Comparative Tarot

The 10 of stakes shows the stakes arranged like a tipi. The bottom ends of the stakes are black, as if burned, and the point at the top where they all come together is actively aflame. A red and black bird soars above the smoke and flames.

LWB: Now is the time for closure.
Reversed: Don't hold on to the past.

This deck's cycle goes from the one, a fiery lightning blaze, to the 2 where a man holds a fiery brand on his head and sees it answered from the stormy waves in front of him, to the 3, where the men are in a fight, but there are rules, enforced by the ghostly woman above them. A man and a woman celebrate in the 4, with the village around them. The 5 introduces conflict, four women and one man fighting with birch staves. Man conquers beast in the 6; he stands triumphantly on the six staves, holding a moose by one antler and a horse by its mane. A black swan flies above him; one thing he cannot control. He faces an unseen enemy in the 7, backed up to a fence where snakes twine. Are the mocking faces from his own dreams? Or are they real enemies? He drives a sleigh through a path defined by staves in the 8; the woman beside him could be willing companion or abducted bride. He faces a half-defeat in the 9; he killed the moose, but the moose came very close to killing him and in fact lies on top of the young man's legs.

I see a pattern of "visible" power and conquest. As if it doesn't matter unless somebody sees it. This is contrasted in the 10, as the bird is the rebirth, but it's unseen. The bird does not "report" to anybody that it rises from the ashes, yet it does.

This contrasts with what I see generally put out as "moral" - we tell children to do the right thing, even if nobody knows about it. Yet, this suit tells me that being seen is more important. I would tell a querent to stop worrying so much about public opinion -- to do the right thing anyway. In silence, so to speak. Don't brag about your victories. Relax.

kerry