Card:
Ten of Swords – Ruin
THE TENTH OF SWORDS – Failure – Mars – Saturn – Violent End
Astrology: Sun in the 3rd decan of Gemini
About :
Ten of Swords – Ruin
With the Ten of Swords, the development of human intellect has consequently reached its last step. From the birth of intellect within the Ace to complete ruin within the grounds of the Ten.
The card teaches the lesson that endless fighting ends with destruction, endless analysis with the complete loss of hope and belief. It forces the lesson of the Nine of Swords to its inevitable conclusion. But with the Sun above it, it does not lack every hope. It will silently return to its origin again, to the first spark of mind in the Ace, to start all over again. The big hope in here is that the lessons from the journey absolved won’t get forgotten.
By the way, every Ten in the Minor Arcana stands for the end of a process, for the need to restart or at least variate, only the Ten of Swords have an amazingly crude way to put it into words – that’s just the way they are.
The Lord of Ruin is much more about what we invite into our lives with negative and unhelpful thought patterns, than it is about outside events. When we pay close attention to the things we wish ourselves, ensuring that our thoughts are as bright as possible, we attract goodness and positive energy into life.
If, on the other hand, we are careless in examining what we think, feel, desire and dream of allowing ourselves to slide into habits that diminish us, living more by fear than by love…then we draw bad things into life.
The trickiest bit about this positive thinking business is that its effects project into the future and we are strongly affected by our experience of the present. If things seem to be going wrong, life is heavy and difficult, we tend to have negative reactions to things. Unfortunately, though, having those negative reactions in the present condemns us to further difficulties in the future.
So you can see it is essential to somehow break out of the downward spiral. Positive thinking is a habit. So is negative thinking. And, as with all habits, it can be very awkward to change the pattern. Constant vigilance is required. We need to monitor our thoughts and feelings VERY carefully. And as soon as we discover that we are starting to think dark thoughts we need to pounce, snatching that thought up and determining where it has come from.
This applies as much to our deepest inner responses as it does to our responses to external stimuli. Life is always throwing the curve ball at you, just to see if you can catch it. And harmonizing yourself with the rhythm of life is – beside being the greatest reward of all – a very big challenge.
Drive: Transformation
Light: Rebirth, realization, the end of a cycle, wisdom through pain and loss
Shadow: Ruin, loss, destruction, separation, pain, catastrophe
Reversed: Encourages you to re-evaluate your circumstances and let go of any aspect of your life that is no longer serving you. Rather than dwelling on your painful past, it is essential to look ahead and realize how these events free you up to reshape your life and choose a new direction for yourself. You can free yourself of your past and create a new sense of self.
Keywords: Sun and Moon in Gemini, fear of insanity, broken heart, fear of the destructive energy of accumulated anger, negative thinking
Advice: The first step is to realize your fear of insanity and collapse. The second step is to understand the negative energies that lie behind your fears. If you want them, you can overcome these fears by recognizing them.
Questions: What are your biggest fears? What would a total collapse of your life be like?
Suggestion: Once you have identified the areas of your fear, formulate your own specific statement and use only positive concepts to help yourself “reprogram” yourself.
Revelation: Negative thinking hinders the natural momentum of my life. When I turn to myself with love, I open up again to life.