Heart’s home

This card has been illustrated in many different ways. A group of friends gathered by the sea, feet all together in the water. A happy family with a pretty cottage. A rainbow. A circus. A Pride parade. A ceremonial dinner.

What they have in common is that they are all imbued with a sense of homecoming. This is the final card in the cups sequence, and it shows us what the complete fulfilment of this suit looks like. Our heart come home. We know who we are, where we are, why we are here (or we are joyfully surrendered to the mystery). We are loved and supported. We have the love that we need.

Home can mean so many things to so many people. As this is a cups card (rather than pentacles), we are talking about spiritual home, emotional home, rather than bricks and mortar – though a physical home can definitely be a part of this picture. Home is arriving at a place where we feel happy, where we accept ourselves, where we give and receive love. For some this may be easy to find and manifest, we may even be born into this feeling of security. Others may search long and hard to find a ‘family’ or a place of peace and acceptance.

As a ten, this shows us the completion of another of life’s cycles. It is the closing of a time of heart-focused, deep work, so that a new energy can move in. The heart has learned so much, and it’s now time for a shift to take place.

In a reading…

The Ten of Cups may appear as a simple celebration. If you’re feeling great just now, then this card is another friend, clinking a glass. It wants you to pause and honour the good things in your life, and really enjoy this moment.

Embrace the people around you who you love. Practice acts of kindness. Reach out. Remember all of the loving acts we’ve seen in this suit – the vulnerability, the generosity, the trust – and know that this card is the culmination of all of that, along with the hard things, too, that grief and loss, those times of feeling stuck. It’s all there. You are strong and brave and you know yourself well. This is a moment to feel really proud and at home in your own life.

What does ‘home’ mean to you? What does it feel like? Who and what is there? The Ten of Cups is all about your personal vision of fulfilment, and helping you to move towards that vision in your real life. It wants you to be happy! And the first thing to think about is what happiness actually looks like, for you.

This card can point to a person who feels tied to someone else’s vision of happiness. Society has many ways of presenting us with ‘ideals’ – these rigid moulds are not comfortable for everyone. The Ten of Cups then emphasises the need to acknowledge the ways you are coerced into this mould, and to commit to defining your own idea of happiness, ultimately to break free. You cannot be truly fulfilled if you are living someone else’s version of your life.

As always with the tens, know that this is the completion of something, that things are about to change. That doesn’t mean everything is about to fall apart! Only that this moment is the culmination of a lot of emotional work. Your heart has been on a huge journey and you’ve learned so much. Look upon it all and embrace who you are. Be proud. Soon it will be time to switch up the energy so as to go on a different kind of adventure.