Ten of Cups

Ana's Song

Hi everyone

I'm struggling a bit with my Shadowscapes Ten of Cups (click here for card image).

I don't read with reversals and I tend to go with what feelings etc. the image gives me. Well this screams romantic vibes, coupledom etc. to me, given the entwined figures. I really can't see beyond that, and I see it as an extension of the Shadowscapes Two of Cups (here's the image for that card) especially the body language of the couple, the fish figures, even the way the angles curve.

But of course the card can be about other things too and I must admit that the last time I pulled this card for myself, my relationship split up a month later so I'm a bit all over the show with the Ten at present...

Please help me view this card from different angles!

Elendil

Since - even without reversals - all of the cards in the deck have shaded meanings from dark to light, and light to dark, the Ten of Cups does not always have an entirely positive meaning. It can be a card of over-romanticising a situation, seeing a vision of happiness and contentment that you would like to happen, but which has no real base in reality (a sort of too good to be true feeling). This would be the case especially if the card was in a challenge position in a spread or, for me at least, when it was conflicted elementally beside or flanked by one or more Wands cards...

Hope this is of some help.

elvenstar

I like your points Elendil! I sometimes see that aspect too, you express it very nicely

Yes, the 10 of cups is one of those ambivalent cards that do my head in from time to time when it comes to relationship questions

I have seen it come up signalling the end of a relationship more than once, as well as the opposite, a period of emotional stability and fulfilment in a relationship.

In the first case, it's like this emotional journey undertaken together is complete, all the cups have been used up and it's over, no more, cycle finished. In the second case, it's in a way the same, a cycle has reached its end and another beginning. The difference is, this new journey is also to be undertaken together as a team, but this time secure in the knowledge of each other's support, 'happily ever after' is not a static situation. So if it comes up in this context and my intuition isn't shouting 'game over' or 'happy days ahead', I may pull another card to see which way the current is flowing.

In other contexts it comes up for me usually as abundance, feelings of fulfilment, end of an emotional journey, or feelings of belonging and safety, a bit like the 10 of pents but in a more fluid undefined way. Either way it's a turning point in my mind, but not an abrupt dramatic one, more like a natural shift. Usually it's a welcome one, but even if it feels uncomfortable or sad, deep down you know it's the right thing.

PAMUYA

Ana's Song said:
Hi everyone

I'm struggling a bit with my Shadowscapes Ten of Cups (click here for card image).

I don't read with reversals and I tend to go with what feelings etc. the image gives me. Well this screams romantic vibes, coupledom etc. to me, given the entwined figures. I really can't see beyond that, and I see it as an extension of the Shadowscapes Two of Cups (here's the image for that card) especially the body language of the couple, the fish figures, even the way the angles curve.

But of course the card can be about other things too and I must admit that the last time I pulled this card for myself, my relationship split up a month later so I'm a bit all over the show with the Ten at present...

Please help me view this card from different angles!

I took a look at the card, and I can see why you feel confused. That card did not give me the "ten of Cups" feel at all. That card gave me the feeling of infatuation, instead of contentment or fullfilment. 10's of any suit can be the ending of a phase, being too wrapped up in your emotions blinds you of the truths that are around you. That is the feel I got from this card.

Thirteen

Card image is actually here: http://www.shadowscapes.com/image.php?lineid=17&bid=83&PHPSESSID=70157c5f9ce2693a2c18bde4baf256f5 As the artist has gone for the Cups as very watery, meaning underwater, this 10/Cups has a very dream-like quality to it. It does look like the two, as said, are so deeply into each other that the rest of the world doesn't matter to them. Yet the creator's own take on the card's meaning is very positive indeed.

Remember that the 9's are the "real world" completion of the suit, meaning incorporating all lessons/information learned on that suit's element or subject. It is, if you will, self-knowledge--in the case of Cups, knowing how to love yourself and so share yourself with others. The 10's are one step beyond that into the spiritual aspect of the suit. It leaves this world behind and seeks something more esoteric. The negative is that it you may be so blissful in that spiritual euphoria that you cut off from the "real world."

And we should remember as well that the cups suit often stands for drug or alcohol addiction, in which case being lost with a friend underwater becomes an ominous message.

Ana's Song

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies.

Elendil said:
Since - even without reversals - all of the cards in the deck have shaded meanings from dark to light, and light to dark, the Ten of Cups does not always have an entirely positive meaning.

Definitely agree with you here Eldendil, bit off topic but this is why I tend not to read with reversals... and the Shadowscapes images are small enough without me having to figure out what they're saying upside down lol.

Elendil said:
It can be a card of over-romanticising a situation, seeing a vision of happiness and contentment that you would like to happen, but which has no real base in reality (a sort of too good to be true feeling).

This makes a lot of sense too, particularly in relation to the card image.

elvenstar said:
So if it comes up in this context and my intuition isn't shouting 'game over' or 'happy days ahead', I may pull another card to see which way the current is flowing.

My issue here is that whenever I see this particular card image, I always immediately think and feel "happy days ahead"!

elvenstar said:
In other contexts it comes up for me usually as abundance, feelings of fulfilment, end of an emotional journey, or feelings of belonging and safety, a bit like the 10 of pents but in a more fluid undefined way. Either way it's a turning point in my mind, but not an abrupt dramatic one, more like a natural shift. Usually it's a welcome one, but even if it feels uncomfortable or sad, deep down you know it's the right thing.

These are interesting interps, as an aside I have pulled the Ten again for something positive I can look forward to in the next fortnight (a one-card reading that was not connected to this question) and I like the mental image of a 'fluid 10 Pents' very much!

PAMUYA said:
I took a look at the card, and I can see why you feel confused. That card did not give me the "ten of Cups" feel at all. That card gave me the feeling of infatuation, instead of contentment or fullfilment. 10's of any suit can be the ending of a phase, being too wrapped up in your emotions blinds you of the truths that are around you. That is the feel I got from this card.

I'm interested as to what deck(s) you have PAMUYA, and what the "ten of cups feel" is like to you? Of course the Shadowscapes image is pretty different to RWS... But I do get fulfilment from it, the two entwined are so content with each other they don't need anyone else, hence why I said coupledom in my first post. Hmm the more I think about it I think the Shadowscapes Two of Cups image leans much more towards infatuation and the Ten is fulfilment...

Thirteen said:
Card image is actually here: http://www.shadowscapes.com/image.php?lineid=17&bid=83&PHPSESSID=70157c5f9ce2693a2c18bde4baf256f5 As the artist has gone for the Cups as very watery, meaning underwater, this 10/Cups has a very dream-like quality to it. It does look like the two, as said, are so deeply into each other that the rest of the world doesn't matter to them. Yet the creator's own take on the card's meaning is very positive indeed.

Whoops, wonder why the URL didn't work?! Thanks for posting correct link Thirteen. I agree this is a very dreamy image though the whole deck feels vaguely fey to me... I also agree with what you said that the rest of the world doesn't matter, as I said in response to PAMUYA above. It's almost an exclusive (as opposed to inclusive) card isn't it!

Thirteen said:
Remember that the 9's are the "real world" completion of the suit, meaning incorporating all lessons/information learned on that suit's element or subject. It is, if you will, self-knowledge--in the case of Cups, knowing how to love yourself and so share yourself with others. The 10's are one step beyond that into the spiritual aspect of the suit. It leaves this world behind and seeks something more esoteric. The negative is that it you may be so blissful in that spiritual euphoria that you cut off from the "real world."

This is a bit of an odd concept for me, to think about the spirituality of the cups suit. I guess I associate spirituality more with pents but being an earth type I struggle with water a lot anyway. Being cut off from the real world again makes me feel like this image is strongly linked to the early-stages-romance infatuation of the Two. But in a more mature way if that makes sense.

Thirteen said:
And we should remember as well that the cups suit often stands for drug or alcohol addiction, in which case being lost with a friend underwater becomes an ominous message.

Oh this is interesting too. I am very much against drug use having had some bad experiences with the negative impacts from people around me using them and I also have a mildly addictive personality so avoid both drugs and excessive alcohol consumption! I guess that makes me a fuddy duddy

Ana's Song

I just looked up the card meaning put forth by the author of the deck on her website, and it says:

Serenity, peace, lasting success and happiness, attainment of the heart's desires, family support and bonds, enjoying the blessings of life.

I can definitely see each of these represented in the card image, except for 'family support and bonds'.

Kiata

The shadowy side must be the possibility that these fishes are piranhas. There you are snugging in bliss and suddenly...

Ana's Song

Kiata said:
The shadowy side must be the possibility that these fishes are piranhas. There you are snugging in bliss and suddenly...

LOL! Getting a bite taken out of your tush, that is a hilarious mental image