Future Tarot

I have to say that the Celtic Cross in my favorite spread. Miss Michele loves giving the six card readings but I broke my teeth on these meatier ten card readings and feel a real sense of journey from cards 1 through 10. When Teri asked, “How can I get closer to living my everyday life (job mostly) in a more fulfilling way?“, I thought the Celtic Cross was exactly the kind of spread to shed light on the issue. Lets see what they share with Teri.

The Significator: Knight of Cups
Teri’s life to this point has been an emotional journey, she has come a long way on a hard road and knows that the path continues ahead.

Crossing Card: King of Wands
I get the feeling, this King, while normally a very positive herald of new ideas, indicates a lack of focus. With so many ideas, new projects, and shifting interests it can be hard to give time or mind to any one aspect long enough to make significant progress.

Crowning Card: The Chariot
When I see The Chariot I often think of it as a fork in the road. Teri is at a point where life presents two choices but both create an inner conflict and confusion. Neither is a better or worse choice but remaining at the crossroads is not an option either.

Base of the Matter: Queen of Wands
What Teri cannot see about the choice above is the Queen of Wands who sits in command of her kingdom. The Queen is a warm, considerate, and creative woman, full of life and heart. She often heralds a time of personal growth and is a supportive influence in the near future of which Teri may not yet be aware.

Past Influences: Ace of Pentacles
The past shows a sudden influx of finance perhaps through a legacy or sale of material goods. The windfall is short lived but often comes when most needed.

Forthcoming Influences: Nine of Wands
It has been a challenging few months but there are calm waters just beyond this final hurdle. The Nine of Wands reminds me of the ultimate call of hope. When we are at the edge of reason, exhaustion wearies our features, and life has become weightier than we feel we can bare hope tides us through the final battle. Teri must gather her resources and know that things are about to get a whole lot easier.

Where One Finds Oneself: Seven of Swords
Because of the tough path behind her, Teri has set up barriers to her inner being that wards off those around her. In the past these defenses have served her cause but courage calls for Teri to let down her guard a little, to welcome the Queen of Wands into her heart. It is in taking a chance on others that she will flourish in the future.

View of Others: The Emperor
I suspect in large part because of the barriers Teri has built around her heart those around Teri often think of her as standoffish, high and mighty, even arrogant. What they believe and what is true are rarely the same thing but be careful of keeping apart from others. The Emperor is a powerful being, he wields lightening bolts and shapes the world, but also leads a relatively solitary life that may not give Teri the happiness she is looking for.

Hopes and Fears: The High Priestess
After the earlier cards The High Priestess in this position is rather interesting. In standard divination she is a spiritual being, deeply focused on the occult, seeing beyond the physical world into the heavens. She has a gentle nature and a central order to the way things should be done. I get the feeling that in this position she indicates a fear of structure, order, rules, and restrictions or perhaps an inner need for such things.

Final Outcome: Five of Pentacles
To find a greater fulfillment in life Teri may, ultimately, have to give up what she currently has. Teri, make a sacrifice of your current beliefs or securities rather than clinging to the little you have now. It is easy to feel we have too little and need to horde for the ‘rainy day’. The Five of Pentacles often shows a very real sense of walking away from what you’ve accomplished so far, of giving up what little you have. In a sense, you may need to begin again, to accomplish what you desire.

“The Ten of Swords is the Dark before the Dawn.” *
Any hardship culminates in an apex of fatigue and horror. One is surrounded by the sense of the insurmountable, faced with what feels like an inevitable failure and crushing defeat. The Ten of Swords embodies this darkness. When all the odds seem turned against you and you cannot see beyond this moment to the brightness beyond.

When I see the Ten of Swords in a reading it reminds me of a great battle. Surrounded by the enemy, the remaining troops are torn between throwing down their swords and ultimately feel that their fight is one that ends in their death and has been for naught. From this perspective, we are the men, gazing into the maniacal faces of our enemy, our muscles heavy, blood seeping, swords an half-height, weary with fatigue and awash in hopelessness.

What we fail to see, hidden from us by the shadows of the army on every flank is the golden gleam of fresh armor, bronzed horses, glimmering swords, and the banners of long awaited reinforcements just cresting the horizon. Here, in the darkness of what seems like imminent defeat we fail to see our salvation.

That, is the Ten of Swords.

Kimberlee Ferrell describes the Ten of Swords as, “hitting rock bottom, being a martyr, or having a “woe is me” attitude. Things couldn’t be worse, but the bright side is that the only way left to go is up.”

This card shares similar qualities to the Major Arcana, Death. The card itself shows that in it’s most literal sense and offers a dark image of hopelessness and defeat. Yet on the horizon is a bright new day and we are reminded that every ending is a new beginning as the circle turns.

In a reading, the Ten of Swords might indicate a need to find acceptance within yourself and to allow change to occur. Often, the greatest pain is caused by attempting to hold back the winds of change. One must create room for new life by letting go of that which no longer aids.

The Ten of Swords portends a difficult experience of loss or release, but a new awareness and a positive sense of relief that the difficulty is finally finished will eventually follow the pain of this experience. Though this card may seem negative at first glance, it is a card of hope and an indication that our troubles will not be permanent. ~

This card might also be telling us that things are not as bad as they seem. The Ten of Swords often appears as melodrama or even hypochondria. It is the making of a mountain out of a molehill. When the card appears in a spread it may be advising us to reevaluate our position and to look at the bare facts without emotional excess.

The Ten of Swords appears to be a card of terrible misfortune, but surprisingly, it often represents troubles that are more melodramatic than real. The man on this card has quite a few swords in his back. Wouldn’t one be enough? Isn’t ten a little excessive? Perhaps this gentleman’s suffering – though sincere – is exaggerated as well. *

On the other hand, it may mean “you need to convince someone that it IS that bad while they are insisting that you are exaggerating.”

What are you letting go of this week? Have you felt hopeless and fatigued by your situation? Perhaps you can see the light of a new dawn on the horizon. What insights do you feel the Ten of Swords brings?