What is happiness?

in Tarot it’s the Ten of Cups!

The first thing I always say on seeing the ten of cups in a tarot reading is ‘happy families….emotional fulfilment for yourself and others’ which is a bit of a catch all phrase, today I found myself thinking, actually what does that really mean?

The ten of cups came up as my ‘best course of action’ in a tarot reading last week and in a reading with a client yesterday, hence deciding to write about it for the blog starting with doing a little word association. And a bit of googling.

the Ten of Cups playing with word association.

I’m sorry everyone, I keep missing an essential point.  This card is not literally about happy families, it’s about what happy families represent, happiness yes, but more essentially a happy home.  This card is actually about coming ‘home’ to our heart where we feel emotionally complete.

No 10 in the cup suit says we've completed the journey of the cup suit from the first release of emotion and heart opening to fulfilment. Where our emotional happiness is not just about ourselves but about the love and connection we feel for others and the world. At the ten level we feel complete. There is joy and harmony.

Happiness in Meri’s eyes is the fun of not letting you have her ball

I find it quite telling that I am writing about the ten of cups for the first time today.  There must be other cards in the 78 deck that I haven’t written about?  Perhaps this card hasn’t resonated before because I don’t have my own family, I’m not married and don’t have children, and my birth family, two sisters and parents long dead have never really fitted the happy family mold. Rather it represented all the complications, hurts, disappointment, conflict that come with many relationships and families. 

Descriptions of the ten of cups…..

But I like the advice.  Come home to my heart.   Where I feel acceptance and gratitude and peace.  A sense of homecoming and safety. A sense of appreciation, kindness, gentleness, joy, of fulfilment perhaps, pervade. So as advice, return to this heart energy to find happiness, to what makes you feel fulfilled.

I suppose a question to ask ourselves is.

What is happiness to you?

What does happiness feel like?

I know for me it is a feeling primarily of just feeling relaxed peaceful and appreciative. Relaxed enough when I can feel my mouth soften into more of a smile, when all the pushing, anticipating, fearing, wanting, trying, achieving relaxes and I feel, safe enough to be present to contentment….a peaceful joyful heart where all is well. Typically it doesn’t actually come from loving others and being loved but more walking barefoot in the park and marvelling at all around me, the birdsong, my body feeling loose and limber, the soles of my feet on the ground, and that delicious cup of coffee that starts off the day. When I take the pressure off doing anything except ‘being in this moment’ I feel sweeter kinder gentler and all is well.

Does this count as fulfilment I wonder? (topic for another blog!)

Do come and have a tarot reading with me online and we can explore what happiness is for you and how to be it!