A figure lies in a pool of their own blood. Ten swords have been thrust into their back. The clouds in the sky are dark gray, bordering on black, but there’s an intense band of yellow on the horizon. Is it a sunset or a sunrise? Depends on how you see it.
This grim-looking card is about hard limits we can’t escape. Things have come to a definitive, and perhaps dramatic, end. It might have been an end we’ve been avoiding or denying, but the signs it’s over are as a hard to ignore as ten sword thrusts to the back. The Ten of Swords can also indicate backstabbing or betrayal.
10 of Swords Upright Keywords: stabbed in the back, pain, confronting mortality, hard limits, depression, definitive ends
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The Ten of Swords reversed doesn’t deny there’s been pain, but it does remind you recovery is possible. This card can refer to literal survivors of difficult situations. It can also indicate a close brush with disaster, but one where you come out fine in the end.
10 of Swords Reversed Keywords: stronger after adversity, survivors, coming back from the dead, close calls
