The Tens in the Vera Sibilla have a lot to do with the concept of materiality, matter and physicality. Each of them shows how the suit relates to the notion of an external reality that needs to somehow be conquered, or that the Self and the Will needs to enter into contact with. As the final number in the sequence, it shows how the suit materializes.

The Ten of Hearts, Perseverance, is known for its general meaning of success after toil and, well, perseverance. This is a result of the combination of the positive meaning of the suit of Hearts with the rather challenging notion of materiality.

It represents the hard, unyielding surface of external things bending to our patient effort, being incorporated into our picture of how things should be and therefore being beaten into shape. Note how the image on the card shows the young lady confidently resting on a column at the break of dawn, having withstood the long night. She may be living in a material world, but, just like Judge Judy, they definitely don’t keep her there because she’s gorgeous. She means business!

At the same time, the other important meaning of the card, i.e. a long duration, is derived from the fact that once matter has been beaten into a particular shape, it has a tendency to retain it until a strong counter-impulse is given.

Finally, the third important meaning of the Ten of Hearts, i.e. the querent’s city (but, in general, it can also represent the homeland) is derived from the fact that the realm of Hearts is concerned with what is closest to us, and which therefore we are intimately connected with. The physical, material space we are connected with is our city or homeland, because it is immediately around us. Incidentally, Perseverance is also connected with the patrimony, the drowry and accumulated wealth, again, showing the positive side of materiality.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Ten of Spades, the Soldier, shows materiality overwhelming the Self and the Will, engulfing it into its morass of inert darkness. That is why, at its best, the Ten of Spades represents the physical body’s ability to fight or to react, but no victory is automatically shown. Alternatively, this is another card that can show violence, arguments etc., i.e. negative physical contact.

It is also why this card represents impervious places, like mountains and deserts and, in a metaphorical sense, all uphill battles. It’s the card of darkness and the night (and, as an extension, of secrets), which is an obvious contrast with the sense of liberation coming to us as we see the Sun peeking from under the horizon in the Ten of Hearts.

Finally, it’s why this is one of the cards connected with strangers and strange cities and countries -though, usually, not by itself. If, in the Ten of Hearts, we were dealing with familiar physical spaces we are intimately connected with, with the Soldier we are faced with people, situations and places that remain outside of our sphere of familiarity, and that therefore remain outside of our control and sense of security.

With the Ten of Clubs, Levity, and the Ten of Diamonds, The Thief, we are shown gradations on the spectrum. The Butterfly is a simbol of everything that is light, impalpable and indefinite, as shown by its association with the element of Air. It represents a strong departure from the commited consistency of the Ten of Hearts. In the Ten of Clubs we have the self gliding from flower to flower, aimlessly wandering and always avoiding leaving a permanent mark in any direction.

The compromise is that we don’t get much in terms of results, but we are not crushed by the weight of matter either. All the main meanings of the Levity card are derived from this, including the idea of lack of focus, of carelessness and of “just a little”. Note that, in readings where physical death is shown, the Ten of Clubs might appear to show the soul leaving the body and flying away, i.e. relinquishing its ties to the material world.

With the Thief card things start to get ugly. Here we have the Self and the Will very much focused on doing something with the physical world. Unfortunately, it’s not anything that will win them a Nobel prize for peace. The Suit of Diamonds has a lot to do with material values, so the idea, here, is that the Self is hell-bent on appropriating physical things, and it has no moral compass to tell him where a line should be drawn. 

Note that, for their connection with the concept of matter and physical space, the four Tens are also representative of the four directions: the Ten of Hearts is assigned to the South, the Ten of Clubs to the North, the Ten of Diamonds to the West and the Ten of Spades to the East.