10 cups

Negative mesages:
1. The RWS ten of cups is also a 'seperation' or 'stage' card, where the people look like they are standing on a stage. This could suggest that the happiness of the ten is an act.
2. The children and the adults are not celebrating together, but as two seperate pairs, which could suggest that the happiness is not being shared outside the couple/family. It is not happiness for everyone, but a somewhat selfish happiness.
3. The rainbow also suggests a time of troubles has just recently past (eg. a rainbow appears after a thunderstorm) and while you are celebrating now, this does't mean it is going to last.

That's all I can think of, off the top of my head. I'll think some more about it, and if I think of some more I'll get back to you.

Faolainn Storm

ETA: Just read your last post above, and wanted to add that yes, like all cards this one has both positive and negative meanings. So in the positive it could mean happiness, achievement in emotional realms, etc. One way of looking at this card is that the two adults are the couple from the two of cups, and this is the end result, they are happily married with two happy, healthy children, all is wonderful, as perfect as human life gets.
How you read this card depends on where it falls in a spread, whether it is upright or reversed (if you use reversals), well or ill dignified (if you use dignities), etc.
And yes 10's can indicate the end of something, but that's not always a bad thing. It is the end of a cycle (like the Wheel of Fortune and World cards) but it is a natural ending. Which is often a good thing.

i dont see the 10 of cups as negative very much more like neutral

if anything i see it as a what next card

the person has what makes them happy andhas had for a long time

and is thinking well, life is supposed to be about problems and things and i'm not having them at the moment, maybe there is something wrong with me? imtoo naive, happy, etc
its a card of fulfillment and happiness which should be enjoyed for the moment

the rest will come

i dont think much can tar the 10 of cups feelings though there is underlying meditation in it

I agree with Star-lover here.
Also, it all depends on the question.
So yes, go ahead and read the 10 cups negatively if it appears in response to a negative question - then you can say - it's stifling, confining, too much, like being overfed and lazy. If it is not a negative question, then the person truly is blissful.

elysia said:

clarity, do you say this because of its water-aspects?

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Well, this card sometimes can mean idealization of someone or a relationship to the point that you create this illusion that isn't grounded in reality. And yes I see emotions as constantly evolving, moving and changing.

Well, in its reversed state, it can mean the family is somehow falling apart (turn the card upside down, and the family falls on its head!)

I've had it come up when family members are fighting amongst themselves, when a teenager rebels or runs away (disrupting the family)...even once when a child was born with a physical malady that tore the parents (and the whole family unit) apart. I've also had it come up to represent a person's depression when he felt the family had let him down, and he had "come to the end" of all that love he once felt with them.

Well, in the RWS you can't actually see the faces of the people, so they could be expressing all sorts of emotions. So, for instance the way the man has got his hand on the woman's back might not be seen as a lovely gesture, or guiding, but more like pushing! It could indicate that somehow someone is being controlled, or whatever way you want to put it.

I tend to agree with clarity, in the fact that it may be illusionary. What you want to belief may not actually be the way things are in reality. I mean, for instance, you may think or want to think that someone loves you, but you have to really stop "feeling", and start "seeing" if that makes sense. I tend to see that the cups as an emotions card, but that is about all. In this sort of context, at any rate.

On topic of the 10 cups - wanted to share this "positive" meaning that occurred to me when doing a reading:
10 cups + 8 wands = "falling in love"

very good, balenciaga! I can see this as well with those two cards. one meaning I did see with the 8 of wands is 'a new love interest', but if I had these 2 cards together, I think I'd see it as a relationship that will be very secure and happy.

while all cards can, (I suppose) to have a negative side to them, I generally don't see it unless it is reversed. that is to say, except when the upright card is a negative card to begin with. however, when I looked at my RWS 10 of cups, and tried to see what negative feelings I would get from it in the upright position, I noticed the man in the card has his arm around the woman. so, could it be that he is a bit too possessive with her--and in the process of ignoring the two children off to the side, dancing together? just throwing this out there--I never really thought of it as such, until I happened across this thread, and took the cards out to look at them.

I also pulled out my RWS 10 of Cups card.
I must say it is difficult to see the negative without seeing the surrounding cards. The olny thing that comes to mind is maybe "it's not what you think it is, or it's not what it seems" something about the way they are standing, someone mentioned on a stage, almost looking from the outside in.
Just some random thoughts.

Willow Huntermoon said:

I also pulled out my RWS 10 of Cups card.
I must say it is difficult to see the negative without seeing the surrounding cards. The olny thing that comes to mind is maybe "it's not what you think it is, or it's not what it seems" something about the way they are standing, someone mentioned on a stage, almost looking from the outside in.
Just some random thoughts.

Click to expand...

yes, i recall reading that in this thread too, and I can see this as well. like they are putting on a mask for the outsiders--making everyone think all is well with them, but it is not.

wow. really beginning to see this card in a new light. just goes to show you that you never stop learning in tarot!