Meditations on the Ten of Cups

Meditations on Ten of Cups

The Ten of Cups is a card of happiness. A lot of times in my readings, I’ve left it at “and everything is happily ever after, as you can see…” without really contemplating what that would be like, other than noting where in time the card was placed (Is it in the future? Lucky you! Past…Well…).

It’s happiness, no need to dwell.

Right?

Let’s dwell. I am often willing to skim over the deeper meanings of this card, yet meditating on the Ten of Cups is an important meditation to do. Perhaps I am like Hank Hill, in ‘Torch Song Hillogy’, which was the 7th episode of the 6th season of King of the Hill.

In that episode, Bobby Hill asks his father “Is this why you act so uptight all the time because you think something bad is going to happen if you act happy?” That’s often how I feel about happiness — if I think about it too long or stare at it too much, it’ll just disintegrate. This is not for you, my crazy PTSD-ridden brain says.

I’m not the only one to just leave it at “and they lived happily ever after.” Many little white books also seem to think ‘happiness’ and ‘peace,’ or ‘familial joy’ suffice as a description.

There’s a lot more going on in this card than just joy. Notably, this card is one of the thirteen ‘stage cards’ (cards that make it appear as though the action happens on a stage) from the Rider Waite Smith deck, and there are a lot of theories as to what exactly that means and how it can be interpreted within the context of readings.

Most tarotphiles agree that the stage cards are a way of Pamela Colman Smith acknowledging her theatre background, but as with anything in tarot, it’s up to the reader to determine how to apply that knowledge.
When I drew this card, it was from the Deviant Moon Tarot, and that is the deck whose 10 of Cups speaks the most to me today.

There are details in this card I love — the injured, returning soldier with his wounds and scars. The fact the other suits make an appearance, and the boat and castle in the background, centering this reunited family above all else. The 10 of cups shows what happens when those cups are so full you can make space for others to share in that emotional bounty.

More than just familial love, the 10 of cups represents the sort of abundant love that brings completion to us. No matter how rough our lives might have been before, the 10 cups caresses our face and says that everything is going to be alright.

Unless, of course, it’s reversed, in which case all of that love drains right out, leaving family strife and broken friendships in its wake.

When upright, the 10 of cups invites us to consider what our own emotional completion would feel like, and asks us to count our blessings.