Focus on Family and Home: The Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles

Original photo, Waite-Smith Tarot images, needlepoint by my mother, Diane Hamblin.

Recently, a conversation sprung up in one of my favorite online tarot groups about the Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles.  Many of the tarotists who commented felt these two cards to be very similar, even to the point of being interchangeable in a reading, or for magickal purposes.

I have taught beginning tarot students that these two Tens both speak of happy families and happy homes, but the Ten of Pentacles has more material wealth than the Ten of Cups. This mirrors what I took to be consensus in the group.

For beginning students, this is not a bad way to get a handle on these two cards. Advanced tarotists, however, are likely to see the significant differences between these two cards, as well as their similarities.

It’s true that many tarot cards have similarities one to another, these two cards included. These similarities are helpful in readings. If similar cards appear in a reading, their message is strengthened and affirmed. If similar cards appear differently aspected, there may be a clear decision to be made, or a struggle involving the energy of the cards.

At the same time, the more we can derive from each card, the more information we have. The more key words we have for each card, the more precise our readings will be.

The Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles are the two “feminine Tens” of the Minor Arcana. Their esoteric titles are fairly similar. The Ten of Cups is “The Lord of Perfected Success”, while the Ten of Pentacles is the “Lord of Wealth.”

From that perspective, we might ask ourselves this. What is the difference between “perfected success” and “wealth”? Is the “wealth” in the Ten of Pentacles material wealth alone? Does the “perfected success” of the Ten of Cups include financial security? For me, the wealth in the Ten of Pentacles includes the kids, the dogs, and the coat of arms. Often, we see our greatest wealth as our children, rather than our bank accounts. Likewise, I don’t see poverty in the Ten of Cups, but I also don’t see a focus on financial gain or worry.

We can find a clue when we look at the astrological associations of the cards. The Ten of Cups is Mars in Pisces, balancing an active energy within a passive energy. The Ten of Pentacles is Mercury in Virgo. This can speak about order and organization. Here we begin to see some clear differences between these two cards.

In the Waite Smith deck, the Ten of Pentacles has a specific distinction. Regardless of the deck I am using at the moment, I will always remember and honor the fact that the Kabalistic Tree of Life appears on the Ten of Pentacles, and on no other card in the Waite Smith deck. This fact gives the Ten of Pentacles a lot of extra juice for me.

What does that extra juice look like to me? It goes back to the idea of structure and organization. In the Waite Smith Tarot Ten of Pentacles, we see the grandfather, two generations of his progeny, his dogs, his castle and his coat of arms.  We see what has come before, and what will come next.

This helps us understand two keys words for the Ten of Pentacles that do not really apply to the Ten of Cups; “legacy” and “ancestry”.  The Ten of Pentacles can speak of bloodlines, family wealth and genetics; the things that are passed from generation to generation. This mirrors the energy flow of the Tree of Life for me, in an “as above, so below” sort of way.

The Ten of Pentacles is also traditionally known as the “castle card”. A picture of a home is featured in both cards, and both cards can refer to a happy home. However, the Ten of Pentacles, being the card of structure and order, more clearly refers to the physical structure of a house, or a “castle”. In this way, the Ten of Pentacles becomes the card of real estate.

From that perspective, the Ten of Pentacles can be a career indicator for those people who work selling, building or designing homes. During the housing market crash I saw this card ill-dignified quite often, for my many clients who were underwater or in foreclosure, or whose housing-related businesses were tanking.

The Ten of Cups, on the other hand, may speak more to the emotional dynamics of a happy home. Often, for me, the Ten of Cups speaks of true love, romance and marriage. Certainly, an actual house can often be part of that scenario, but not necessarily the focus of the card’s energy. There is a fairy-tale quality to the Ten of Cups, promising the possibility of living happily ever after.

Overall, in my tarot practice, the Ten of Cups speaks more of the emotions of the family, while the Ten of Pentacles speaks more of the structure of the family.  The Ten of Cups speaks of immediate nuclear family, while the Ten of Pentacles speak of many generations of family. Both astrologically and elementally, there are clear reasons for this to be so.

When these two cards appear together, the focus on family can be the most important aspect of the reading.

Three Tarot Cards that Help us Look to the Past

I was speaking with someone recently who told me that he never looks back, because Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. To him, that means when we look to our past we are in danger of becoming bitter.

I was refreshed to find someone quoting the Bible who understands metaphors and doesn’t believe that it is literally possible for a person to turn into an actual pillar of salt. However, I have to say I disagree with my friend’s sentiment about looking to the past.

I think it is important to look to the past, to honor the past and to learn from the past. Certainly we can’t dwell in the past, nor long for the past. But if we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it. If we forget the past, we forget who we are.

There is a lot in tarot, and in the process of tarot reading, that involves looking at the past. We look to the past to learn about ourselves, and why we do the things we do. We look to the past to find our identity.

In a reading, many tarot spreads have a “past” position, and sometimes a “foundation” position. A reader looks to these positions to see what has set the stage for the current situation.

Here are three tarot cards that often speak specifically of the past, and our ways of dealing with what has come before.

1. The Six of Cups

   The Six of Cups is the card of nostalgia and childhood memories. The Six of Cups may predict or encourage reunions with family members and childhood friends. The Six of Cups reminds us of our history, and the way we honor our history. The Six of Cups expresses a feeling of familiarity that comes when we feel comfortable with someone.

2. The Ten of Pentacles

   The Ten of Pentacles is the “Castle” card, and can often refer to real estate, and family matters. The Ten of Pentacles is the card of ancestry and legacy. With the Ten of Pentacles, we consider what we have inherited and learned from the prior generation.

3. Judgement

   Judgement is the card of the Christian Judgement Day. Judgement speaks of something coming to final closure. With Judgement, we evaluate the past, learn from it and release it, in order to be reborn to something new.

Pentacles: The Fruits of Harvest

Welcome to the Lammas Tarot Blog Hop.

Perhaps you are joining me from Koneta's New Paths Tarot site.

After you finish here, please hop over to Melanie Howard's Wayward Tarot.

If you find breaks in the links, please visit the master list.

If you are joining me directly, you may be wondering what the Tarot Bog Hop is! Eight times a year, tarot bloggers agree to post at the same time on the same topic. This time we have thirty-seven tarot bloggers all blogging on the topic of the tarot suit of Pentacles, in honor of the harvest theme of Lammas. Thanks to our wrangler, Kareena Narwani, for coming up with such a great topic, and for doing all the work it takes to make this happen!

On the Pagan Wheel of the Year, August First is celebrated as Lughnassad, or Lammas. This is the cross-quarter day between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. Many people celebrate it as the first of three harvest festivals. The second harvest is Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, and the final harvest is Samhain, known secularly as Halloween.

Especially exciting this year is that on August First the moon is coming into its fullness. And, this August brings us a blue moon on the 31^st. My fellow Grateful Dead devotees know August 1 as the beginning of “Jerry Week.” August First is Jerry Garcia’s birthday. This year would have been his seventieth. This Lughnassad there is a great deal to celebrate and commemorate. Normally, I would want to conduct a very special ritual today.

Instead, what I am doing is finishing up the move that takes us from a condo in a city into a tiny home in a South Florida campground. The home was in serious disrepair when we bought it. We have spent the past few months repairing and replacing, putting up walls and ceilings, choosing colors and treatments and imagining what our home will be like when it’s finished. It is a harvest of a different sort; not of food but of home.

Campground living was why we moved to Florida in the first place. Finding the right campground turned out to be a bit tricky. Nonetheless, here we are, on Full-Moon-Lughnassad-Lammas, moving into a home that we have practically crafted with our own hands. What could be more fitting for a full moon harvest celebration than this?

The assignment for the Lammas Tarot Blog Hop is for each of us to consider the suit of Pentacles, and find the card that we connect with most as this time.

I love to think about the suit of Pentacles in terms of its Earth energy. I am often dismayed when tarotists describe the “Earth” tarot suit as simply being all about the money. For me, the suit of Pentacles is about resources of all kinds, and about our sacred connection to the Earth that sustains us.

Within the suit of Pentacles, we see lessons about sharing resources in cards four, five and six. We see career lessons of hard work, study and creativity in cards two, three, seven and eight. We honor our ancestry in cards nine and ten. The suit of Pentacles contains everything we need to wisely manage our resources.

The Pentacles card I am focusing on today is the Ten of Pentacles. This is the card that speaks to me most clearly of “home.”  Traditionally, this is the “castle” card. In modern times we see it as the card of real estate.

It’s funny how one person’s castle is another person’s shack. Many people would prefer a luxury condo, or a large house in a gated community. We are happier living in a more sustainable way, using fewer of the Earth’s resources and spending more time in nature. For me, sustainability is one of the essential lessons of the suit of Pentacles.

In the RWS depiction, the ten pentacles are arranged to form the Kabalistic Tree of Life. In that, we see our spiritual heritage, and perhaps, the spiritual heritage of tarot.

The Ten of Pentacles is about ancestry, heritage and legacy. It is about the security of home and family. The Ten of Pentacles teaches us to honor what has come before, and to consider what we will leave to the next generation. It assures us we will have all the resources we need.

Today, I will use the Ten of Pentacles to perform some tarot magick for our new home.

May the energy of the Ten of Pentacles bestow to our home a welcoming environment for our grown-up children, beckoning them to visit for family gatherings. May it be a place for us to nurture our health, our business and our creativity. May we have all the resources we need to maintain this home. May it provide us a sense of security. May we dwell here in peace, happiness, health and prosperity.

Happy Lammas, Lughnassad, Jerry Week and full moon to all. May the blessings of the Ten of Pentacles be yours, now and always.

Now follow the blog hop over to Melanie Howard's site, and see what she has to say about Pentacles: The Fruits of Harvest!