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Ten of Wands Meaning in a Tarot Reading

The Ten of Wands Minor Arcana card comes at the end of our first foray into the pips, after the Major Arcana, and what a journey we’ve had! As such, representing the suit of energy, this is a card of exhaustion, burnout, and burdens.

When the Ten of Wands card shows up for us we are being called stop, pause, and take a big deep breath; to lay down our wands a while and see if we are going about things in the most effective way. It is an invitation to gather our reserves of strength before we continue.

Read on for a full Tarot card description including its Astrological and Numerological correspondences as well as what it can mean if it shows up for you as a reversal and in a general, career, or love Tarot card reading:

Ten of Wands Tarot Meanings

The Ten of Wands speaks to responsibilities and heaviness, it can come to us when we’re burning the candle at both ends, and can’t see the forest for the trees we are so buried underneath them.

This card indicates we may feel overloaded or struggling to keep ourselves afloat in our work-life balance. We may feel snowed under and like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. At the very least, this card is a reminder to rest before it’s too late. It reminds me of the concept that the body speaks in whispers before it shouts. It is more effective for our health to rest than to recover from burnout.

In the Smith Rider Waite Tarot deck, we can see a figure awkwardly carrying a bunch of ten wands, struggling to see through them.

Within this, the question that comes to me is: is this the most efficient way of going about things?

Can we put down some of what is weighing on us, even just for a while? Were those things even ours to carry in the first place? Can we ask for help in going forward with them?

Crucially, when we place down our wands: will we put them in front of us where we will still see them and then have to climb over them if we decide not to move forward with them anymore; or will we put them down behind us where we can truly disengage?

I’m sure many of us have had the experience of “resting” but still be thinking about work; or feeling like we can’t manage everything alone but don’t want to ask for help. Or, feel guilty for resting in the first place!

The Ten of Wands is a call to assess the responsibilities we carry and ascertain if we truly need to be carrying them. If so, how? The figure is blinding their path forward, is there an easier way to hold the load?

This is where the fact that it’s a “stage card” comes in for me, sometimes things can become just for show or farcical, sometimes we are just going through the motions because that’s how we’ve always done them.

The Ten of Wands is an invitation to examine how we engage and dispense of our energy.

The solace with this card is that the town of solace is visible in the distance, and as a 10 it naturally signals the end of the cycle.

Ten of Wands Upright Meaning

Burnout, exhaustion, burdens, responsibilities, weight, time/energy management, rest

Generally, an upright Ten of Wands is a call for some serious rest and recuperation before we completely burnout and get overloaded (which may have already occurred by the time this card shows up).

As the Tarot tells a story, this is a direct continuation of the Nine of Wands, where we were first given an invitation to pause and restore ourselves. If we didn’t take heed the messages of the body and energy reserves, we may end up here in the Ten.

Now, whereas the Nine may have been a faster recovery, the Ten asks for some serious reevaluation of responsibilities and energy management. It might take a revisioning of what we put on our plates, delegating of tasks, and soul-deep recuperation.

Astrology of the Ten of Wands

Astrologically, this is a Saturn in Sagittarius card, an indicator of its heaviness. Sagittarius is the adventurer and explorer of the Zodiac Signs, the boundless optimist on a constant quest for experience. As the Planet of restraint, challenge, and hard work; Saturn here speaks to the necessity to slow down. We can’t run on an empty tank.

Saturn in Sagittarius is a call for maturity in relation to what we actually have energy to give to, and what we don’t. It can be a message of putting necessary structures and routines in place (abhorrent words to the travelling Archer), as well as essential boundaries- both with ourselves and others.

Sometimes we can become so blinded to a cause or with our nose to the grindstone, we can lose sight of the end goal, like the figure in the deck.

Numerology of the Ten of Wands

Numerologically, the 10s are a number of completions and closure, of cycles ending. Here, we have just begun our journey in the first Minor Arcana suit, we have learnt how to effectively manage our energy and creative life force spark in order to ensure the flame stays alive!

As a ten, it can also speak to the necessary ending of some kind of burden and responsibility, that it is time to put something down.

The ten also connects it to The Wheel of Fortune and Magician Major Arcana card by reduction.

The Wheel of Fortune is a reminder that sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down; we have both fallow and spring periods just like nature. The wheel keeps on turning but we must honour each of the cycles we are in, knowing that just like everything: this too shall pass.

The Magician speaks to our inherent capacity to create our reality. If firewood needs to be collected then firewood needs to be collected, but there are a myriad of different ways we can go about it…

We could collect it all in one go if we are strong enough to hold it, or we could stagger it throughout the day(s); we could ask for help or we could completely outsource it all together. Hell, we might even decide that actually we don’t need firewood and are warm enough, or can buy/borrow/exchange an electric heater instead!

The point is never to feel trapped by circumstance or think there is no way to change a thing just because it’s the way it’s always been done up until now.

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Ten of Wands Reversed Meaning

If you choose to read reversals, the Ten of Wands reversed suggests that you are resisting the necessity for stopping and putting something down; as such it is an even stronger call to look at what is too much for you to currently carry, or to simply rest until your body says so.

Ten of Wands in a Relationship Reading

In a love reading, the Ten of Wands can represent a heaviness in the dynamic, perhaps one partner feels like they are taking on all the burdens or doing more manual/emotional/mental labour than the other(s). Either way, it is an invitation to take a pause and lighten the load.

Ten of Wands in a Career Reading

In a career reading, the Ten of Wands can be a message to take a break if possible, to delegate tasks, or go on holiday if you can! A situation may feel heavy and burdensome and you are invited to check in that all the roles you are taking on are truly yours to do so. Can you hire help, can you let some things go, can something be put on the back-burner just for now?

So those are some Ten of Wands Tarot card meanings, I hope they’re insightful for you! Let me know in the comments section below if you have anything else to add or any questions.

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