Ten of Swords

i. The Nutshell

Upright
The Ten of Swords marks a psychological collapse and an ending that feels extreme, often experienced as humiliation, betrayal, or emotional defeat. It represents the point where avoidance, denial, or self-sacrifice has finally broken down. The weight of repeated emotional strain, chronic rumination, or deeply internalised beliefs about worthlessness or failure can surface in one overwhelming moment. The pain feels final, but it often brings the exact rupture needed to break from harmful patterns.

This card can signal burnout from carrying karmic burdens or staying too long in roles you’ve outgrown. These roles may have offered survival or approval in childhood, but now prolong shame and disconnection. The image of the body pierced by swords shows how damaging it becomes to stay in situations either mental or emotional, that are already over.

This ending may feel cruel or dramatic, but it clears a psychological structure that no longer serves your growth. Some collapses are a blessing in disguise. They reveal where the soul has been trapped in repetition, where the ego refused to release control, or where the body has taken on more than it can hold. The spiritual function of this card is surrender; no more fighting what’s already done.

Keywords: Psychological collapse, ego death, self-erasure, karmic overwhelm, irreversible ending, inherited sacrifice, betrayal trauma, loss of identity, crisis of meaning, soul fracture, forced release, destructive loyalty, worst is over, learn from mistakes
Translation: The worst has already happened; now the soul wants something real to begin.

Reversed
The reversed Ten of Swords suggests the ending has occurred, but healing hasn’t. You may still carry the emotional residue, replaying events or questioning how you let it happen. There may be denial about how final the loss is. This delay can distort perspective by keeping you in low emotional states of melodrama, fatalism, or cynicism.

The refusal to process pain prolongs its hold. You might still be identifying with the collapse instead of seeing what it cleared. Some part of you may be clinging to suffering because it’s familiar, or because you haven’t yet decided to live without the old role. Spiritually, this card tells you to accept endings and let go completely so new things can start. Perspective returns when you stop asking why it hurt and start asking what it freed you from. The life path work here involves grieving without attaching to the story, releasing the identity shaped by pain, and allowing in what’s unfamiliar but alive.

Keywords: Delayed healing, attachment to suffering, fear of release, distorted self-image, emotional residue, karmic fatigue, refusal to move on, stagnant grief, identification with pain, inner resistance
Translation: You haven’t healed because you haven’t let it end. The ending is the point to the pain.

ii. Illus-traits

A look at the symbolic language of the Ten of Swords in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck:

Figure lying face down, pierced by ten swords – Shows total collapse. The weight of long-held emotional or karmic pain has reached its limit.
Ten swords down the spine – Reflect repeated mental and emotional wounding. The accumulation points to chronic rumination or betrayal that was never addressed.
Black sky with rising dawn – Marks the point between despair and new perspective. Darkness dominates, but change has already begun.
Still landscape – Suggests emotional paralysis. Nothing changes because the mind has stopped fighting what is already finished.

iii. Influences

Planetary Influence
The Ten of Swords is shaped by Saturn, Neptune, Mars, and Pluto. Saturn calls for endurance but hides emotions and enforces control. Neptune confuses feelings, hiding pain and causing misunderstandings. Mars brings conflict and anger, which can cause collapse if blocked. Pluto shows deep change, loss of power, and painful truths. These planets highlight breakdown from holding back feelings, a confused self-image, and resistance to letting go. The soul needs to accept endings and release what wasn’t meant to stay.

Natal Houses
The Twelfth House carries hidden sadness and karmic pain, often passed down or part of a soul agreement. The Tenth House reveals inner rules, where failure feels very personal. The First House shapes identity and instinct, so collapse here sparks rage, shame, or worth crises. The Eighth House is about deep loss, change, and mental strength. It shows how tough times can help us grow by letting go of stubborn ego habits.

Astrological Signs
Capricorn can struggle with the stress of success, hiding their weakness until it’s too much. Pisces often takes on others’ feelings, mixing care with obligation. Aries may link failure to who they are and react with anger or blame when stopped. Scorpio hides pain by controlling emotions but eventually breaks down. These behaviors are ways to survive by holding in feelings, avoiding problems, acting out, or staying quiet. Real growth comes from letting go of these defenses and building a true self.

Numerology
The number ten represents an ending; a point where something reaches its limit and can no longer continue. At the same time, its root - the number one - marks the start of something new so they speak to both finality and renewal - where one door closes, another opens. The Ten of Swords shows a painful collapse of old patterns, beliefs, or roles that may have once provided structure but now cause harm. It asks for acceptance of what is over, so that the path forward - however uncertain - can begin. Endings clear space. Beginnings emerge from what has been released.

Element
The Ten of Swords, tied to Air, reflects how negative thoughts can overwhelm the mind, causing defeat and despair. It warns against rumination that disconnects us from reality and intuition. Being aware of and accepting these thoughts without judgement leads to renewal and growth, reflecting the number one, which represents identity and roots.

iv. A Day in the Life of the Ten of Swords

Well That Escalated Quickly
Something broke. A relationship, belief, role, or way of coping reached its end. It may not have been a choice, but the outcome is final. The shock is still reverberating and your nervous system recalibrating. You may feel numb, disoriented, or empty. There’s a strange quiet in the absence of the struggle you carried for so long. Even if the pain still echoes, part of you knows it’s over. What ended needed to end. You feel as though you’re in the aftermath of the crisis.

Adjusting the Knobs
You start noticing how much energy went into surviving. From somewhere between the patches of pressure there’s room to observe what you were holding together. The habits of bracing, apologising, or overthinking don’t stop immediately, but now you can see them - so this feels new. You realise you don’t need to constantly predict danger. You’re learning what the pain was trying to teach you, and slowly, you begin to lift your head and wonder if something else, something better… might be waiting. Recovery begins here, with the decision not to rebuild what broke you.

Unsubscribed from Self-Sabotage
Recovery isn’t a sudden change but a process of doing things again and again, holding back, and slowly repairing. You learn to rest without feeling guilty, understanding that being tired isn’t laziness; it means you’ve been carrying too much for too long. You stop using busyness to outrun your feelings and begin listening instead. When intrusive thoughts or old fears resurface, you no longer follow them on autopilot. You pause, notice the pattern, and consider whether it still fits. You learn to say no without over-explaining. You take space from people who made survival harder. You stop sacrificing yourself to keep the peace. Your body is slowly coming out of crisis mode. You’re learning to tell the truth so you can live in alignment with yourself. The past still lives in your nervous system, but now you’re responding to it with care instead of control.

Writing the TED Talk
You’ve lived through the worst of it and while it’s not all behind you, it’s no longer defining who you are. You see what the ending taught you about limits, trust, and the cost of staying silent or small. You’re not rushing to become a new version of yourself but you are open to learning to live differently. You now see fear as a cue to pause and choose; to stop apologising for needing space, for having boundaries, and for wanting more. You’re not defined by what collapsed, you’re shaped by what you’re building now in relationships that don’t drain you, routines that support you, and choices that reflect who you’re becoming. The story of the pain still exists, but it’s no longer the story you tell to explain yourself. You’re living forward now and what once felt like an ending has shown you a beginning.

v. Working with these Energies

The Ten of Swords shows the collapse of mental and emotional systems that are no longer sustainable. You may have pushed through for too long;hiding exhaustion, ignoring pain, or holding on to beliefs that kept you in survival mode. When everything gives way, what breaks isn’t just your energy, it’s the identity that formed around the endurance. This card speaks to the end of a long internal struggle. Rumination, self-blame, and chronic pressure lose their hold because there is nothing left to maintain. You are not failing—you’ve just reached the limit of what your old self can handle.

Track the turning point
Think back to when you realised something had to end; a relationship, role, or belief that demanded too much. Did you keep going long after the signs were clear? Did you hope things would change if you just worked harder or stayed quiet? These moments reveal when you crossed your own limits to avoid disappointing others, being judged, or confronting fear. This is where the fracture began.

Name the cost
Ask what you’ve been holding together and what the final straw was. Was it the need to be strong? To be right? To be invisible? Has guilt kept you tied to roles that never served you? Has silence been used to avoid conflict but cost you in other ways? Naming what no longer works is how you begin to accept that the ending was necessary.

Don’t override discomfort
It’s tempting to rush past grief or shame and get back to functioning. But this part matters. Let yourself sit with what fell apart. The perspective comes from allowing truth in without defence or distraction. The breakdown is painful, but it brings something honest to the surface.

Take one step forward
Recovery starts with one action that affirms you no longer live by the rules that broke you. Speak a need out loud. Set a boundary you once avoided. Don't waste time explaining your pain to people who won't listen or understand, especially if they want you to stay as-is to justify their own choices. You don’t need to rebuild your old self.

vi. Building Skills

Creative Hopelessness - When Nothing Works Anymore
The Ten of Swords reflects the moment when old strategies collapse. You've done everything you could from keeping quiet to pushing through, to trying to find a solution to trying to please others. But nothing changed because something else needed to emerge - a higher purpose.

The exercise to help with this card supports you in facing this moment using creative hopelessness, a core process in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It’s about seeing what doesn’t work, letting go of control strategies, and making space for what matters.

Notice What You’ve Tried
List everything you’ve done to avoid pain or control how you feel. Have you shut down, overthought, apologised, tried to stay small, distracted yourself, blamed yourself, blamed others? Name each one with honesty.

Did It Work?
For each strategy, write down what it cost you. Did it bring peace, or just numbness and a myriad of other emotions? Did it protect you, or disconnect you? What did you lose by keeping it going - sleep, honesty, relationships, self-trust?

Let the Truth Sink In
Notice what it feels like to admit none of these strategies brought lasting relief. This is the doorway to something new and to naming what’s real for you.

Make Space for What Matters
If you stopped trying to control or avoid this pain, what could you move toward instead? What do you care about, even while this pain exists? What kind of person do you want to be in this moment?

Why This Matters
The life path pattern of the Ten of Swords often involves over-identifying with struggle. Creative hopelessness breaks that spell. It doesn’t erase pain but it shows that the pain isn’t the problem - the cycle of avoidance is. When you stop trying to win the inner war, your perspective returns. From here you can begin to live in alignment with what really matters, even whilst carrying what still hurts.

Repeat this practice when you're stuck in rumination or caught in self-defeating patterns. It helps reorient you toward choice, meaning, and movement.

NB: If your pain is severe or persistent, these exercises alone may be insufficient and are not a therapy substitute. You may benefit from structured therapies like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), EMDR, or IEMT—all evidence-based approaches that help reduce emotional distress by working with the nervous system. If everything feels too much, seek support. Some pain needs more than self-help. You’re never beyond help - healing is still possible with the right guidance.

vii. Embodiment

Reconnecting with the Body
The Ten of Swords shows what happens after collapse - when the body has been holding too much for too long. Disconnection sets in. You may feel numb, frozen, or unable to rest. Rumination keeps you in the mind, reliving what happened or predicting what could go wrong next. Grounding is essential here. It brings you back into the body, into now, and helps break the cycle of mental overdrive and emotional shutdown. The pain is real, but so is your capacity to return. The karmic wound of the Ten of Swords is abandonment of the self under pressure. Grounding reverses that pattern. It teaches you how to stay, how to care, and how to begin again inside your own skin.

Scent – When everything feels distant or unreal, scent can bring you back. First, notice what this moment smells like. Is it sweat, stale air, unwashed clothes, metal, or something sharp that reminds you of pain or stillness? Don’t judge it, just observe. Then choose a scent that connects you to life. This could be soap, clean fabric, earth after rain, a peeled orange, or a familiar perfume. Inhale it slowly. Let the scent remind your body that it’s here, that this moment is new, and that you are allowed to return to it.

Body – Scan for where the tension sits. Jaw, chest, stomach, hands. If your body feels unsafe, start smaller. Feel the weight of your feet on the ground, or the pressure from under a weighed blanket. Press your palms together. Place a hand on your leg and notice warmth or pressure. Stay there for ten seconds. Repeat. These micro-moments teach your nervous system to return.

Soundtrack – Turn off music that agitates or numbs. Choose a steady sound like rain, wind, low instrumental, or silence. Listen on purpose. Let your ears locate where you are. This is not distraction it’s re-entry because the aim isn’t to escape its to come slowly back into your body.

Action – Do one simple thing slowly. Sit upright. Sip water and swallow with awareness. Say one feeling out loud. These small actions stop the drift. They anchor you to the present without needing to solve the past.

Nature Cue – Look outside. Name what’s still. A leaf. A shadow. A cloud. See how even nature pauses before change. Let this show you that your state will also shift. Nothing stays at peak intensity forever. What matters is staying with yourself as it rises and falls.

viii. Your Impressions

Look at the Ten of Swords in your deck or the image above. Notice your immediate thoughts without trying to change them.

What stands out to you - the figure’s stillness, the weight of the swords, the empty sky, the blanket, or the finality of the scene? What feelings or memories come up as you take it in?
Scan your body. Where do you feel heaviness, tension, or numbness? Can you link that sensation to the thoughts or memories that surfaced?
Consider how you tend to respond when everything feels too much. Do you shut down, disconnect, go silent, or avoid choosing? When did those reactions start to form? Were there times when speaking up or choosing for yourself led to harm, blame, or isolation?
What happens if you let that discomfort stay, just for a moment, without needing to find a solution? What new perspective might emerge if you stayed with the feeling instead of turning away?

ix. Intuitive Meaning

Use this space to reflect on what the Ten of Swords means to you personally:

When everything breaks down, what part of you tries to keep functioning? Do you pretend you're fine, mask distress, or isolate to avoid being seen in pain? When did hiding become safer than being honest?
Who taught you that showing fear, grief, or doubt was dangerous? Were emotions met with silence, blame, or withdrawal? What beliefs did you absorb about what happens when you're vulnerable?
In your relationships, where do you manage others’ reactions at the cost of your own truth? Where do you hold back to keep peace, avoid abandonment, or feel in control? What has that control taken from you?
What part of you believes survival depends on staying quiet, staying useful, or staying invisible? What physical or emotional toll has that survival taken? What becomes possible when you stay rooted in the present instead of preparing for a future shaped by past harm?

Applied insight with a three-card reading using the Ten of Swords as your anchor:

What part of me believes collapse is the only way change happens, and how did that belief form?
Where am I still carrying the weight of being the strong one, and what would letting that go make space for?
Where is the sun rising in my life, i.e. what new opportunities are possible for me?

Let your cards talk and note your feelings as your answers unfold, writing your own words below:

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x. Closing Reflection: Track Your Evolving Lens

Your relationship with each card will grow over time because it’s meant to shaped by your life. Consider the prompts below to revisit and reflect.

What I thought this card meant when I first pulled it: —————————————————
A recent experience that changed how I see it: —————————————————
How I feel about it now, in my body or life: —————————————————
What surprised me as this card kept showing up: —————————————————
One way this card is living in my life right now: —————————————————
If this card visited me today as a guide, what would it want me to remember? —————————————————

Revisit these after a week, a moon phase, or a meaningful moment. Let the card evolve as you do.

If you feel a quiet sense of recognition, curiosity and want to explore it, browse the sessions page for what feels right.

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Minor Arcana, SwordsAlison Jeavons7 July 2025tarot, astrology, numerology, the fool, uranus, beginnings, mars, planets, zodiac, houses, natal chart, major arcana, new beginnings, working with energy, extremes, first impressions, overthinking, definition, elements, air, earth, fire, water, embodiment, smell, body, soundtrack, action, nature cue, noticing, acceptance, commitment, therapy, scripts, reflection, evolve, lens, troublemaker, wanderer, zero, nought, potential, spark, new, story, beginning, golden dawn, forward, surrender, naivete, upright, reversed, reckessness, fear, hesitation, poor judgment, foolish, risks, frozen, cliff, first, aries, aquarius, fresh start, spontaneous, leap of faith, innocence, leap, curious, impulsive, unthethered, messy, beliefs, 0, ace of cups, water flowing, raw emotions, beginning of love, connection and creatitivy, connection and creativity, intution, unconditionally connected, heart on sleeve, dam of repression, emotional opening, spiritual 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thought, shape daily perceptions, grounding their thoughts, detached from emotion, truth requires follow through, number one, number 1, air element, innovative, new ways to do things, think new thoughts, mental overdrive, squeak, precision, logic, turning point for thinking, clear thought, self as context, mental clutter, mental disco, over identifying with thoughts, thoughts as facts, thoughts are not facts, doubt urgency analysis, handle your thoughts, hold back, mental pressure, "avoidance, diplomacy, inner conflict, weighing options, emotional blockage, impasse, detachment, denial, overwhelm, denial unraveling, indecisiveness, surfacing conflict, tarot meaning, two of swords, tarot psychology, shadow work, intuition, spiritual growth, decision-making, blocked emotions, generational trauma, self-doubt, psychological conflict, emotional healing, subconscious patterns, tarot therapy, conflict resolution, mental clarity, moon symbolism, inner struggle, intuitive guidance, healing archetypes, personal development, spiritual turning point, facing truth, stuck energy, self-reflection, inner conflict and decisions, emotioal detachment, indecision and delaying action, choice is needed, long standing habit, inherited family habit, hiding emotions, avoiding conflicts, ignore your own needs and feelings, arent clear, avoidance and indecision, diplomacy and inner conflict, weighing options and emotional blockage, impasse and detachment denial, face what youre avoiding, internal pressure, overwhelm and emotional release, mental pressure and denial unraveling, indecisiveness and surfacing conflict, stuck between a rock and a hard place, blindfolded woman, crossed swords, calm sea and moon, stone bench, moon venus and mercury, third fourth and seventh, gemini libra and cancer, number two, number 2, duality, emotional and mental avoidance, name the cos and overriding discomfort, ignoring your instincts, take one clear step, hands as thoughtd, hands as thoughts, why it matters, three of swords, three of swords pain, unprocessed emotional pain, past life cycles, grief betrayal, rejection and abandonment, unresolved past experiences, relationship to emotion, withdrawal anger self blame, core pattern, emotional injury, pain becomes part of your identity, heartache, emotional wounding, sorrow hurt, unprocessed past wounds, refusal to feel pain, grief passed down, suppressed grief, emotional detachment recurring pain, forgiveness, releasing past pain, generational traumas, grieve and let healing begin, three swords piercing heart, floating heart, grey sky and rain, heaviness and grief, disconnection from grounded self, isolation in emotional experience, seek support, sharp upright swords, mental fixation, overthinking and rumination, self judgement, mentally stuck, saturn and venus, seventh tenth second eighth, enmeshment bypassing, preserve connection, number 3, number three, scattered energy, separation after being together, hope ends, attachment patterns, abandonment, rejection and abandonment reumination, emotional numbness, doesnt help, deploy, master storyteller, radio doom and gloom, face karmic patterns, wound was created, root of wounding, four of swords, "rest, recovery, healing, mental restoration, solitude, meditation, emotional reset, spiritual retreat, burnout recovery, peace, psychological healing, inner stillness, nervous system regulation, healing space, temporary withdrawal, recuperation, self-care, integration, spiritual pause, trauma, emotional shutdown, overwhelmed mentally, running away, recalibrate, stress sadness problems, hiding feelings, rest deeply, recovery mental exhaustion, rest overwhelm, integration internal processing, mindful balanced harmony, unresovled grief, burnout, emotional exhaustion and resolving it, help and support, disconnection and grief, overreaction, defensiveness, three swords above one below, stone figure lying still, stained glass window, dim light and shadows, sword pointing down below the hands, jupiter and libra, ninth seventh third and twelfth houses, dedicated worker, reminder to breathe, mentally drained, five swords, no one wins, breakdown in communication, defensive thinking, dominate, protect vulnerability, early experiences of conflict, when to let go, face discomfort, harming yourself, competition power struggles, winning at all costs, miscommunication, affecting relationships, ongoing tension, soul lessons, regret, unresolved conflict, reconstruction, forgiveness guilt shame, resnetment, cutting chords, reconciliation, repair begins where defensiveness ends, weapons, three swords two on ground, figure walking away, smirk, self satisfaction, protect onself, dominance, withdrawal, emotional detachments, pride and fear, exposure, mars and venus, first third eighth houses, aries and libra, number 5, number five, respond to tension, disconnection and imbalance, mind defends, acquit, justify their actions, foundations of stability, cancer moon and 4th house, six of swords, "transition, healing journey, moving on, rite of passage, leaving the past behind, progress, inner peace, travel, recovery from trauma, spiritual passage, letting go, moving through grief, psychological growth, emotional distance, guidance, support systems, mental shift, emotional evolution, coping strategies, subconscious healing, period of transition, left behind, forced, carrying, mental processing, rite of passages, releasing baggage, sadness and inner journey, necessary transition, between chapters, emotional backlog, fear of release, grief in transition, delayed processing, clinging to the past, figures in the boat, stress, boatman with pole, six swords in the boat, still water, rough water, conflict to calm, distant land, reaching safety, mercury moon, third fourth houses, speaking patterns, gemini and cancer, internal states, analysing emotion, staying present, disruption, war cry, yours to carry, unprocessed grief, time will fix things, cost of staying where you are, what needs to be lost, let go of roles, based on survival, optional, revisit every detail, unsafe, instinct to retreat, releasing judgement, defusing from time, harsh self talk, resentment and mental overwhelm, shame, i shouldnt feel like this, i always ruin things, theyll never change, i must be a bad person, im having the thought that, past based thoughts, future based thoughts, fear anxiety assumptions control, guilt grief regret replayed pain, manage with logic, isolate, seven of swords, "deception, secrecy, strategy, betrayal, hidden motives, manipulation, self-deception, cunning, lies, withholding truth, dishonesty, escape, evasion, moral ambiguity, guilt, stolen energy, hidden agenda, sneaky behavior, trust issues, psychological defense, fear of confrontation, survival tactics, subconscious behavior, avoidance of responsibility, duplicity, false persona, mental trickery, intellectual dishonesty, karmic patterns, integrity, mistrust, avoidance or secrecy, harm rejection loss, self protection mode, strategymistrust emotional distancing, survival patterns, resourceful ingenuity, incognito, clandestine, causing more harm, soul contracts are not bomb proof, mental constructs, withholding, second guessing, self monitoring, escapism no longer holds power, unresolved childhood fear, self deceit, sabotaging behaviours, collapse of manipulation, karmic reckoning, imposter syndrome, a truth you need to stand in, figure tiptoeing with swords, looking over shoulder, anxiety guilt, evasion and strategic behaviour, tents in the background, mercury pluto uranus, third eleventh eighth, gemini virgo aquarius, self reflection finding hidden truths, stops your growth, planning cautious speech, bread crumbing benching ghosting gaslighting, toxic relationship control patterns, creative hopelessness what has trying gotten you, assumed, changing your story, hiding the truth, avoiding a conversation, keeping people guessing, protecting yourself, short term, what has it cost over time, eight of sword, eight of swords tarot, "restriction, entrapment, powerlessness, mental prison, anxiety, paralysis, stuck mindset, helplessness, illusion of limitation, self-imposed barriers, feeling trapped, negative thought loops, emotional suppression, psychological paralysis, eight of swords, subconscious fear, limiting beliefs, mental conditioning, victim mindset, lack of clarity, suppressed truth, emotional entanglement, self-sabotage, disempowerment, healing through awareness, blind spots, inner turmoil, fear-based thinking, breakthrough potential, personal responsibility, psychological breakthrough, mental patterns, insight through stillness, spiritual awakening, clarity through courage, self-liberation, gen x, seen and not heard era, the silent generation, mental paraylsis, powerless and trapped, no visible way out, blindfold, expecting the worst, no options, spiral into anxiety, suffering, intrusive thoughts, mental entrapment, rigid thinking, self imposted limits, fear of changes, avoidance overthinking, fear of authority, emotional paralysis, victim mindsets, karmic inertia, inner restriction, codependency and fear of negative consequences, identify the source, is the threat real or imagined, holding yourself back, emotional cost, playing the victim, own your experiences, faith in your autonomy, internal constraints, self liberation, release old story, swords around figure, blindfold and bound hands, tide out, grey sky, time dependent, immobility, face feelings, suspended, rescued, overwhelming, saturn and mercury, third and tenth house, gemini and capricorn, cycles control, fear of consequences, harshly, mistakes punished, rumination fear doubt, inaction, personal autonomy, facing fear, perception, projection and communication, overactive, obsessing, worst case scenario, worse case, vulnerability avoid, cant see a way out, no option, constantly anxious, default behaviour, emotional needs were dismissed, learning to stay silent, silent and small, volcanic outbursts, defiance, frozen with fear, fail before you try, avoiding yourself, mistrust and emotional withholding, anxiety avoidant, anxious avoidant, attachment pattern, unsafe pointless, criticised, dismissed and silent treatment, fear anger shame grief, soul evolution, preparing to escape, psychospiritual defusion, you are not your thoughts, repetitive fears, imagined consequences, no one will support me, im having the thought that..., i cant leave, who is noticing the noticing, who is noticing, resist aruging with the mind, obeying, every thought as truth, debilitating fear, protection to presence, fear of making the wrong decision, criticism punishment, unstable environments, nervous system rewiring, trapped, unsure, pretend youre fine, staying a victim, give yourself permission, doubting yourself, shaped by fear, secure connection, distant or silence, avoidance of decisions, keeping the peace, empathy versus compassion, the silent generation eara, the silent generation era, generation x, victorian era, nine of swords tarot, nine of swords, distress, cptsd, iemt, erp, recurring thoughts, interrupts sleep, increases anxiety, rumination unresovled shame, impossible standards, family roles, internalised pressure, accumulated, separate from old belief system, old defences, crisis, false identity, karmic interruption, ancestral healing, figure sitting up in bed head in hands, bedspread, defeated, inherited shame, saturn mercury neptune, fear of failure, third sixth tenth, gemin capricorn pisces, fear based thinking, isoaltion, isolation, isolated, automatic, recognising rumination, doesnt belong to you, need protection, silent suffering, being blamed, internal foundation, rehearsals worst case scenarios, noticing the thought, prefixed, exposure and response prevention therapy, eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, integral eye movement therapy, distressing memories, brain processes, stores experiences, talk therapy, tolerance, safety, self compassion, rejection blame instability, others emotions, becoming clearer, protect me, invisibility, ten of swords tarot, "betrayal, rock bottom, painful ending, loss, collapse, defeat, backstabbing, failure, finality, exhaustion, deep wounds, hopelessness, despair, emotional breakdown, ruin, crisis point, victim mentality, ten of swords, ego death, psychological collapse, painful truth, karmic completion, end of a cycle, transformation through pain, forced release, inner ending, subconscious clearing, emotional devastation, spiritual reckoning, healing from betrayal, resilienc, defeat betrayal, broken down, shame and disconnection, self erasure, irreversible, ending, inherited sacrifice, loss of identity, crisis of meaning, soul fracture, worst is over, attachment to suffering, self image, emotional residue, karmic fatigue, refusal to move on, inner resistance, pierced by swords, swords in back, black sky, rising dawn, finished, saturn neptune mars pluto, 12th 10th 8th 1st, capricorn pisces scorpio mars, ten and one, 10 and 1, bracing, repairing, crisis mode, when nothing works, erp emdr iemt, grounding is essential, toll, ten of swords therapeutic tarot worksheet