What does the Ten of Wands card mean in a Tarot Reading?

Ten of Wands is the Arcana of hard work, diligence, endurance and motivation to overcome difficult circumstances. Get ready to act and don’t lose faith in yourself.
This card is often drawn is Tarot spreads for businessmen or “workaholics” who work 25 hours a day. The card warns that the person must immediately give himself a rest, otherwise he will face a health disorder or failure in all matters. As a forecast, it means that it is better not to take on the planned business, because now it is “too heavy”.

Raising status as a result of hard work. Overtime work. Desire to succeed. Extra work. Anxiety. Overstrain. Overwork. Oppression. Unsuccessful attempts to get what you want. Obsessive behavior. The temptations of power. Work without rest. Bite off more than you can chew. Romantic growing up. Tight back. Problems with the muscular system and the musculoskeletal system. Displacement of the vertebral discs. Heart problems. If I want to get things done right, I’ll do it myself. He is not heavy because he is my brother. Stop here.

Situation and Advice

You are now struggling to put on your shoulder a heavy burden, take responsibility, and proceed with your responsibilities. Perhaps this responsibility is too great, and the burden is too heavy. Your strength is about to run out, and you are already starting to wonder if it will be enough to cross the finish line.
Despite the weight of your burden, you still have a margin of safety to complete the task. You are driven by a desire to succeed and achieve your goals at any cost. However, you should understand that you cannot do everything yourself. Learn to assign responsibilities and don’t take on more than you should.
You must clearly know your limits. Now you are so absorbed in work that you do not yet realize the full weight of the burden on yourself. Over-focusing on your career can negatively affect other aspects of your life. The earth will spin without you, but overwork can lead to serious health problems, and it can be especially dangerous for your back, heart, muscular system and musculoskeletal system.

Persons designated by Upright Ten of Wands Tarot Сard

Very ambitious people. Workaholics. People who are absorbed in work. Workers union.

The Main Meanings of the Card In a Reversed Position

Key Words and Phrases

Positive values
Relief from stress or pressure. The burden has been dropped. Reasonable division of responsibilities.

Negative values
Misuse of your talents. Excessive ambition. Congestion. Delay in action. Failure. Unwillingness to share responsibility. The work is not rewarded. Catch on hot. Mistrust. Dishonest duties. Envy. Deception. Scam. Letting off steam. Voluntary responsibilities. Go astray. Pass your stop. The desire to control the lives of other people. Step on your favorite calluses. Pursuit. Problems with the back, heart, muscular system and musculoskeletal system. Much noise about nothing.

Negative values
The Ten of Wands in a reversed position warns that your hard work will not be rewarded properly. Someone is using you, shifting most of their responsibilities onto your shoulders, and those have become a heavy burden on you. Perhaps you are afraid to entrust others with some part of the work, because they will not do it properly. Perhaps now you are clearing out the consequences of your excessive ambition. As a result of physical and emotional stress, health problems can arise.

Persons designated by the Reversed Ten of Wands Tarot Сard

Those who create problems or pass them on to other people.

In the Spreads

The general meaning of the Arcana is simple to understand. The card conveys the need to gather strength. It will be hard and difficult. You have to strain and act persistently and patiently. Only your courage and commitment to the goal will allow you to gain control over the situation.
The meaning of the card is different in upright and reversed form. If the upright card is about the immediate current difficult period and the load of affairs, then the reversed card is about getting rid of a heavy burden in one way or another.

In an Upright Position

The Tarot card Ten of Wands speaks of the severity of overwork. The Ten of Wands may simply indicate that the querent is taking on too much to achieve the goal. But, on the other hand, excessive workload can be the result of goals already achieved, for example, a promotion or an outrageous expansion of the business. This burden can become overwhelming when business and community needs collide.
Ten of Wands can mean good luck, benefit, success, but also possible misfortune from all this. Uncertainty about your enterprise is likely, but if you defend yourself and your honor, opposition will be swept away.
The upright Arcana has the classic meaning described in the key words: the forced solution of complex problems, difficult work, oppressive circumstances, the need for the manifestation of strength and endurance.
This card can symbolize what seems to be false, disguise, treachery. If there is a case being discussed in court (a lawsuit or a claim) then there will be a sure loss. The Ten of Wands is a card with a dark mood. It is showing that you expected too much, and now all the bright prospects have dispersed like smoke. Such moods and circumstances arise from unreasonably high expectations, with a careless attitude towards work or study. It takes time and patience, and then the tasks will cease to seem incomprehensible, the gloomy mood will pass, and you will finally take your rightful place.
The burden of success, the burden of work, the burden of money, the burden of obligations to oneself and other people. The Ten of Wands can mean all this, depending on the spread.
In addition, this card can warn you about the payment for success, and it does not matter for which: future or present. Perhaps you are straining all your strength, striving for the cherished goal. Or maybe you have already achieved what you wanted (position in society, new function, business expansion), and because of this, your responsibilities have increased many times over, which drains you both mentally and physically.
In any case, the Ten of Wands in the spread testifies to your perseverance, determination, willpower and the ability to achieve your goal. However, it also tells that the cost of such victories and achievements may turn out to be unjustifiably high.

In the reversed form, the Ten of Wands indicates that the person has shouldered an exorbitant burden, or that he is trying to achieve what he wants in dishonest ways. Sometimes it is a warning about intrigue or abuse of power.
The reversed Ten of Wands may indicate that you do not trust your colleagues, considering yourself more competent, and therefore take on the lion’s share of the work. Or that you do not want to share your future success with anyone, so you prefer to manage everything on your own. The card may also suggest that you will not stop in achieving your cherished dream.
One way or another, the Arcana warns that the result will be the same: disappointment, anguish and great losses. You run the risk of losing everything that you have gained if you do not learn how to rationally distribute your emotions, funds and, most importantly, strength.
Old interpretations point to intrigue, gossip, complaints, deceptions, slander. The questioner can meet a person who will hinder him in all endeavors, an ill-wisher or an envious person.
A reversed card sometimes indicates difficulty in expressing thoughts. Even brilliant ideas can be turned into useless ones if you tell them too late or too early. But at the same time, the reversed Ten of Wands is interpreted as a ticket to a new life, as a white stripe after the black one.
The reversed Ten of Wands can also mean a desire to delegate concerns, driving them into a rigid framework and overdoing with their importance.

In the Spreads for Different situation

In an Upright Position:
The card describes a difficult situation requiring high energy costs. You will have to make every effort, patience, strength and endurance to influence the circumstances and wrap them in your favor.
In a Reversed Position:
There is a big risk that your efforts will not give the desired result, you will have to work a lot, but the result is dubious. Think about whether you need to spend so much energy. But there are upsides: if you stop and get rid of the burden of commitment, the stress will disappear and you will have a better chance of success in the future.

In the Spreads for Relationship

In an Upright Position:
In love, you have to be patient and try not to aggravate the situation. Quarrels, a crisis of relations, misunderstandings, problems, a period of difficulties are possible. Also, the card may indicate that one of the partners is trying to shoulder too much of a burden of obligations or responsibility, which will not lead to the desired result. Or it can mean that one of the partners is under pressure from the other.
Here the Ten of Wands is a strong suppression of one partner by another, possibly with the use of physical violence, absolutely unequal relations, aggression. The card may show that you have been suffering from loneliness for a very long time and do not see a way out of this situation.

In an Upright Position:
Consider the idea of ​​lessening the burden that your family has on you.
In a Reversed Position:
Family tensions are dangerously close to breaking your life. Seek help and advice outside the family.

In the Spreads for Career

In an Upright Position:
In work, the Ten of Wands means typical workaholism, a very large number of tasks and projects, complex tasks, possibly physically hard work. In general, everything related to stress and waste of energy.
Minor Arcana of the Ten of Wands is stress, overload or too much responsibility that you got at work. This is often the result of being appointed to a new position, forcing you to take on responsibilities that you still had no idea about. Conflict at work with elements of suppression from colleagues or bosses, error, failure to complete a project or task.
In a Reversed Position:
The reversed Ten of Wands in the Tarot spreads for work usually means fatigue and overwork, unwillingness to complete tasks and take on obligations. An attempt to throw off all unnecessary affairs and responsibility.
A reversed Ten of Wands means unfulfilled expectations, fear of a difficult task. For a leader, Arcana indicates an inability to organize the work of subordinates. For a person who took a new job, the reversed card means the likelihood that he will face unfamiliar responsibilities that he has no idea about.

In the Spreads for Health

In an Upright Position:
Spine diseases, high blood pressure, diseases associated with high stress. Depression.
In the field of health, it means too much physical or psychological stress. The person gets very tired, overexerted, overworked. This leads to illness and malaise.
In a Reversed Position:
Relief, decrease in tension, decrease in pressure.
Indicates a disease that appeared as a result of not taking timely measures. Or it could mean the refusal of treatment, when the person simply stops taking medications and does nothing.

It means a person without honor and conscience, confident that everything in the world is bought and sold, the only question is the price. He is prone to psychological violence. He harasses his surroundings with nagging. Hee puts pressure on those closest to him morally, instilling a sense of guilt, but on occasion he will sell his own mother without a second thought.

Arcana’s warning

Before you quit, think about the consequences and what you might lose.

Final Advice of Arcana

Take responsibility only for what you are sure of. Having started some business, bring it to the end.

In an Upright Position:
Don’t take on more than you can handle. Look for those with whom you can share responsibilities, otherwise a nervous breakdown is guaranteed.
In a Reversed Position:
Free yourself from the oppression that has become unbearable. Monitor your health, otherwise it may end badly, up to and including death.

Conclusion

The Ten of Wands will allow you to understand how realistic and necessary the set goals are, and whether you are ready to act for this, using all your capabilities, showing perseverance and endurance.
The Ten of Wands also contains a warning that success is not guaranteed. You have succeeded in your first endeavor, but now you have even bigger goals and will be difficult to achieve.

Discover other Minor Arcana: