What Is the Meaning of the Ten of Wands?
The ten of wands is a tarot card. Tarot cards make up a deck in which there are two classes of cards: minor and major arcana. The minor arcana is believed to be the precursor of our modern playing cards. It is made up of four suits: wands, disks or pentacles, swords and cups. Each suit has 14 cards---ace through 10---and four face cards---king, queen, knight and page. This means the tarot minor arcana totals 56 cards, instead of the 52 in a regular deck of playing cards. There are 23 cards in the major arcana, and they are not divided into suits.
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Tarot History
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The first known reference to the tarot comes from the 14th century, but the first known tarot deck dates from the 15th century. It was a hand-painted deck made for the Vicsconzi-Sforza family of Milan. The early decks were used by noble families to play games. The games appear to have caught on, because by the late 15th century standardized decks were being made in Marseilles, France. By the 19th century people were doing esoteric interpretations of the cards and using them for divination. That practice continues today.
Suit of Wands
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Wands are a suit of the minor arcana of the tarot. The suit of wands represents the element of fire and corresponds to the fire element in astrology. This is considered a masculine energy and is associated with the suit of clubs in the modern playing deck.
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The Ten of Wands
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There are many tarot decks using different imagery and attributing different meanings to each card. There is a basic underlying meaning common to most decks, and the ten of wands generally indicates a person who is burdened, is in conflict, has taken on too much responsibility or has lost touch with spirituality.
Rider-Waite Interpretation
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The Rider-Waite tarot deck is one of the most commonly used. The ten of wands in that deck shows a man carrying a bundle of wands in front of him, and they appear to be blocking his vision. He is hunched forward and seems to be overburdened by the weight. There is a city visible in the background and he may be headed there. This image is interpreted to mean that the person is weighted down with responsibility and duty. He is moving forward, but is unable to see beyond the burden. A person drawing this card must determine if he has taken on too many responsibilities or is failing to do what he really wants because of ideas about what "should" be done.
Crowley Interpretation
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Aleister Crowley was a controversial figure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his tarot deck, the Thoth Tarot Deck, became popular in the late 20th century. The ten of wands in that deck is called "Oppression" and shows eight crossed wands that are blocked by two larger staves. There is fire in the background. This image is seen as the element of fire, or force, disconnected from its source. The person who draws this card is trying to use will to reach a result, but the willpower is being blocked and has the potential to become destructive.
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References
- Photo Credit tarot image by e-pyton from Fotolia.com
