Ten as the “Hub of Insights”
“The number 10, which is complete, is the central meeting point for insights of all types.”
This observation by M.M. d’Odoucet in The Grand Etteilla touches obliquely on my own view of the tarot Tens: they represent awareness of the “disengagement” that must follow any closure which, in its fullness, brings either utter satisfaction or abject disappointment. The quote invokes the vision of a mental “clearing house of ideas,” where they are challenged and the way is cleared for the next step in their evolution. Lacking this outlet, they have nowhere to go but into gradual decline; a good analogy would be over-ripe fruit that has exceeded its brief moment of perfection. In some schools of thought, Nine is the number of “completion” and Ten is more a “post-script” that has overstayed its welcome.
The assumption that Ten signifies “completeness” seems to be a product of the ancient Greek philosophers’ perception of it as the “perfect number,” beyond which every higher number is merely an elaboration. It conveys an impression of consummate fulfillment that needs no further ramification. This doesn’t square well with the Qabalistic assumption that Ten symbolizes the total immersion and ensnarement of Spirit in Matter, to the point that immobilization and exhaustion of the original energy are the inescapable results; in other words, it represents a debilitated state of indolence and detachment from its source of inspiration that is overdue for a purge. My own belief is that the cycle of the Minor Arcana is a spiral and not a circle, leading to the understanding that any spent Ten must be “refreshed” in the Ace of the following suit rather than returning to the point of origin in its native suit. Although I formed this opinion years before I read The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky also proposed this model of the numerical Universe.
Another quote from d’Odoucet, this time for the Ace of Swords, sums it up neatly: “ . . . the heights of misfortune bring back prosperity, as with the universal order, which never disappears, but follows the continual impulses of the wheel.” To this I would only add that the phenomenal Universe (as opposed to the philosophical one of modern metaphysics) moves ever onward, and any point on the wheel can never return to exactly the same spot on the road; thus, its motion resembles an elongated helix rather than a perfect circle. Insights may arise at the hub, but their implication for events at the rim — where “the rubber meets the road,” so to speak — becomes a moving target, never at rest and never content with the status quo.
In the Waite-Smith version of the Tens, extrapolation from the images suggests “shedding a burden” for the 10 of Wands; a long-simmering inspiration taking wing (or maybe a young adult leaving home) for the 10 of Cups; a figurative “blood-letting” for the 10 of Swords; and for the 10 of Pentacles, genteel idleness and domestic malaise of the “familiarity breeds contempt” variety. In the Thoth version of the 10 of Wands, this paradigm implies a dissipation (“frittering away”) of aimless or “blind” force; in the 10 of Cups, disturbance of the peace; in the 10 of Swords, a departure of reason from reality; and in the 10 of Disks, the ultimate uselessness of accumulation for its own sake. (It’s notable that none of Crowley’s “correctives” are particularly encouraging.) Any kind of assumed perfection is a temporary state that ultimately seeks reinvention in another form. If we stop improving we eventually abandon our initiative and lose our sense of purpose. The solution is to avoid getting back on the “treadmill” by refusing to reboot the Ace of the same suit; failing to do so reminds me of the definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over-and-over again and expecting a different result.”
The message of the Tens is that cessation of effort, rather than being restorative, is inimical to further growth; instead of passively “riding the Wheel,” we must actively engage in steering it away from sloth. The toothless religious advice to “Let go and let God” fails to recognize the authority and responsibility of the “god within.” Untethered insights with no footing in practical reality may abound in the Tens but we must still select one and drive it home.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on October 9, 2022.
