Ten of Swords

Upright meaning

A painful ending or the point of complete exhaustion. Something cannot continue as it was; the card marks a limit, rather than another demand to endure.

Something to consider

If a situation has reached its limit, you do not need to keep proving how much you can endure. Focus on what would help you get through today.

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Historical texts

Waite: the card

A prostrate figure, pierced by all the swords belonging to the card.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Waite: divinatory meaning

Whatsoever is intimated by the design; also pain, affliction, tears, sadness, desolation. It is not especially a card of violent death.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Waite: reversed

Advantage, profit, success, favour, but none of these are permanent; also power and authority.

Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite (1922) · Public domain

Mathers: meaning

54. Ten of Swords.-Tears, Affliction, Grief, Sorrow; R. Passing Success, Momentary Advantage.

Source: The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play — S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1888) · Public domain