The Ten of Swords unfolds a tragic scene as we see a person laying face forward on a hard, unforgiving ground, dying quietly with ten swords stabbed into their back and body. The sky above is filled with dark, somber clouds while a line of distant blue mountains looks on forlornly from afar. Death lingers in this card as well as loss. It’s easy to see nothing but pain in this shadowed, terrible moment as the person who has been stabbed no longer tries to resist, but lies still, motionless. Like the placid lake in the background. Notice however, the break in the clouds above the mountains, bold and clear in a wash of hopeful yellow. Easy to miss, this distant light in the background is actually pivotal to understanding the full message of the Ten of Swords. Without a doubt, the person in this card is probably having the worst day of their life. In many ways, this is a story of someone hitting rock bottom. We’ve all been there – in one way or another. Perhaps it was a drug relapse, an ugly divorce, a bad gambling debt, an unexpected job loss. None of us are immune to rotten luck, ill fortune, tragedy or the consequences of bad choices finally catching up with us. Here we see the culmination of a catastrophic situation, a devastating loss, or a sense of being utterly defeated. However, let us not overlook the skyline where clouds have parted to let a little glimpse of resiliency peak through. It glimmers with hope and renewal. It will not be beaten. This skyline hints at the potential for new beginnings and transformation after a period of darkness.
When the Ten of Swords shows up, though it may be difficult, resist the urge to cringe and back away from the reading. Despite the painful imagery, the Ten of Swords is letting us know that something toxic in our life is ending soon. This death is necessary for future growth and transformation. It marks our darkest hour before a fresh, new dawn emerges. Our next chapter can begin only after the current situation, though potentially difficult or painful, is resolved. What do we need to do to resolve it? The very thought may overwhelm us. It may feel like it is out of our hands. Or perhaps we feel so much shame for our role in the conflict or problem that we can’t think clearly of a proper way to solve it. But shame does not serve us in the long run – instead it makes us weak, judgmental, self-critical and inert. We succumb to our worst selves if we spend too much time with shame. We become like the figure in the Ten of Swords – unwilling to change but unhappy with our current predicament. It only takes one sword to kill us. We hardly need ten. Perhaps we are being carried away by the negative in the situation until it is all we can see. But an open sky waits for us in the distance. It’s up to us to see it.
A potent partner to the Ten of Swords is the poisonous plant, Wolfsbane (Aconitum carmichaelii). Also known as Monkshood due to the hoodlike shape of its purple flowers, this plant belongs to a genus of highly poisonous perennials (Aconitum) that are part of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). Wolfsbane grow naturally in mountainous areas across the northern half of the world and are also popular in gardens for their deep purple blooms, which flower in mid to late summer and continue in the fall, long after many other perennials have faded. Due to its poisonous nature, ancient Greeks hunted wolves and other dangerous animals by poisoning their bait with this plant, which led to the common name of Wolfsbane. From their mythology, the Greeks believed that the plant grew from the enraged spit of Cerberus, a massive three-headed dog that guarded the gates of Hades, preventing the dead from leaving the Underworld. During the Dark Ages, Wolfsbane was believed to ward off werewolves, and people would plant it in their gardens or carry it as an amulet to protect themselves. It was considered to be a key element in witchcraft rituals, used in flying ointments, and often connected to spells of transformation and crossing between worlds. Though its folklore has faded, it remains a highly poisonous plant that should be treated with care in any garden and never ingested.
Though the lessons in this Tarot card may seem harsh, don’t let the truth be subverted or ignored. Instead, find inspiration in the dark potentiality of Wolfsbane and the Ten of Swords – for it is time to severe that which doesn’t serve us, it is time to let our pain transform us so that we may emerge wiser, kinder and more resilient in the light of a new dawn.
*Tarot reading is based on the Rider-Waite Tarot Card deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith
References
Burns, Jacob. “Monsters, Magic, and Monkshood.” Chicago Botanical Garden, 30 October 2016. https://www.chicagobotanic.org/blog/plants_and_gardening/monsters_magic_and_monkshood
Chan, Thomas. “Aconite Poisoning.” The National Center for Biotechnology Information, 4 April 2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19514874/
Murphy, Laura. “Wolfsbane: A Poisonous Beauty.” JSTOR Daily, 28 February 2025. https://daily.jstor.org/wolfsbane-a-poisonous-beauty/
Pollack, Rachel. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom. San Francisco, Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, 2007. P216 - 217