressed. Behind them are loads of swords. 

 

We all have had sleepless nights due to worrying and stress. Like the night before something which is stressful or makes us anxious. We think over and over about it and cannot sleep. But the next day it all goes fine. So the worrying was for nothing. Some people have chronic and acute sleep disorders, they cannot get sleep for days, it's a really serious thing. The situation is real, they cannot sleep but it's imagined thoughts and stress. Their worries and anxieties are their thoughts in overdrive.

 

The 10 of Swords though has all those swords through the person. So they are not kept up at night imaging the worst case scenario, it's now happened! But it's now about the recovery. That I think is the difference

[Chariot]

28 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

 

The 9 of Swords in the RWS deck and other decks, shows the person kept from their sleep in their bed. They sit upright, with their head in their hands and seem distressed. Behind them are loads of swords. 

 

We all have had sleepless nights due to worrying and stress. Like the night before something which is stressful or makes us anxious. We think over and over about it and cannot sleep. But the next day it all goes fine. So the worrying was for nothing. Some people have chronic and acute sleep disorders, they cannot get sleep for days, it's a really serious thing. The situation is real, they cannot sleep but it's imagined thoughts and stress. Their worries and anxieties are their thoughts in overdrive.

 

The 10 of Swords though has all those swords through the person. So they are not kept up at night imaging the worst case scenario, it's now happened! But it's now about the recovery. That I think is the difference

I agree.  The 9 of Swords upright means worry and stress ...whatever wakes you up with that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You might be dreading something that won't actually happen, or you might actually have great cause to worry, but the 9 of Swords reflects your state of mind, whatever the reality of the situation might be.  (The reversed card is actually a favourable card that usually means the worry or fear is going—or has gone—away.  A return to a happier frame of mind.) 

The 10 of Swords, on the other hand, indicates a actual event that has brought harm or pain.  

Edited June 12, 2023 by Chariot

[Guest]

@gregory I agree with your interpretation of the 9 of swords. The ten of swords reverse for me, in a relationship, it is someone who knows that relationship is over but does not want to accept it. They are trying to prevent the ending a relationship that has already ended.

[Guest]

@Chariot I love the imagery of that card. I look at the 9 and 10 of sword very similar to you.