Sketchbook - Ten of Cups

When I cut the deck and selected this card, I was 27,000 feet over the Great Plains and surrounded by sleeping grandparents.

I really felt pretty torn about what to draw here; for a while I suspected that my Nine of Cups drawing was actually better suited to the Ten, what with its hierarchical overtones and effective infrastructure. But it also seemed a bit... dry, or utilitarian, in a way that seemed unsuitable for the suit's crowning card. The Ten is supposed to seek out that line where a good thing becomes too-much-of-a-good-thing, and then plant its flag right at that edge. Surely a little more fanciful excess was required to construct a proper Ten.

I meditated on this for quite a while -- I had all the time in the world, and no in-flight movie to distract me. Eventually I came up with the idea of a castle built literally on the water. Even though this is just a jaunty little sand castle and not the full-blown citadel I originally envisioned, it seems just as improbable and magical. This is a fortress built on intangible, irrational ideals that somehow manages to stay afloat. It's an embodiment of the suspension of disbelief required to thrive in emotional, mystical, unfamiliar settings. Without that suspension, we'd never be able to answer the initial call of the Ace of Cups, and building a house inspired by it would seem like pure madness.

And maybe it is, but it's a madness which takes us somewhere, offering us temporary shelter as we travel.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ten Of Cups

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"Artifacts from the years we can't remember..."

I have a real weak spot for purely autobiographical comics; there's something about them that's a little more personal than photographs, or even written journals and memoirs. When my friends Megan and TJ had their baby, it was sad for me to know how much I'd be missing out on because of the geographic distance between us. The Danger Science comics that TJ began posting to his blog have made me feel a lot closer to the action. They're just little vignettes of family life -- not really the kind of moments you'd point a camera at or tell someone about on the phone, but the kind that make up the fabric of our everyday lives. Since that's exactly the sort of thing you miss out on when you're friends with someone long-distance, I have found these updates to be hugely gratifying. It doesn't hurt that TJ has a real talent for visual storytelling (I also enjoy his ongoing comic The Konamis!, about a quartet of crime-fighting musicians).

But what I find particularly interesting about this method of storing memories is that they're going to be quite valuable to the baby in question when he grows up. Artifacts from the years we can't remember always hold a special power over us, and so do pictures of our parents when they were young. TJ's comics are the best of both worlds, providing a sort of running prequel to Jonas' own still-forming narrative. As a parent, it's a significant gift to give, and I see more and more people using the internet as a sort of a living time-capsule for these kinds of projects.

It's this aspect of TJ's work that made me think of the Ten of Cups. (See also, last cycle's King of Cups.) We're already familiar with the card as an emblem of arrival, of togetherness and success and satisfaction -- but that momentum must be carried forward, invested somehow, before it's squandered or collapses under its own weight. Everyone invests in their future happiness (and each other's) in different ways. Depending on the eye of the beholder, this card encourages new emotional, professional, or creative endeavors as a way of perpetuating the love you already feel. When the peak you've just climbed turns out to be merely the foundation for even higher hopes and grander schemes, what will you do with that discovery? Probably what you've already done in the past -- only this time you'll do it even better, and more people than ever before will benefit.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ten of Cups

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"Love Is A Seller's Market..."

However pure and altruistic our intentions are at the outset, at some point we have to commit to thriving in the world, laying a foundation from which to build our own utopia.

For entrepreneur Craig Zucker, this means bottling New York City water straight from the tap and then selling it as an alternative to pricy brands that are imported from halfway around the world. He considers TAP'DNY a slightly more eco-friendly option for New Yorkers, removing fuel and transport costs from the equation; and since NYC's drinking water is among America's purest, TAP'DNY is easily on par with Dasani and other brands which just reprocess tap water from municipal water supplies. To some people Zucker's business sounds like a joke, but to others it just makes sense. Many people prefer to buy local than put money in the hands of giant international corporations. (Still others carry their own refillable bottles, but let's not get bogged down on fine points.)

I've always thought that the figures on the Ten of Cups look like they're selling something. They're a little too happy, if you know what I mean. The loving happiness of the Nine of Cups ultimately cannot be constrained to just one or two people -- it demands to be shared with the world, and so its burgeoning growth creeps into other aspects of your life. Your family, your business -- whatever is there to catch the runoff will thrive.

While the Ten of Wands andThe Ten of Swords urge you toward a completely fresh start, the Ten of Cups and the Ten of Coins urge you to consider your legacy and proceed with your enterprise, building on what you've already attain and nourishing those who depend on you. If you're unhappy, however, the Ten may be a signal that you've already reached the climax of this part of your story -- even if you stay and gut it out, it may not get any better than it already is. Keep a look out for Aces in your readings, they usually signal the way toward something new and provide the necessary burst of energy required for you to actually do something about it.

We all know this Beatles lyric: "In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make." To me it suggests that love is a seller's market -- if you've already got the capital to back up your enterprise, there's practically no risk of ending the year at a loss. Barring unforeseen catastrophes (which you are hopefully insured against), I think you're going clean up in this town. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ten Of Cups

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Ten of Cups

1. Perfected success
2. Support of family and friends
3. Emotional satisfaction.

-- David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries

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Ten of Cups

While the Nine of Cups was a wonderful embodiment of the triumph of love over adversity, there is still work to be done before this triumph is complete. The Waite-Smith version of the Ten celebrates an ideal of familial togetherness that, in keeping with the mores of the early 20th century, stems from the union of one man and one woman. A century later, that concept has evolved and expanded, though its underlying principle of love, devotion, and fulfillment is more or less unblemished.

With the fight over Prop 8 continuing to divide communities and families, non-traditional families of all stripes have begun to come forward into public view, hoping to convince opponents' that non-traditional families can be just as happy as traditional ones. It's one of the final phases in a complete image overhaul: an attempt to modify and broaden existing ideals to show a more complete picture. This slideshow by the Courage Campaign presents a full spectrum of mothers, fathers, children, aunts, uncles and pets, urging viewers to reconsider the concept of "family."

Practically, this card represents a great conquest, one which transcends the personal and binds others to you. While it may be a romantic achievement, it could really be anything -- your awareness of relationships has expanded to the point where you've become innately sensitive to the connections that link you to those in your life. This can be a glad, empowering position to find oneself in, but depending on the people you're bound to, it can also be too much to bear. Whether your sensitivity to these connections affirms or hinders you, they are an incredible force to reckon with, demonstrating the awesome power of the intangible over the tangible. And remember, your ideals make for a convenient measuring stick to gauge your success and happiness, but at the end of the day it's important to remind yourself that ideals themselves have a funny (and necessary) tendency to change as you grow. [Via]

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