Ten of Wands

Minor Arcana · Wands · number 10 · Dieci di Bastoni

Ten of Wands, plate by Pamela Colman Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1910

Upright

The Ten of Wands is a man bent under ten staves: oppression, says Waite, but also fortune and gain, and then the weight of that very fortune. Do you recognise yourself? You got what you wanted, the job, the house, the family, and now it crushes you. If these days you feel worn out by responsibilities you once wished for, it is no accident. The card also warns of false appearances: beware of anyone who shows themselves as other than they are. Waite sets aside the reading that links this card to honour and good faith, and adds three concrete details: the place the man is walking towards may suffer from the rods he carries, that is, your load may weigh on those waiting for you at home; if the Nine of Swords follows, success is stultified; and if a lawsuit is involved, the loss is certain. If you have a dispute pending, this is not the time to go to court. The practical advice: list everything you carry and hand over at least one staff. Not all of that load is truly yours.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
«A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss.»

Reversed

Reversed, the Ten of Wands sets down the weight but leaves chaos: contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues. Things go wrong in small, continuous ways, and around you someone is weaving plots you do not see. If these days you sense that every procedure jams and that in the office or in the family people talk behind your back, it is no accident. It is not a sentence: it is an invitation to clean house. Beware of under-the-table alliances and half-whispered promises. The practical advice: tackle matters one at a time, in broad daylight, and ask for direct clarification from anyone who seems ambiguous.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
«Contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies.»

Source

Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) Part III, § 2, The Lesser Arcana, Ten of Wands https://archive.org/details/a.-e.-waite-the-pictorial-key-to-the-tarot