The Tarot Tens and the End Times
In my personal practice over the last few months, I've been working a lot with the Minor Arcana, especially the number cards. We tend to focus our attention on the Majors, with their juicy deep archetypes and spiritual journey. But the Minors are the vehicle for that journey and without them, its all abstract. So I was going to start writing about the number cards here, starting with the Aces. And I'll still do that, but I'm not starting with the Aces.
In the Wildwood Tarot, the Ten of Arrows is called Instruction, asking us what skills and ideas we are gifting to the next generation, which they in their turn will pass on. There are two figures there, rather than the single figure of the Smith-Waite Ten of Swords, a "brain is full" card if ever there was one. The Motherpeace Ten of Swords talks of leaving behind a cherished but outdated idea, which definitely resonates with these times we are living in. There are so many of them, the problem might be where to start...
The Ten of Wands is, sadly, literal around in many parts of the world in the form of forest fires and environmental destruction. It's part of the natural cycle, but not to this extent. When the Ten of Wands comes up in readings, people always resonate with the tale of burdens and over-commitment most versions of it tells, like the Wildwood image here. The Motherpeace shows a way through the tension, depicting women coming together to dance out their excess energy and harness their spontaneity.
The Ten of Cups might advocate a need to actually feel our feelings, instead of numbing them with consumption and addiction. How different would a world look which was based on compassion, empathy? So often these days we seem to have lost those completely. Both of these images show the abundance of emotional energy which is available to us in this card. We can choose to numb it, or we can choose to ride the wave which will re-connect us to the source of our being, like the women in the Motherpeace image. I can't help comparing this image to the heartbreaking images I keep seeing online of the Victoria Falls run almost completely dry.
The Ten of Pentacles is our legacy and asks the all-important question - how are relating to the ultimate resource, planet earth herself? Right now much of humanity see themselves as separate from the planet, even superior. but we are all one and until this becomes lived experience for all of us, it's unlikely that anything will change. The Motherpeace image shows a circle of support gathered around a woman giving birth, a powerful moment of transition. What kind of world are we birthing and who is gathered with us?
Because it occurred to me last week, sitting in the noisy overcrowded lounge where us gullible parents wait while our children do their ballet and gymnastics and suchlike, that we are living in the Tens. For a start, there's the beginning of an ending happening here in the UK today, bringing sadness and frustration to many and a depressing amount of misguided smugness to others. That's just one example - the whole of the western world has reached the Tens point in the cycle and so many cling on, refusing to admit that anything needs to change or that we ever need to move on. We cling to our possessions (Ten of Pentacles), while the world burns around us (Ten of Wands). We are overloaded with information (Ten of Swords). And we are are more comfortable here in the west, than anyone has ever been (Ten of Cups). Too much, its all too much. Life is so overwhelming, we have to escape into our phones, our box sets, our consumption. Anything's better than giving up a comfortable life, than realising we are not in control and we certainly don't deserve to be.
Whenever Tens come up in a reading, I tell querents that this is where its easy to stagnate, to get complacent, to take it all for granted until it's too late. But here we are, either refusing to move or feeling so overwhelmed by all that needs to change that we don't know where to start. Most of the people reading this are well aware of all this, of course. We are all doing our best to make changes, to pressure those in power to make changes, to find a new story. So what can each of us do to shift from the Ten to the Ace, to move up the spiral instead of going around in planet-destroying circles? What do the tarot Tens teach us about how to move on?
The endings of the Ten don't need to always be about overwhelm and fatigue. In the Motherpeace tarot, for example, the Tens are cards of community, of working together, sharing and passing on energy. They represent energies of transformation and consolidation, synthesising the experiences of the previous number cards. I've found myself wondering if the Tens are a little like Pisces. As the final sign of the zodiac, Pisces is often said to contain a little of each of the preceding signs. I wonder if the tarot Tens all contain a little of each of the cards from Ace to Nine. Tens are a transition point, where the energy overflows and needs a new direction.