Card of the Week: Ten of Rods

Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of a burden you’ve been carrying until you feel the weight of its release.  However, it is said that life’s heaviest burden is to have nothing to carry.

The Ten of Rods represents a tremendous burden, a person shouldering heavy responsibilities not just for their own self but for an entire community.  Perhaps too many projects have gradually been taken on, or perhaps undue obligations have been imposed from the outside.  Whatever the cause, it may be time to start sharing or delegating to avoid a catastrophic failure or complete burnout.

Inverted, this card warns of falling into the trap of refusing to acknowledge or change an overly burdensome situation.  It is not shirking one’s responsibilities to look for a way to share the load.

In “Spock’s Brain”, an alien ship approaches the Enterprise and its occupant renders the entire crew unconscious.  They awaken to find Spock’s body in sickbay, his brain missing.  Doctor McCoy rigs a temporary electronic cap, allowing him to “drive” Spock’s walking body with a remote.  The Enterprise follows the alien ship’s ion trail to the glacier-covered planet Sigma Draconis VI.  They find its inhabitants living mainly underground, among ancient technology that they no longer understand.  Their leader, Kara, had used a Teacher machine to temporarily learn how to transplant Spock’s brain into their Controller machine, intending to use it to keep the rest of their systems running for the next ten thousand years.  Instead, Doctor McCoy uses the Teacher machine on himself to temporarily gain the skill to restore Spock’s brain to his body.