Ten of Wands: On Burdens, Responsibilities and the Weights We Carry With Us

TEN OF WANDS

The Traveling Lizard determinedly walks across a hot beach lined with unique treasures, but the lizard cannot stop. He must push on without adding to his load, as he has his hands full carrying 10 wands across the beach. Unlike the rest of the Wand cards, the Wands’ magic has been temporarily extinguished in the Ten of Wands. The 10 signifies that you’re finally nearing the completion of this particular adventure, but the journey at this moment is too hot for flames. This is a card about the burdens and responsibilities — and the lost loves, the regrets, the traumas, the things we will not let go of — we carry with us as we go about our journeys each and every day. The Ten of Wands indicates that you’ve recently taken on an extra workload of sorts — maybe caretaking for an elderly parent, helping with a big move or transition, or you’ve become an active volunteer for a demanding nonprofit, church, or political organization. You’re always trying to help, but you forget to offload. You always think you can do more, more, more, but we all have our limitations and it’s important not to forget about your own dreams, goals, wishes and priorities. The Ten of Wands is a sign that you’ve over-extended yourself and need to ask for help with your load or stop and let something off your shoulders. You’re a person, not a machine.

IF YOU’RE FEELING BLOCKED:

It’s time to really examine all the weight on your shoulders and the load you’re carrying. You can start with the things that you recently added, but the soul gets fed by helping others when you can. You can always say you can’t do something alone, that you need more help, but to say no to helping someone who needs it takes its own toll on the spirit and soul. We are all connected, and we must act accordingly; one of our greatest existential threats of the current moment is the fraying of these connections caused by rising hate, extremism and inequality.

So even though it might feel like the problem is a recent addition, look to the weight you’ve been holding on to all along. Perhaps you have a trauma in your past you’ve never told anyone about but carry along with you somewhere in your body, a chronic pain that needs to be treated. Maybe you’re feeling guilty about something from the past and need to find a way to make amends to someone or to the world. Perhaps there are smaller tasks you continue to have responsibility for that you could pay someone else to do. Maybe you’re suffering from an untreated addiction or dependence on something or someone that is hurting you. Maybe you’re still recovering from a breakup and have been unwilling to open yourself up to others who could ease your burdens out of a fear of being left again, or fear of having to leave again.

Or, maybe the problem is recent. Maybe you’ve accidentally joined a cult. It happens. Maybe the organization you joined doesn’t match up as well to your beliefs as you’d hoped. Others may be able to see your hunched shoulders and your buckled knees, but only you can truly know the load you carry and what weight must be shed.

CREATIVITY EXERCISES:

Get inspired by seashells: there are more than 200,000 kinds of these tiny mobile homes engineered with sacred geometry.

Write a poem to someone in your past; no names, just the ways they’ve stuck with you even though they aren’t actively in your life anymore

Decorate or repurpose an old suitcase or bag by creating a patchwork of old photographs or clothes and displaying it for storage rather than mobility.

Think about things that are weightless, or almost weightless: music and sound waves, light rays, feathers, tear drops, butterfly wings. As you create, imagine taking each weight you carry and transferring it into something weightless.