Comparative Tarot

UPRIGHT MEANINGS: Bearing the burden alone. Oppression (yet not without benefit), servitude, hard work/labor, treadmill, bringing work home, overtime, striving to meet a goal, trying to do it all and/or have it all. Overload, taking on too much, shouldering too many burdens, struggling under a heavy load, over-extension of resources, maxed out, excess in all things. Responsibility, weight of obligations or relationships, trudging through life, taking your "eyes off the prize" and seeing only obstacles, necessary but unpleasant duties, accountability, taking the blame, guilt, depression, stress, strain from overbearing pressures (external or internal), martyr complex, need to delegate to others, need for readjustment of power. Struggle to complete tasks, trial by fire, determination, stubbornness, tenacity, not letting things go, problems soon to be resolved, perseverance will pay off. Possibly using power for selfish ends, greed, working so as to avoid facing something.

ALSO: Feeling old and tired. Birthdays that end in "0." Cleaning up after a party or other group event.

REVERSED MEANINGS: Treachery, duplicity, traitor, deceiver, subterfuge, some losses will occur. Separation, emigration, displacement. Selfishness, shifting responsibility to another, passing the buck, slacking. Easing of work load, throwing off burdens, release from tension, unbearable situation has ended, letting go of the past, closure. Moderation and restraint.

ALSO: Physical or emotional collapse.

BIBLICAL: Bringing in the sheaves. "The harvest is great, but the workers are few." -- Matthew 9:37

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden." -- Galatians 6:2-5

Reversed: "Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself. And he himself will sustain you. Never will he allow the righteous one to totter." -- Psalms 55:22

"Come unto me, all [ye] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light." -- Matthew 11:28-30

MYTHOLOGICAL: Sisyphus

HISTORICAL: Slavery, serfdom.

INSECT: ant and rhinoceros beetle, who can carry many times their own weight

TIME/SEASON: late fall

WEATHER: "Hochnebel" just before Christmas. Hochnebel is fog which rises up to the low cloud ceiling, trapping the valley in a grey shroud.

FILM: "Longitude" -- John Harrison's 40-year effort to build an accurate chronometer. There are elements of the Ten of Wands in many films (and books); too many to list.

MUSIC: "Banana Boat (Day-O)" by Harry Belefonte. "400 Years" by Bob Marley.

PUBLIC PEOPLE OR EVENTS: Barbarossa, who died because his armor was too heavy.

OCCUPATIONS: laborer, caddy, roadie, squire, weapons dealer

QUOTES FROM OTHER SOURCES:
"We will either find a way or make one." -- Hannibal

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -- St. Francis of Assisi

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, pick it up. If you can't pick it up, paint it." -- old Army saying

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The world is full of willing people: some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." -- Robert Frost

"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work 12 hours a day." -- Robert Frost

"Could I climb the highest place in Athens, I would lift my voice and proclaim, 'Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of your children to whom one day you must relinquish it all?'" -- Socrates

SITUATIONS IN MY LIFE: Moving day!

PERSONAL THOUGHTS: Thinking past the first impulse of "oppression," what other possibilities are here? Do the wands represent the work, or the reward, or even stolen goods? Are they being carried for someone else, or are they one's own? Will their effect be beneficial, or damaging? Are they assets or liabilities? Tools or weapons? Who will they serve? What are you bringing home to your family? What are you passing on? Could the burden be redistributed, divided, lessened, shared?

THIS CARD/PERSON IN MY LIFE: Mothers of Christmas Past, Present and Future

FAVORITE REPRESENTATION: Ancestral Path

COMPARISONS TO OTHER DECKS: Though the wands are generally seen as a burden, the way they are borne provides a variety of interpretations. (See PERSONAL THOUGHTS above.)

One Love All Love
Moonchild