Ten of Swords
Swords
How This Card Is Derived
Papus gives no separate description of this card. It is derived from his system: Swords is Vau (ו), the equilibrating principle, the link between the two, acting in Yetzirah, the formative world; the number 10 is He final of the third series, full realization — the suit spent, and the seed of the suit that follows. The meaning below is that combination read out — the equilibrating principle, the link between the two taken at its 10th term — not a quotation from him.
Upright
The suit spent. Ten swords, nothing left to contest, and Papus's tenth term is always also a seed — so this is a completion that is genuinely final for the conflict and genuinely the start of whatever follows. The card is not a warning; it is a statement that the worst of one specific thing has finished happening. In the formative world there is nothing left to argue.
Reversed
The end refused — a conflict revived after it was over, which in this suit is the most expensive move available. Or the beginning of what follows, since a spent suit hands on: the first light along the horizon of the card.
Correspondences
- Suit
- Swords — Vau (ו), Yetzirah, the formative world
- Suit principle
- the equilibrating principle, the link between the two
- Number
- 10 — He final of the third series
- Numeric role
- full realization — the suit spent, and the seed of the suit that follows
In a Spread
At the commencement, the matter begins from a total defeat, which is a firmer footing than a partial one. In opposition, an ending the querent is still contesting. At equilibrium nothing is balanced — this position is simply reporting that it is finished. As the result: the conflict is comprehensively over, and the next suit's business begins.