1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. Ten of Swords

Minor Arcana · Swords

Ten of Swords

• pain
• sadness
• tears

Upright meaning

The lowest point of a cycle. Waite says plainly that it is not especially a card of violent death; we read it as an ending that clears the ground.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite gives advantage, success and favour, though not permanent: recovery under way.

• advantage
• profit
• success
• favour

Symbolism

A figure lies under ten swords beneath a dark sky.

Group

Minor Arcana · Swords

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part III §2 (The Lesser Arcana). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.