7 of Swords / 10 of Wands Card Combo

Elemental Interaction: Supportive

7 of Swords
Futility, Dishonor, Deceit, Sneakiness, Avoidance, Lying, Stealing, Fleeing, Shirking responsibility, Independence, Aloofness, Not helping

10 of Wands
Oppression, Over-extending, Burdens, Responsibility, Struggle, Resistance, Strenuous labor, Difficulty, Doing more than your share

7 of Swords / 10 of Wands

• Running away from heavy responsibilities
• Going it alone rather than allowing others to burden you with their responsibilities
• Refusing to pitch in and help someone carry a heavy load
• Realizing the futility of taking on too much responsibility
• Over-burdened by oppressive responsibilities a person resorts to stealing away secretly

There are a number of ways to combine these two cards. Fire and Air support and feed each other, so this can indicate an oppressive situation where the solution makes things worse, such as avoiding responsibilities (7 Swords) only increases the feeling of oppression and adds to the weight of the burden (10 Wands) that one must carry.

This could be a situation where one is expected to do more than their share, or where other's expectations become oppressive.  In response they plan to secretly escape without being willing to confront the situation directly.  It could merely mean shirking responsibilities that have been agreed to.  Another way of looking at it is someone doesn't want to confront the consequences of of taking on more than they can handle. 

I see the futility and possible deception in the 7 of Swords, but I also think it may signal a situation that must be kept secret until the time is right right to reveal it.  Combined with the 10 of Wands it could indicate a very oppressive situation where secret activities are called for because of the opposition that will be encountered if they are revealed too early. 

The key here is to keep intentions honorable and try to avoid a lack of integrity.  If one is doing something secretly because they cannot openly reveal it, then that is what must be done.  However, there is a thin line between doing something secretly for a good reason, and falling into betrayal and deceit.  But, combined with the 10 of Wands, the situation is far from ideal to say the least.

Micki

Images are from the Hanson-Roberts Tarot