Ten of Wands

Meanings by Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Saturn|Sun as a symbol of heaviness on the soul and a gloomy mood, or Saturn in the 11th house as an image of hopelessness.

TEN OF WANDS The Ten of Wands is a card of gloomy mood, showing that we expected too much, and now all our rosy prospects have vanished like smoke. Perhaps we ourselves did something poorly somewhere and now have to face the consequences. Sometimes this card also means that on our path of development we have skipped several steps at once and now feel like first-graders thrust into the fifth grade; new, incomprehensible tasks hang like a heavy millstone around our neck. So it is quite possible that we will disgrace ourselves with them now. What is needed here is time to grow accustomed, time and patience, and then the tasks will cease to seem incomprehensible, the gloomy mood will pass, and we will at last take our rightful place.

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Center for Astrological Research, 1999.

TEN OF WANDS Oppression The third decan of Sagittarius, from December 11 to 21. Astrological equivalents: the Tenth and First Houses and the planets connected with them. The third decan of Sagittarius, ruled by the planet of completion, Saturn, lays the foundation for the transformation of energy into material results and describes its manifestations on the earthly plane. The abstract worldview and elevated spirituality of the previous decan here become ideology and ritual, creating support for the idea. For representatives of this decan, more than for the previous ones, the embodiment of the idea into reality is important, and therefore social standing and authority — capable of protecting the idea in the world — are important as well. But... at this level, the idea may turn into dogma. This decan is interpreted as halted development: further movement is suppressed, and the person assumes a conservative position until he receives material satisfaction from the realization of what was planned. This is the desire to finish everything and withdraw. The task of this decan is to use what has been achieved for new movement. The desired goal screens the surrounding world from the person, and so the materialistic stance halts the expansion of thought, and authority establishes in life the truths that have been grasped. The TEN OF PENTACLES brings to a close the fiery stage of asserting one's material-social "I," and the person turns to his inner world, passing into the stage of soul development — the comprehension of the sensory sphere of the element of water. If you have ascended to the highest step of the suit of WANDS (the TEN), a test of endurance awaits you. Every trial, in the end, proceeds from God: is your position truly in accord with "your heaven"? Prove it!

Upright position In the upright position, the card means: the last heavy trial, represented by the treacherous and outwardly prosperous NINE OF WANDS, has been passed. The idea, the thought leading to awareness, has finally taken shape and is now perceived as something separate from the Creator. The person separates himself from his idea, from his creation. This is the stage of which it may be said: "Inspiration is not for sale, but a manuscript may be sold!" The action of the card can be related to the sudden disappearance of extreme pressure, to problems on the eve of their resolution, to the passionate desire to find meaning, purpose, a guiding point, to establish oneself in life, to be defined, to realize one's own level, position, place; the possible use of acquired strength and power for personal, egotistical ends and motives.

Reversed position In the reversed position, the card symbolizes difficulties, intrigues, duplicity, betrayal. The TEN OF WANDS reversed may indicate a meeting with a betrayer of your interests, their destroyer. It may symbolize destruction in all its diversity. On the metaphysical plane, the card signifies the inability of thought, of the idea, to manifest itself. In its extreme manifestations, this is the situation of the misunderstood genius; this is a thought voiced inopportunely — either too early or too late. In practice, the reversed TEN OF WANDS always carries with it some sort of loss: what is to be done — Saturn demands sacrifices.