Life Lessons: 10 of Cups
In readiness for Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be romantic to ask my husband to pull a Card from The Heart Tarot by Maria Distefano, a whimsical heart shaped deck which celebrates love. He asked what I could do to make our marriage even better this year. He pulled the Three of Swords. Well, that made for very interesting reading. So interesting it ran way too long for TABI Tracker, and instead can be found on the TABI Blog here: Life Lessons: 3 of Swords
So I pulled another card, asking the same question, and my heart fluttered with joy as the 10 of Cups emerged, like a butterfly from its cocoon. Indeed, a butterfly adorns the heart of this card, signifying transformation and freedom. She flutters over a field of red tulips, which put us in mind of floating hearts, teasing a young gnome who stretches out his hand to tempt her close. An apparently unlikely pairing; resonant of Belle and The Beast, a union of hearts and minds, rather than one of materialism and vanity.
He stands on the edge of a still pond, which reflects the stems set against a backdrop which seems to be a curtain, creating a serene, protected feeling to the whole scene. When I usually think of the Ten of Hearts, I imagine rainbows and happiness, of spreading the joy, of singing praises out loud, hand in hand with the love of our life. This card feels more like snuggling up under a soft blanket and relaxing. There is a gentle meditative feeling to it.
It sets me in mind of when I was in the Brownie Guides, and I took my promise. Standing in a tight ring around a still pond made of tin foil, we would all chant the riddle “Twist me and turn me, and show me the elf, I looked in the pond and there saw……”. The naughty children had asked was who was the mysterious little Brownie who kept coming to clean up the mess they kept making. They were told to say this rhyme and look in the pond. And so I start to look for the answers…. and of course 35 years later I realise how true this is. The answers are indeed inside…. “MYSELF!”
So, when I pair this card with the question I asked, I feel drawn to reflect upon my peaceful qualities of love, support and nurture; and am reminded that I should be the one to bring them into play if this is what I wish to see in my marriage. I am reminded that relationships aren’t traps where we are kept in cages, gilded or otherwise, and expected to sing or clean on command. No, marriage is a unity of souls, and each soul should keep returning to the other because they are drawn. Because they are tempted by curiosity and by desire. Like the Emperor who released his Nightingale, we learn that being together is most rewarding when both parties have their freedom, so that we choose to be together.
We can only BE happy NOW. If we live in the day, let go of resentments about yesterday and fears about tomorrow, then we can choose each day to be with the one we love. And when we do that, we remember that it is for each of us to entice our loved one to stay in our arms; we cannot tie them to us, any more than we ourselves would wish to be tethered against our will.
Heart Tarot: a Lo Scarrabeo deck by Maria Distefano
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