Cups were the overwhelming winner of my social media poll on where to start my pandemic lecture series: Tarot Treks. I think it’s because, to quote President Camacho from Idiocracy, “I understand everyone’s shit’s emotional right now.” I don’t blame you. I’ve been emotional too. Pandemics suck, but I’m all for flattening the curve for the heroes of healthcare, and because it’s the right thing to do. Stay healthy. Wash your hands. Speaking of water…
Cups = Water
The cups as a suit are associated with the element water and the zodiac signs Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Water represents emotion, communication, intuition, spirit/spirituality, and creative flow. In the Rider Waite Smith imagery, which I will primarily be using, every card in which you see water will have an emotional element to it. Is the water calm and serene? Is it choppy and rocky? Is there rain or a storm? Water in a card can be a sign to check in with your emotions, feelings, or intuition. That’s not to say you won’t feel emotions if, say, the Devil pops up, but the water imagery is there for a reason. And that reason is big feels.
Picture This
I had a friend 15 years ago who asked me to picture and describe a body of water. Take a moment and do that right now. I’ll wait…
I visualized a stormy sea with high waves and lightning flashing. My friend told me that whatever you pictured was representative of how your relationship(s) are going right now. I was pissed, but he was right. My relationship at the time was a GD tempest. High emotions, broken communication, and it made me anxious. I hope whatever you pictured today was more calm and peaceful, but that’s the cups. All the emotions. Gross.
Light and Shadow
On the lighter side, the cups are creativity, fantasy, loving, healing, cleansing, purifying, and adaptable. Their shadow side is irrational, manipulative, dispassionate, moody, temperamental, unrealistic, and unexpressive. It’s all about balance in the end. Water is life. No water means you die. Too much water means you die, and while too much or too little emotion may not kill you, it could drive people away.
The trek through the cups will be a trek through your emotions. There will be ups, there will be downs, but hopefully by the end you’ll have the tools to pinpoint your feelings when cups come up in your readings.