Ten of Cups

Meanings according to Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Jupiter/Moon as a symbol of comfort and heartfelt warmth.

TEN OF CUPS This card expresses the highest harmony and deep, beneficent love. It shows that we are confident in ourselves and in the future, that our feelings are deep and pure, and that we are free from any illusions or self-deception. It signifies peace of mind, good neighbourliness, love and joy in communion with others, true happiness, and a feeling of profound gratitude in family or partnership relations.

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Centre for Astrological Research, 1999.

TEN OF CUPS Satiety. The third decan of Pisces, from 10 to 19 March. Astrological equivalents: Venus, Saturn, Moon. The third decan of Pisces expresses the idea of the fullness of the inner development of the feelings and the perfection of their outward manifestation. Finding inner resonance with the ideal, the feelings take shape as a single beautiful image of the human soul, naturally opening itself to the world and striving for self-perfection. This decan is ruled by resolute and courageous Mars. The soul's striving for self-expression creates inner excitement and restlessness, and a readiness for contact. Those born in the third decan of Pisces value the external as the necessary form for their feelings, and they love art, but because of the Martian naivety and impracticality inherent to Pisces, they may fall into dependence upon matter. They are characterized by an unconscious rebelliousness: a striving to return to their native element and a revolt against the boundaries which reality imposes upon them. Yet within this rebelliousness lies love for people and the desire for universal happiness. On the Tarot card there are ten Cups raised toward the heavens. They form a rainbow of happiness. Beside the house are dancing children, symbolizing a return to spontaneous emotions, and two adults. A man and a woman have joined hands, showing that emotional life has attained the highest state of consciousness. The human soul recognizes itself as rational — and then consciousness passes beyond its own bounds. The TEN OF CUPS signifies an emotion which has finally and definitively been embodied in one form or another and may henceforth be expressed. Here, in fact, takes place the test of finality of embodiment. The card may indicate the possibility of testing your feeling for maturity, where, once again, the problem of the adequate expression of these feelings may arise. The TEN is connected with Cancer and Capricorn; in both the Moon (emotions) and Saturn (the locking planet) are significant. The ability to express one's emotions is one of the components of the examination which the TEN OF CUPS symbolizes. On the everyday level the card may signify a declaration of love. Within the scope of this card, your inner world is, as it were, put on display, presented to those around for their judgment. Cancer and Capricorn are strongly involved here, and so the interpretation of the card cannot dispense with their traditional meanings. When desire has been entirely fulfilled, so that nothing remains unembodied, you find yourself on the seventh heaven. The idyll and the satiety are so beautiful that you are ready to linger in that moment forever. The trap is to make the fulfilment of your cherished desire dependent upon external circumstances.

UPRIGHT POSITION In the upright position the card has the "standard Cancerian" meanings, such as: home, immediate surroundings, happiness, joy, pleasure, peace, contentment with oneself, Homeland, good family life, honour, respect, virtue, reputation. In its upright meaning the card seems to have gathered into itself all that the suit of CUPS can give, and all that can hold the human soul. The next stage is WANDS (Spirit). But in order to ascend to this step, it is necessary to overcome the temptation of feelings, which in its most extreme form is embodied by the TEN OF CUPS.

REVERSED POSITION In the reversed position the card resonates with Capricorn (Saturn): loss of friends, absence of happiness, sorrow, discord, family quarrels, scarcity, anger, battles, suppression, devastation, overthrow, opposition, inability to come to a unified decision or opinion.