Ten of Cups

brenmck said:

The X of Cups can indeed be a troublesome card. I recently drew it in a three-card spread asking about my house-hunting, and up jumped the Devil right after it. I wondered if the X and Devil combination was warning me about wishful thinking, or to hold on to the thought but go a completely different direction in my search, because I was about to get swindeled, financially overloaded, whatever. I'm still trying to figure it out. (I would think the X was a great omen for a house-hunting venture, but then came this definite caveat.)

As for your reading, it would seem there is a strong unconscious warning going on about an important relationship, but I wouldn't limit this to SOs necessarily.

~B~

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It doesn't actually seem that odd to me to get the Devil after the X of Cups. I think the X can be about completely having everything you want in life, and yet you know deep down that it can't be everything because it's not a spiritual cards, it's an emotional one. Therefore, there is a possibility to become self-indulgent, or focus just on satisfying desires and ignore your spiritual needs, or lose sight of what's really important, or get sucked into a gilded cage- all 'devil' situations.... As for your house-hunting spread, perhaps the Devil is warning you not to be tempted to go out of your price range to live in a 'dream' house, after all, it's only a place to live and a larger mortgage/ rent bill every month will enslave you! Would that make sense? You could see an ideal house which you could just about afford and be tempted by the dream of that luxury, but you could be working all hours to pay for it and have very little financial freedom, and it would weigh down on your whole life in the end.

This could be nothing at all of real worth...and I personally think that whatever you saw is probably something you need to think about, but while we're on the subject of possible negative aspects to the 10 of Cups( granted, we ought to remember, normally a fairly positive card), I went and looked at that card...it's not the same deck as I'm used to, but what I saw was---that couple look way too young to be the parents of those kids, at least and still be healthy about it. They look like a couple of teenagers lost in passion while the kids are off carelessly climbing boulders and quite likely to fall in the river and drown.

Granted, if you take into account the historical style of the characters, people DID used to have families young and life was always riskier, but seeing it as a card of emotional excess...that could work with that particular image, too.

moon_shadow said:

There are two children playing in the background to the left, and a couple embracing each other in foreground on the right. Anyways, I felt sure that this woman is the mother of children, but just didn't feel like the man she holds in her arms isn't their father. "An affair?!?!"

I am not liking it.. I mean.. 10 of cups is about happiness... why did I get this image in my head? Why am I not seeing it as she just ran up to her hubby as he came home and gave him a hug?

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Heh. No, I don't think what you're see is "an affair." Gazing at that card, I think I know exactly what you're seeing: You're seeing a temporary moment--as if the couple is hugging each other good-bye. This is why you are getting that "affair" feeling: because the image gives the viewer a sense that the embrace between them is only for the moment. It feels like the man can't stay for long...and to your mind, that means he's going back to someone else.

But even if the artist intended for it to look as if the man was going to leave the family, there could be any number of reasons for his having to go. That he's not married to the woman is just one of many. And you should figure out why that's the first and strongest one that came to you.

If that kind of message is hitting you hard, then you need to do a reading on this card and find out why and to whom it refers. HOWEVER, I'd be doubtful of interpeting this card as an "affair card" in general.

Getting down to happiness: Keep in mind, as others have pointed out, that the 10/Cups isn't about financial security or even earthly happiness. It's about spiritual and familial love and bliss. So even if our guy has to go away, he takes his family with him. Everyone in that picture is in everyone else's heart, always. They have achieved a spiritual connection that cannot be broken, not ever.

The Parent's love spills on down to the children, and they carry on that legacy of love to future generations. It is love that continues on beyond the moment.

So whatever sorrow happens on the earthly plane, however temporary a moment this is that you're seeing, it won't affect their eternal spiritual joy. This is why it's a card of true happiness, because all it requires is that you have truely loved someone, and that you still hold them and that love in your heart. This is what keeps the rainbow, the colors of the world, before your eyes. That rainbow is a remind of that there is hope and sunshine after the rain, it is a bridge from earth to heaven.

So it doesn't matter if this moment between the man and the woman and the children, on this earthly plane, is brief; on a spiritual plane, it is eternal.

Does that work for you?

wytchwood said:

It doesn't actually seem that odd to me to get the Devil after the X of Cups. I think the X can be about completely having everything you want in life, and yet you know deep down that it can't be everything because it's not a spiritual cards, it's an emotional one. Therefore, there is a possibility to become self-indulgent, or focus just on satisfying desires and ignore your spiritual needs, or lose sight of what's really important, or get sucked into a gilded cage- all 'devil' situations.... As for your house-hunting spread, perhaps the Devil is warning you not to be tempted to go out of your price range to live in a 'dream' house, after all, it's only a place to live and a larger mortgage/ rent bill every month will enslave you! Would that make sense? You could see an ideal house which you could just about afford and be tempted by the dream of that luxury, but you could be working all hours to pay for it and have very little financial freedom, and it would weigh down on your whole life in the end.

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Yes, that makes great sense. There's a dreamy, pie-in-the-sky look to the X of Cups in the spread I did, and the Devil, Capricornish, down-to-earth as he is many times, posts a warning, just as you said. It's caution - even though rent is approaching house-payment range, and my idea has merit, it calls for a realistic counting of blessings right where I am, and to not be seduced into yet another turmoil. (And that goes for everything else, as well as house-hunting!)

~B~

Place me in the 'excesses' category, then.
Actually, I often think of all 10's as excesses...which makes sense when you think of 3 cycles of 3 cards making 9...to which 10 is 'over the limit' as it were.

To be honest, the 10 of Cups has always bothered me....it's just SO happy, almost a caricature of happiness, rather than real happiness. Or happiness as a front or a mask. Or thinking 'if I just have the perfect house, husband, 2.5 children - then I'll be happy!" And that rather ties into the Devil/10C reading as well...don't be a slave to what you think that you desire....look instead at what your real needs are.

Brenmck, I get "Our House" running through my head.....

I really appreciate everyone's views on this.

star-lover said:

....we should count our blessings

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caridwen said:

...because life will obviously have bumps in store and things cannot stay on such a blissful plane but they have made it this far and have achieved all they desire.

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I so agree with these, and that's what I see on 10 of cups on the Gilded deck... I got curious and went on to look for images of the card on other decks. (as I only have the Gilded and the Llewellyn) Druid Craft, Victorian Romantic, and RW are the only ones I could view, and I see a couple(or ppl) who are taking joy in everyday life...small moments in life.. like someone took a photo when everyone's completely content. I am a very beginner and I have a long way to go on learning, but that's how I imagine 10 of cups to be.

Furnacechant said:

...I personally think that whatever you saw is probably something you need to think about

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Thirteen said:

It feels like the man is about to leave...and to your mind, that means he's going back to someone else.

But even if that's the artist intended it as a good-bye hug, there could be any number of reasons for why the man is leaving. That he's not married to the woman is just one of many. And you should figure out why that's the first and strongest one that came to you..

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(First of all, I would like to appologize if I hadn't made myself a little more clear. "An affair" was not the very first impression I got from the card as I had the deck a while before getting the Gilded. I've been studying it with the Gilded now, though.. and just the other day, I picked up the Llewellyn again, and looking through the deck, I saw this. So I was confused as to why (now) I see this card so differently. )

But if it being the first or second.. the third for that matter, isn't the point though(caught myself there!) , as (now) I have this image from the card.


Now I look at the Llewellyn's 10C again, I still find it very different from those I see. As Furnacechant mentioned, perhaps I am in need of looking at myself and find why I saw this couple as having an affair or feel some sort of sadness on this card. I was thinking about this for a while.. Maybe I saw my own sadness still lingering inside from the card. I felt that I left my marriage behind me, but now I find that I still have a lot of healing I need to do.

I still have to take time reading it all again so I could fully digest what's been said, and I have so many things on my mind atm, but this is the best I could as far as putting into words.

I want to thank everyone again, it sure has helped me find something I haven't thought of.

aja said:

To be honest, the 10 of Cups has always bothered me....it's just SO happy, almost a caricature of happiness, rather than real happiness. Or happiness as a front or a mask. Or thinking 'if I just have the perfect house, husband, 2.5 children - then I'll be happy!" And that rather ties into the Devil/10C reading as well...don't be a slave to what you think that you desire....look instead at what your real needs are.

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I can understand how you'd get that, but I think that seeing it that way misses the point. The image, like all tarot images, is metaphorical, not literal--and we run into real trouble if we let our biases keep us seeing only the literal image instead of the true meaning of that image.

The point of this card isn't that happiness is having a house and kids; it's that if you love what you have, then you've achieved real happiness.

Look, we all need to live *somewhere*--and the card says that the most important thing is for you to have love for that somewhere, because that's what makes your house or apartment or tent a home. And few of us are misanthropic enough that we want to live alone, no friends, no family of any kind--and the card says that what important is to have love for the people you live with, because that's what makes you into a family.

The 10/Cups' house always pictured as modest, not grand or elegant, just cozy and warm, a house the couple loves living in. And the kids in the picture, whether two or twenty, can feel like they're born to the couple or adopted--but what matters is that the viewer knows that those kids are all wanted and loved. The lifestyle of the card isn't meant as a poster for 1950's surburban living where happiness can only be achieved if a couple buys a house and has kids. TO THE CONTRARY, the card is meant to urge the viewer to NOT settle for anything less than their OWN dream of personal happiness, whatever that dream entails. If that means living in a treehouse with five of your favorite cousins, then go for it. It's YOUR dream of bliss, not anyone else's.

If that is where there you find love, than you have achieved happiness.

Thirteen, thank you for sharing on Happiness. That make a great sense.

caridwen said:

This is a great way of looking at the card in its positive aspect because life will obviously have bumps in store and things cannot stay on such a blissful plane but they have made it this far and have achieved all they desire.

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Yes, and also - during the difficult times, having achieved that emotional stability and fullness - the essential love that binds the couple together and to their world (including children if any) - will carry them through. Tomorrow the lady might slip and break her ankle, or one of the children might get a bad mark at school, or their granny might die: but with that kind of emotional strength, they'll weather the difficult moments.

I absolutely love the Llewellyn 10 of Cups, and quite frankly can't see the dysfunctionality in the card at all. Rather, I see a lot of emotional freedom, as well as trust and total love - which is, to me, what emotional fulfillment is all about. It doesn't matter if they are both the parents of the children or not - the atmosphere is light and joyful, and the couple in love - and the children are trusting and trusted to play freely where they want.

Thirteen, that does make a lot of sense (putting it in terms relating to domestic happiness). And I suppose that this is a very good example that no card has only one meaning....and one would be remiss if one thought of the cards in that way.

And no, I don't always see this card in the fashion I described....however, it is a card that I don't relate to quite as readily as others. OTOH, reading a discussion such as this one facilitates understanding it better.

thank you,
aja