Oh my gosh—the 10 of Swords inspires today’s cosmic communiqué, as per my illusion anyway. Joplin, MO and the tornado… I knew the second that I saw this card that I was going to have to write about it. Well, here goes…
This card always seems so overly dramatic but who’s to say what is exaggerated as far as life experiences go? Only the experiencer! Certainly, the Joplin tornado could qualify as pretty dramatic and tragic. Talk about devastating change… wow!
Ever notice that a circumstance that totally immobilizes one person creates a totally different response in a different person going through the exact same event? On CNN last night there was an audio/video clip of a group of individuals who sought shelter inside the cooler of a convenience store. One could only have a heartfelt, compassionate response while listening to their recorded experience. (links below) Yet, you could hear how people responded so differently and it was very interesting.
One woman screamed out the name of jesus repeatedly, adding “father help me”. I found it interesting that she used the word me instead of the word us. After all they were packed in like sardines and it was a unified group experience; yet in the clip I heard, the woman called out for help for herself –not the others? (Maybe it was implied or intended. ) Yet, in contrast to this older sounding adult female, you could also hear the voice of a younger males. One young man was telling everyone that he loved them, “I love you guys man; I love everyone man, I love you, I love you guys.” Another young male voice said, “Yeah, me too, I love everyone.” And another young man was saying, “We’re good, we’re okay, we’re going to do it. Stay calm.” Meanwhile, the older female voice was screaming out jesus and father save me.
I guess the point is that disaster and trauma—the kind that brings people to the moment of a perceived eminent death—brings out something different in each of us. In watching news reports on Joplin, I’m noticing how many people who relate their stories are conveying how they don’t remember getting where they ended up. Interesting; and one wonders if angels weren’t involved. One guy who was telling his story to Anderson Cooper on CNN said that when the tornado hit that he was in the house and when he came to, he was sitting in the front seat of his truck and had no idea how he got there.
The archetype or motif of the 10 of swords, this energy, and the message with it has to do with the times when we need to embrace faith. The cooler crew of Joplin exemplifies this card’s meaning since it is about short-lived difficulties—things that look bad at the moment, feel terribly disastrous at the time, but are short in duration. It was that way for that group at least.
Generally speaking now, focusing on the card meaning here, it’s about the light at the end of the tunnel and the need to remain focused and patient rather than in a panic being immobilized by fear.
It’s about working with the forces surrounding you even in the darkest moments that life sometimes brings—that’s the conceptual message of this card.
The Buddhists teachings, specifically in the famous Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dead, it is suggested that at the moment of death, the final feelings and thoughts are those that we carry over into the Bardo state and into our next lifetime. And so it is suggested that a mentally and emotionally peaceful state at the moment of death is most desirable. I’d like to think it’s like the young man you will hear on the recording link below who said that he was overcome with a surreal feeling of peace. One man whose truck was torn apart on the Interstate, when asked what his thoughts were just as the truck was being ripped apart, indicated that his thought was, “Here we go.” Makes you wonder if he isn’t an old soul who remembers how it goes.
Souls who speak to me from the other side always say that death is like walking from one room to another; there’s nothing to it. They always say not to have any fear. That’s what I hear from them anyway. The reader will just have to take my word for it I suppose.
One wonders about the cooler folks—the contrast of the woman in a panic screaming out the names of the deities causing alarm in the others versus the young men who seemed to permeate the group with thoughts, words and the energy of love. Interesting contrast perhaps having to do with soul age. Who knows for sure?
Strange, but in watching (more like listening) to the recording, it transported me to my own similar memories from past lives of being in those types of situations. Familiar feelings of surrender and the calm… helping others to feel calm in a similar situation came to the forefront of my mind. But I digress… let’s go to the bottom line message with the 10 of Swords.
But just to interject first that many, including myself, are doing energy work (prayer work) for the souls of Joplin at this time on various levels, with a loving and compassionate heart.
After the clouds and the rain and the wind, there will be a rainbow–that’s today’s card meaning. Further, the message is that no matter what the trauma, we do come through the other side undeniably changed.
The Sun in Gemini relates to the 10 of Swords archetype—same energy. The element of AIR is representative of both the astrological Gemini and the suit of Swords.
Anyway, Gemini (the twins II) that is associated with the 10 of swords represents the quality of being of two minds and carries the quality of someone who is either on top of the world or feeling hopeless demise… like Libra is sometimes, Gemini has those two extremes. With Gemini it is either the best of days or the worst of days with no in-between.
And with the Sun (Sun in Gemini), we’re talking about purpose itself, essence itself.
I supposed a bottom line correlation of Sun in Gemini to the 10 of swords has to do with split purpose. Let’s leave Joplin out of the interpretation for a moment. What I’m sayen’ is general in that sometimes what happens in life has a double or twin (Gemini) meaning. Sort of like that “good news, bad news–who knows?” proverb you hear quoted often. Gemini is about adapting to changing circumstances; and that’s another connection to the Sun in Gemini correlation to this card.
So what’s today’s bottom line divination message? Life isn’t an either or situation (either perfect or hopeless) and most circumstances of life require us to adapt to change. It doesn’t do much good to panic or to panic others no matter what is going on, especially in the face of disaster. Sometimes life tests our mettle (shows our true character) and from those initiations we can learn a great deal about ourselves. Maybe that’s why they happen?
I’ve found this blog to be a difficult one to write. I hope nothing here portrays insensitivity to those suffering in Joplin. My heart goes out to them with my prayers and a donation to the Red Cross as well.
Spiritual Awakening is written all over these kinds of experiences and with the Internet, TV and Videos these days, awakenings can occur from a distance too. Even if we all weren’t there in Joplin, we were still there! Like the young man in the cooler said, “I love you guys!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0fDfkiSUPA
and another….
Joy's Blog 
Yes. These are signs of what the Buddhists would call jhanas. You could start with a google search for “Buddhist jhanas”. Essentially what you describe are results of higher levels of consciousness being reached but you will find these are not permanent. Try not to get too attached to the phenomena. It is only the mind being open and receptive to energy. Hope that helps a bit.
This awakening? Does this involve orbs, gold, rainbow, bright white/blue lights and major “nerve” vibrations? Looking for answers