Make sure you grab the FREE Invictus Tarot TIY (Trust in Yourself!) Tarot workbook, if you haven't already! As a note, I am using the OG Rider-Waite deck for this series of posts, but you absolutely don't have to! Find the deck or decks that speak to you most, the cards you connect to most will always be better for your readings and sharpening your intuitive skills. This is just an example and reference for you to trust in yourself!
Ten of Swords
Prepare yourself for a powerful, albeit often unsettling, encounter with the Ten of Swords. Despite depicting a scene of utter defeat and finality, within its dramatic imagery lies a profound message of ultimate completion and the promise of a new beginning.
Keywords: ending, rock bottom, complete defeat, ruin, betrayal, ultimate loss, hitting absolute zero, collapse, the end of a cycle, rebirth, a new dawn
General Meaning: The Ten of Swords is the card of total collapse and absolute finality in the realm of intellect, conflict, and mental anguish. It signifies a painful but definitive end to a situation, a belief system, or a way of thinking that has become utterly unsustainable. It's hitting rock bottom, the point where there's nowhere left to fall, and simultaneously there's a clear sense that the worst is over.
Personal Interpretation: You are at a point of complete and utter closure. A situation, relationship, or mental struggle has reached its undeniable end. While this can feel devastating and painful, the core message of the Ten of Swords is that this ending is final. The worst is behind you. There is no more fighting, no more denying. It's the darkness just before the dawn.
Reversed Meaning: prolonged or incomplete ending, resistance to letting go, desperate attempts to cling to the unsustainable status quo, refusal to acknowledge painful truths
Affirmation: "I accept the complete ending of what no longer serves me, knowing that from the ashes of finality, new possibilities and a brighter dawn will emerge. I release myself to the cycle of renewal."
Symbolism: figure face down, swords, sunrise in the horizon, clear waters
Imagery Notes: figure face down - completely defeated; swords - piercing the figure, psychological forces have won; sunrise in the horizon - promise of a new day, hope for the inevitable cycle of rebirth after death; clear waters - subconscious emotions have been brought to the surface and clarity has been achieved
People: people who have hit rock bottom, survivors ready to get back up,
Places: metaphorical battlefields after the war has ended, points of no return, end of the line, bottom of the abyss
Media:
Personal Insights & Other Notes: The Ten of Swords can be terrifying to behold, but its power lies in its definitive nature. It assures you that whatever difficult ending you're experiencing, it is an end. There's no coming back from this specific point of collapse, which, surprisingly, can be a great relief. This card is a powerful reminder that sometimes, things have to fall completely apart for us to truly rebuild from a stronger, more authentic foundation. It's the ultimate dark night of the soul, but it always heralds the coming dawn.
Have you ever experienced a "rock bottom" moment that, in retrospect, led to a significant and necessary new beginning? What did you learn from that experience about endings and rebirth?
