One of the darkest looking cards in the Tarot deck, the 10 of Swords depicted in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck shows a dead mans body lying with 10 Swords stabbed into his body, a dark sky looming in the background, broken only by the glow of light deep on the horizon before sunrise. As a ten, this card represents the end of a cycle. Whatever has happened is in the past now, the pain has ended and it’s time to move forward out of the dark and into that sunrise.
Our first interpretation of this image from the Mystical Manga Tarot by Rann, is not dark at all, but is rich in swirling colours, the brightest and lightest being in the middle, radiating outwards, expelling the darkness from the image. The colours of this beautiful sunrise are reflected in our figure’s long wavy hair, her dress blending with the water she stands in, giving the illusion that she is part of the water and the sky. She stands up straight and gazes into the light, despite the weight of the ten swords crushing into her back. Whatever has happened to her, whether she has been stabbed in the back, whatever pain she has had to endure, she refuses to stand down, refuses to be a victim. Instead she rises up, putting her past behind her. Her arms are crossed, her hands by her hips, preparing for her next move- she could throw her hands up over her head and in doing so would dislodge those swords.
Another figure appears to be trapped by the energy of his swords. Ciro Marchetti’s Tarot art in the Mystic Palette Tarot shows an angelic winged figure, either moving into or out of the foetal position as he is suspended in the lights radiating from the ten swords bearing down on him. His head is down, looking at the bright red Fool’s mask he dangles lightly from his hand. He could choose to wallow in his self pity, to have the mindset of a victim, or to rise up and bounce back with the humor of the Fool. Lee Burston writes of the Fool in the accompanying guidebook, “His expression of genial humanity will allow the angel within you to spread its wings.”
The After Tarot by Guilia F. Massaglia depicts what could have happened in the moment after the well known scene from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck. The man’s red cloak, a symbol of dignity, is still drapped over him as he is carried carefully by two men towards an open grave. One of the swords has been placed on his chest, and his hands over it. The other swords in the background standing upright in the ground, resemble tombstones. A resting place, a place of peace. The sky is clearing, the light before sunrise glowing strong, pushing the darkness aside. The two men look into the grave, the next step, the next place where the man will be laid to rest. The pain is over, it’s done. A new day has begun and it’s time to move on.
In most Tarot decks, the ten swords are all in the figures back or along their entire body. It would only take one sword to do the job, so why ten? The mindset of the victim is put into question. Are they suffering the most? Do they have it worse than everyone else? Or could they find the strength to rise up, to not be cynical and self-victimising, but to move forward, leaving the past where it belongs.
2 of Pentacles: Keep your Balance
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