Ten of Wands

Keywords (Upright)
Burden · Responsibility · Overwork · Carrying the load · Completion

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Keywords (Reversed)
Burnout · Letting go · Avoidance · Shared responsibilities · Collapse

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Card Meaning (Upright)
The Ten of Wands shows the weight you’ve chosen or been forced to carry. You’re nearing the finish line, but it’s heavy. This card asks: What can you release? You don’t have to martyr yourself to reach success. Choose to set things down.

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Card Meaning (Reversed)
When reversed, the Ten of Wands asks you to face where you’re avoiding responsibility or where you’ve taken on too much and now need to delegate. Either way, it’s time to lighten the load so you can breathe again.

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Psychic Download
“You weren’t meant to carry everything alone.” The burdens you bear don’t make you more worthy—they make you more tired. Give yourself permission to unburden.

Color Symbolism

• Orange sky: Exhaustion, drive, spiritual friction

• Brown tunic: Labor, effort, earth-bound obligations

• Green ground: Growth still available, even beneath pressure

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Suit Symbolism
Wands – Fire: The toll of passion, purpose meeting exhaustion

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Zodiac Connection

• Saturn in Sagittarius: Heavy lessons, spiritual pressure, carrying purpose with discipline

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Element & Modality

• Element: Fire

• Modality: Mutable (Sagittarius) – the burnout phase of transformation

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Imagery Symbolism

• Figure hunched over with ten wands: Overload, spiritual labor, effort outweighing ease

• Destination ahead: End is near—worth it, but grueling

• No eye contact with viewer: Focused on the task, detached from self-care

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Teaching Tip
Ask: “What am I carrying that I don’t have to? And who or what could I call in to help lighten it?”