78 Weeks: Ten Cups

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Enjoy!

the ten of cups

doing something while another is distracted. a favor. doing something for another, or having something done for you.

I keep forgetting that I've got on-line access to two further complete versions of the Tarot of Marseilles. One at tarot.com's browse decks - I believe what you see if you look at the Marseilles deck is actually a Fornier (excuse my spelling). The other is the Payen at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. If you search for 'cary cards' I found the Payen in black & white on page 6.

I keep referring back to my RWS, because, well let's face it, that's where I started with tarot. I've always associated the 10 of Cups with the happy ending of fairy tale fame. I've always called it the happy families card. As I write this I struggle mightily to find happy families in the Marseilles Ten of Cups.

Now 10 is a rather special number. I like to associate it with the Wheel of Fortune and a jackass, a monkey and a sphinx. Maybe it should just be 3 monkeys. My numerology book has nothing to say about ten excepting that it has all the qualities of one. I would further associate one with The Conjuror and willpower.

Looking at the card, we have the same 3x3 grid we had on the nine, plus another, larger, more ornate cup sideways to the grid. Gone are the leaves and flowers, we only see the cups.

So if I take the meaning of ten - which is the same as one but on the next level up- time to seize the opportunity and combine that with keywords for cups of emotions and spirituality I get ideas about using feelings for the benefit of self and others. So, happy families indeed, but this moves beyond families to embrace the world. The 10 of Cups could also be revealing a spiritual awakening.

I attach the version I've drawn:

Using the Universal Waite for my focus / study on the 10 of Cups. The rainbow in the sky stood out as one of the main features in this card, representing to me joy, peace and happiness as the energy surrounding the people on this card. This also created a connection for me to the Temperance card, which when thinking about it makes sense in regards to the blending, co-operation and balance that comes when sharing emotions and feelings with others in a family or close group of friends.

Reflecting on the 10 of Cups and the figures shown on the card made me think that if you are blessed with a loving and supportive family environment (and I think of close friends as part of an extended 'family) it is a place that you can be really comfortable to share and enjoy the company of others. Building and growing emotional bonds that support and nurture us through our lives and then we pass on to our own children as they grow and go out into the world themselves. I see a connection with that to the 10 - completion of a cycle, but with every completion there is usually a new beginning - the next generation.

For my version of this card I used statues that represented love, relaxing and just being together doing the family thing.

CreativeFire

Ten of Cups - Revelations Tarot

First impressions
Oddly, this card looks like the flip side of a coin …..

From the book
Upright
Happiness is found within the family and in those whom you hold dear.
Happiness will be found in your home environment or around close friends. You will enjoy marital bliss, fun activities with children, and other enriching times with loved ones. Here the inner satisfaction gained overflows into life around you as you share your joy with others. You may find yourself developing closer and stronger bonds with your peers and taking friendships to new levels.
In situations, this card reflects a sense of success or achievement with career goals and projects. Life will work to your advantage and relationships will blossom in happiness and productivity.

Reversed
Quarrels and unrest disrupts the home environment. Those who seemed close are now more distant.
You may find your relationships at home deteriorating. There will be arguments, hurtful words, unpleasant acts, and a general air of frustration. Some may break down under the emotional stress, while others will engage in regretful acts.
In situations, there may be a breakdown of team spirit at work, or factions will form and work against each other. Disagreements and arguments will cause tension to fill the air. General unhappiness will shadow projects or activities, leaving everyone less fulfilled than when they started.

Images and Symbolism
The lights from above illuminate the happy family. Each person is content with his or her life.
The children play without a worry in the world. This symbolizes the innocence of youth and the enjoyment of simpler pleasures.
On the reverse, the merman leaves the mermaid and heads off into the darkness, which symbolizes the unknown. She lies there in despair, their home broken from an argument. The separation ruins the original happy image.
Color: blues, greens, purples; associated with Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, and the element of water.

Traditional meanings
Upright:
A peaceful environment. Friendship between people, social responsibility, group co-operation.
Reversed:
Mistrust between groups, anti-social actions.
My impressions:
Upright
It’s strange – it comes over as both circular and semicircular at the same time. A merman and mermaid are close together, looking like they are in love; looking into each other’s eyes, and each with one arm around each other. In the centre of the card a sort of wheel made up of another couple, linked so tightly at the wrists and their bodies curved to make the circle, and staring at each other. Around all this a flaming and seaweedy background in shades of clue, with five cups around the pair.
Reversed
Another couple – apart; backs to each other, she lying in the ground looking unhappy; he standing upright some way away from her and looking away. Five cups are scattered around but they are not all upright, and the merpeople are ignoring them The background is much darker than in the upright image.

My take
Upright – all is well with the world. A happy couple takes advantage of what is offered in a non-grasping way. They have earned their happiness, and don’t take it for granted. They are doing well in everything, and share their joy with others. Reversed – they are wretched. They seem to have been fighting; I think maybe competitiveness has soured everything and they have both competed so hard (and played so dirty) that they have both ended up with nothing. If any cards point up the value of co-operation versus the disasters brought about by conflict, this is one ! I wouldn’t say love conquers all, as I don’t think it’s all about love and family – but I would say that working together is key, and that this should be the aim of anyone this card is drawn for – in either aspect; just that upright, it suggests that is the way the querent is headed, and reversed it shows where their risks lie.

All the cards from this deck can be viewed here.

Thoth

Card name: Ten of Cups

First impressions
Ten gold cups arranged at rakish angles on the very RED tree of life (which I have to say at first made me think of – something else entirely.) Water flows downwards from some but not all. The cup handles look like ram’s horns. at the base the water just vanishes off the edge of the card. The background is orange. Sigils of Mars and (almost invisible on the bottom cup) Pisces.

From the Book of Thoth

THE FOUR TENS
These cards are attributed to Malkuth. Here is the end of all energy; it is away from the "formative world" altogether, where things are elastic. There is now no planetary attribution to consider. So far as the Sephira is concerned, it is right down in the world of Assiah. By the mere fact of having devised four elements, the current has derogated from the original perfection. The Tens are a warning; see whither it leads-to take the first wrong step!
The Ten of Cups is called Satiety. Its attribution is Mars in Pisces. The watery sign has sunk into a stagnant dream, but in it broods and breeds the violent quality of Mars, to putrefy it. As it is written: "Until a dart strike through his liver." The pursuit of pleasure has been crowned with perfect success; and constantly it is discovered that, having got everything that one wanted, one did not want it after all; now one must pay.

HAPPINESS
SATIETY
TEN OF CUPS
This card represents a conflicting element. On the one hand, it receives the influence of the Ten, Malkah the Virgin. The arrangement of the cups is that of the Tree of Life. But, on the other hand, they are themselves unstable. They are tilted; they spill the water from the great Lotus which overhangs the whole system from one into the other.
The work proper to water is complete: and disturbance is due.
This comes from the influence of Mars in Pisces. Mars is the gross, violent and disruptive force which inevitably attacks every supposed perfection. His energy displays the greatest possible contrast with that of Pisces, which is both peaceful and spiritualized.

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Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:

Ten of Cups = Satiety. Malkuth in the suit of Water. Mars in Pisces.
The Cups are arranged as in the Tree of Life, but they are unstable and spill the water from the great Lotus that hangs over them. This typifies the disruptive and violent force which inevitable, attacks every supposed perfection.

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Also:

Ten of Cups = Satiety. Mars in Pisces. Malkuth.
The cups are arranged on the tree of Life and a great lotus overshadows them. Exhaustion, which comes from expended energy, is expressed.

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Meaning (cribbed from Wasserman)
Pursuit of pleasure crowned with perfect success but incomplete. Matters arranged and settled as wished. Lasting success. Peacemaking and generosity. Ill-dignified: Dissipation. Debauchery. Pity. Waste. Stagnation.

DuQuette
Matter settled: complete good fortune.
Permanent and lasting success and happiness, because inspired from above. Not so sensual as “Lord of Material Happiness,” yet almost more truly happy. Pleasure, dissipation, debauchery, quietness, peacemaking. Kindness, pity, generosity, wantonness, waste, etc., according to dignity.

It seems that Crowley told Frieda that the background was to look menacing. “It suggests the morbid hunger which springs from surfeit. The craving of a drug adduct is the idea. At the same time, of course, it is this final agony of descent into illusion which renders necessary the completion of the circle by awakening the Eld of the All-Father.” I wish I found that tree of life menacing…
This is not a complete and happy family 10 of Cups, it’s a far too much of everything card – as DuQuette says, the cups have runneth over and are staining the carpet – which is down to Mars in Pisces.
Banzhaf says that “Nameless joy or an unconnected lack of understanding – in the scale of life they are one !” That which has been achieved begins to dissolve back into the unfathomable (the water simply falls off the card). The completion of what was sought breeds a violent quality. He also says that we have to recognize that our deepest longings cannot be fulfilled here on earth, so we have to strengthen our ego-consciousness to avoid being consumed when we open up our unconscious to achieve the divine.
Um.

Snuffin says that the whole arrangement of the card – with the martial colouring but without the black-flecked red indicating Mars – indicates that the lowest and material qualities of Mars are not expressed. He adds that thw fiery force of Mars can provide the momentum needed to move the wheel of the zodiac from Pisces into Aries,- - the onset of spring, The cups are arranged rather like the sigil of Aries, as if to suggest this.It also tie sin with Thirteen about the Tens:

These cards are about what completes that turn of the wheel, getting it back to "1" and yet carrying with it all that it has experienced through those other numbers on its way round the circle.

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Traditional meanings – From Thirteen’s book of meanings:

TENS
As the aces were the pure, elemental spark of the suit, the tens are the element of the suit complete, both physical and spiritual.
These cards are about what completes that turn of the wheel, getting it back to "1" and yet carrying with it all that it has experienced through those other numbers on its way round the circle.
Ten of Cups
A family delights in a rainbow of cups. This card indicates that the querent has risen above petty emotions, like anger or resentment, to mature emotions. Meaning that they are able to feel what others feel, and know how to respond to them and create an emotional connection. This, in turn, allows them to create the sort of family, friendships and neighborhoods we all dream of having. Ones that know how to offer emotional support, understanding and comfort.
Thus, the card predicts that the querent has the instincts, control and maturity to get out of emotional difficulties and misunderstanding; they know how to restore emotional harmony between family members, friends and neighbors. As advice, it urges the querent to be empathetic, also to smile, be kind, be warm, be emotionally generous, and to trust their emotional wisdom.
It also predicts good times with those we love-reunions, holidays, special occasions. If any such are coming up, the querent can be told that they'll go better than expected.
As for relationships, the querent can be told to remember the love that brought the them and their partner together and ought to be holding them together still. Put aside the disagreements over money or work or politics and delight in the rainbow.

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(I include Thirteen’s meanings here, but the way, as while someone else was adding them to her Thoth posts, I found them enlightening in context, even though the descriptions are way different !)

My impressions (appearance of the card):
As I said – the tree of life in the background immediately had me thinking of an image I can’t quite place, of a strange blue and white face with goggle eyes – a bit like Mr Potato people, though that’s not it. The image is on a tarot card somewhere, and if I ever find it, I will add it here. This did rather bother me – and was not helped by the cups. The top one has water pouring out. With the next four it looks more like light beaming up – and then the bottom three are water again. The whole looks positively drunk and debauched.

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
I think it would suggest there is just far too much going on, and you can’t cope. A need to step back and let a few things go in order to be able to move forward. Also perhaps a tendency to acquire things for no good reason, and regret it later.

Ten of Cups (Rider Waite Tarot)

First Impressions
“Once upon a time there was a family. A loving mother and father, a sweet little girl and her big brother and their faithful dog. They all lived in a little cottage by a river in the countryside, and they loved one another very much.

But one day, misfortune befell the family, upsetting their idyllic little world. Now, I don’t know what that misfortune might have been. Maybe the mother fell ill. Maybe the father lost his job in service to the king and could no longer afford to feed his family. Or maybe the father was forced to ride away to the wars and didn’t return. Maybe a drought blighted the land so the crops died, or gypsies stole the little girl. But something happened, and their little whitewashed cottage with the red roof was dark and unhappy in the face of it, and the family was sad.

But the plucky little boy was indefatigable. Accompanied by his faithful hound he walked many miles to find a treasure trove of gold that would feed the family, or bring his father home from the battlefield, or rescue his sister from the gypsy camp, or a rare plant whose leaves would cure his mother. Along the way he had many adventures and met many strange characters - some helpful, others less so. And finally, after many near misses, the brave little lad reached his goal. And discovered that what he really sought was within him the whole time. Triumphantly he returned with his father/sister/cure/wealth in tow. And as the family, reunited, healthy and comfortable, rejoiced in their great good fortune and the courage and devotion of their boy, a rainbow arced over them and showered them with blessings. As the mother and father lovingly wrapped their arms around one another and raised their arms in praise to the sky, the children danced singing in a circle in their glee. And they all lived happily ever after.”

That’s what this card is. The Ten of Cups is the “happily ever after” card. Because fairytales don’t always end with marrying the prince and being wealthy beyond their wildest dreams and no longer having to scrub floors or haul water. Sometimes they end with just the simplest yet happiest things. Hansel and Gretel returning home and finding the nasty stepmother gone and the father repentant for losing them in the woods. Little Red Riding Hood finding her grandmother alive and unharmed still in the wolf’s belly. They might not make Disney movies and tons of merchandise from those fairytales, but they’re sweet and end happily.

In the Rider Waite Tarot, this card is predominated by a rainbow arcing across a blue sky. Ten glimmering cups shine in the midst of the rainbow as though posed there for a storefront window display; as though the prosperous man in the Nine of Cups had turned his horseshoe table into a rainbow and it floated up to the sky and hung there. However they got there, they certainly attracted the attention of the people on the ground below. A man and woman in reddish-orange and blue stand back-on to us, each with one arm raised to the sky. As if they’d summoned the rainbow by their own will, or showing it off to the neighbours. Or perhaps just simple, wondering adoration. Whatever the motive, they’re happy; his arm is around her waist as though he’s pulling her tight to his side. Beside them, a little boy and girl are dancing hand in hand as though playing ring-around-the-rosy. A floppy-eared dog like a basset hound sits close by, panting in bemusement. He’s the only character in the card that looks out of the picture to us.

This whole thing happens in a peaceful little setting; a red-roofed house or cottage peeks out from the trees, and a river runs by; the grass is green, the land consists of gently rolling countryside. Or is this true? Is this where the story actually takes place? Notice the horizontal line that separates the dun-colored flat surface the people seem to stand on, from the pastoral scene and the rainbows. Are they performers? Wishful thinkers? Is this really happening?

This card is really a little sappy. It’s the one that speaks of simple pleasures, of being happy with your lot in life. Nice home, nice family, nice life. Just nice. It doesn’t promise wishes to come true, or fabulous riches or your own true love or any of that. But it does indicate in a reading that especially in domestic and family issues, that the outcome will be positive.

Creator’s Notes
Waite says:

Waite said:

Appearance of Cups in a rainbow; it is contemplated in wonder and ecstasy by a man and woman below, evidently husband and wife. His right arm is about her; his left is raised upward; she raises her right arm. The two children dancing near them have not observed the prodigy but are happy after their own manner. There is a home scene beyond.

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And that’s it. It had never really occurred to me that the children didn’t see the rainbow; but looking at the card in this light I see what Waite means. They’re just … happy. Their parents are exalting in the vision of the rainbow, but the kids are happy for the sake of being happy.

Others’ Interpretations
In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot Waite says of the Ten of Cups:

Waite said:

Divinatory Meanings: Contentment, repose of the entire heart; the perfection of that state; also perfection of human love and friendship; if with several picture-cards, a person who is taking charge of the Querent’s interests; also the town, village or country inhabited by the Querent. Reversed: Repose of the false heart, indignation, violence.

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The bit about the “several picture-cards” doesn’t seem to fit with Waite’s deck, in which all cards are designed to be “picture-cards”. I think this is a bit of a holdover from previous interpretations of the earlier packs.

Symbols and Attributes
The Ten of Cups combines the completion of the Ten - the ultimate embodiment of the qualities of that suit - with the emotional nature of the Cups and their corresponding element of Water. So you get the pinnacle of emotional achievement, of happiness, of belonging and relationships, in this card. Numerological it coincides with the Wheel of Fortune, but also with the Sun by reduction (Sun = XIX = 19 = 1 + 9 = 10), and so combines the happy innocence of that card as well.

The figures that dominate this card are clearly a family unit. Mama, Papa and a little boy and a girl. The adults are happy, in love even after two babies, enough that Papa tries to cop a little feel while they admire the spectacle of this rainbow in the sky glittering with golden cups. The children are happy and joyful, carefree, even without the added spectacle of the rainbow. It doesn’t seem that they even notice it. They represent innocence, as do all children. Innocent of the unusual phenomenon, they are secure and happy in their own little world. Mama and Papa have made them a safe little haven here in the countryside, and they know it and are content.

The children and their parents all wear very similar outfits, similar colours. This could reflect the theme of completion, the end of one cycle and start of another. The grownups are reborn innocent and carefree in their children, or the children grow up to be these adults. Whichever the case, they are happy, basking in this moment. A golden moment the parents will remember when their babies are grown and moved away with babes of their own. And that is another theme of the Ten of Cups. Enjoy the moment, make each one precious. Because they’re over too soon.

The dog at their side represents not just the idealized family - mother, father, two kids and a dog - but the ideal companion. Dogs represent fidelity, loyalty, unconditional love. You leave your dog to go to work, he feels abandoned, but is still happy to see you when you get home, all is forgiven. Cats, now, cats hold grudges, they get spiteful. But I digress. And in the Lenormand cards, the Dog represents helpful and loyal friends. So it reminds us that this doesn’t have to mean just family. It can mean the community, your friends.

So overall, this is a setting of pure domestic happiness. Simple pleasures, enjoyment of each other’s company and living in the moment. The rainbow is just the icing on the cake. In the Bible a rainbow was God’s sign of his promise to Noah that he would never again destroy the world and its living creatures by a flood. A peace offering. In some religions or mythologies a rainbow is a bridge between our world and that of the gods. It brings us that much closer to the Divine. It also represents fulfillment, happiness, conciliation and peace.

Now, the Ten of Cups is one of Pamela Colman Smith’s “stage cards”; one of the cards she designed to look like the characters are actors on a stage, and the rainbow and peaceful setting are painted backdrops. In this case I choose to see it as meaning that the family (or more likely the parents; the kids don’t seem to even notice their surroundings) is creating their own little paradise. Through their own will and their great love, they are projecting their wishes for their family onto their surroundings. A self-fulfilling prophecy, I think. If you pretend that your life is idyllic, if you act like your life is idyllic, who’s to say that it won’t become, in fact, idyllic? That the children won’t be just as happy, just as innocent, just as carefree and loved, in a dirty city slum as in a cottage in the country, if their parents act as though they live in a cottage in the country? These parents are making their own little utopia. And it seems to be working.

My Interpretation
This card is more or less about simple domestic happiness. About living in the moment, enjoying each day as it comes. Simple pleasures. Making memories. But it is also about being content with and thankful for what you have rather than pining for things you can’t have, and making the best of it. Things aren’t perfect? Well, pretend that they are, and you might find them improving in your own perception. I’ve found that to work in the past. Bad situation, feeling stressed and depressed. I told myself, made up my mind that I was happy. And you know what? I was. Not overnight, mind you, but it helped a lot. So the Ten of Cups also speaks to me of being in control of your own happiness, your own state of mind. You are the author of your own fortunes. And yes, if you do that, it is a card that promises in a reading that you will live happily ever after. The End.