Rider Waite Suit of Cups – aka Chalices
January 2021 Journal Entries
Ace of Cups
I like this card. The same hand as in the Ace of Wands this time holds his/her palm out making the base of a fountain with the cup with an upside down W, a Celtic cross (?) and an upside dove. There are water lilies in a pond or lake. The same billowing this time looks more like a pillowy sleeve.
Reversed: Upside down this looks like the hand is emptying the cup even though the water flows upward and dove is the base
Dusty: Hand of God emerging from a CLOUD
The dove is dipping a Catholic communion wafer into the water!
Water droplets shaped like the Hebrew yod
Hod: (lit. “splendor”); the fifth of the seven Divine middot, or attributes, and of their corresponding mortal middot, or spiritual emotions
Reversed – Separation, trouble in paradise, bitterness, rejection, infidelity
Dusty – new beginnings – reversed – depression, unhappiness, malaise
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Two of Cups – Looks like a devoted couple getting married or renewing vows but the burnt orange winged lion head looks ominous as it is inserted into the snaked caduceus. Just had to admit I really am not into symbols despite collecting them over the years and reading Manly P. Hall, they just do not resonate.
Both the woman and the man are wearing wreaths. I think the lady has laurel and the man roses. The man appears to be reaching for the lady’s cup and not her hand.
I like her blue cape over her white gown. He’s in yellow with black. A pretty house is on a small hill nestled in the trees – looks like you’d see out here in the West because the rest of the landscape is barren. I feel like I could go up and ask them the wreaths. They feel like friends.
Reversed once again got that shiver up my spine. UNHAPPINESS, foreboding. Do not like this card reversed.
Dusty – TANTRIC union! Wow didn’t see that coming.
“Use this card in your meditations to attract the right person for you.”
Successful contract signings in business
Physical manifestation of the concept of he THE LOVERS
Reversed – separation, two people refusing to hear each other out, if coupled with the Three of Swords = infidelity
Three of Cups feels like the 3 Fates or 3 of any kind of archetype goddess celebrating with immense joy – a victory? Dancing amongst bounty of riches. Great health and youth.
Reversed I don’t feel that ick feeling at all. Something about the cups as bells instead of emptying. Over indulgence?
Dusty – pregnancy, recovery from an illness, good things to come
Reversed – “If you draw this card reversed, simply place it back in the deck and raw another!”
DEEP UNHAPPINESS BROUGHT ON BY SOLITUDE!
Hedonism, alcoholism, drug addiction, withdrawal from society!
Four of Cups reminds me Siddharta Gautama sitting under the Bodhi tree except that this looks like an oak. The man’s arms are crossed instead of sitting in Sadhana. He might be dozing off and the hand of god is offering the Holy Grail? The three cups to the side of the front are odd. It looks like his one foot is pouring into the one cup.
I get a good feeling and this is one character that I actually would approach and talk to.
I’d ask who he is and what he has learned.
Reversed: This haunts me – reminds me too much of the hanged man with the crossed leg and the tree and the hand of god looks ominous
Dusty – Some men you just can’t reach – immovable object
Malcontent – Dusty writes the man is discontented
Disappointed in life despite having everything handed to him
Refusal to listen
Reversed – coming out of one’s shell, ending of hiding away from the world
I got a completely different read on this card
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11:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Five of Cups
Stopped to watch Capitol building “riot” – fast forward two years into 2023. The news is just so strange.
9:42 a.m., Thursday, January 7, 2021
Five of Cups – horribly depressing. Three cups are on the ground to the left and two are upright behind the man. The man’s hair is graying and his head is bent and he’s hunched over as if in despair. The river with the bridge and the building on the other side look okay but the sky is grey. I would be hesitant to interrupt this man in what appears to be grief or despair. His cloke just hangs and he looks very thin.
Reversed – YIKES upside down the card looks even worse – dreadful heaviness
Dusty – not a total loss but it entails emotional despair and a need for support and healing
Reversed – recovering from distant wounds and pain – recovering alcoholic (how interesting). Time to forget the past and take positive action
Six of Cups – this card is overwhelming in its bounty and happiness. An old stout lady wearing mittens is looking up at a “jester”? handing her a huge cup that is almost the same size as the lady. Another huge cup is on a podium with an x. A town with huge house is nearby. A man with a spear is walking towards the three story building or square turret.
Reversed – Not sure how I feel. Too much imagery.
Dusty – Ah Dusty writes strangely dressed boy – with a little girl with a guard in the rear
One of the few cards that depict children
Giving without expectation, machination
Reversed – longing for everything, STRESS, lack of close, deep relationships
Seven of Cups – this is a very creepy card. Is the man in black dead and seeing a vision in the clouds? One cup has a head, the middle has a cloth with red fringe like an aura around it, a snake in the next cup over is leaning over onto the fringe, a castle is in one, jewels in the next, a laurel wreath next to that with a dragon menacing in the far right. All of the cups are aloft in a grey cloud. The man’s hand is black like his clothes and he looks stunned.
Reversed – Upside down it just looks awful. Get a sick feeling.
Dusty – man is surprised (so I got that right)
The items in the cups
Beauty (spouse)
Mystery
Knowledge
Glory
Power
Fame
Wealth
Each is a temptation
Opportunities and possibilities but you must choose quickly and wisely
Reversed – indecision, paralyzed by the inability to choose, lack of focus
Eight of Cups – I remember Dusty in the online class discussing this card. Sun/Moon combined in the sky. Mountains and a river coursing through rocky landscape. It looks like he’s looking either at the moon/sun or the river. He’s leaning a bit on his walking stick. The cups are stacked like a wall on the bank of the river behind him.
Reversed – Upside down it looks chaotic but the sun/moon still hangs in the blue sky
Dusty – Move across state, country, relocation, travel over land
Reversed – inability to leave a bad situation, imprisonment, situational mess
Nine of Cups – This card gives me a creepy feeling of having to go to a pawn shop or money lender!
The man is a bit heavier than the average man in the 15th century. He gives me the feeling of someone from the Middle East as his skin is dark. He sits with his arms folded in front of great wealth taunting me to ask him for a dime. Legs spread two in a taunt.
OMG Reversed I want to cower! Now the gold cups and yellow ceiling looks like it’s all come to disaster. Moment before an earthquake?
Dusty – Fabled “wish card”.
Reversed – “too much of a good thing can be bad”, Beware sugar crash, unfulfilled wishes and dreams
Ten of Cups – Incredibly happy couple of their two children have arrived at a great farm or small estate. The lady’s blue dress ends in red which is odd. The man has his arm around her waist and both are reaching out in joy. The children are dancing in joy. Blue sky and the cups are in an arch over their heads as if God was blessing everything in their lives
Reversed – Everything falls down but the arch might be a safety net
Dusty – Personal rainbow – cottage estate, couple from Two of Cups have successfully married and had children and bought a fabulous home. No extravagant displays of wealth but a happy family
Reversed – broken dreams, illusion of happiness, disruption of the home, loss of security
Page of Cups – This is the card that showed up several times in my readings in December
Dandy? In a blue hat/scarf gazes at a blue fish that seems to talk to him. Tulips? On the tunic. Waves on a beach are in the background but the sky is gray. Man does not even seem startled to be talking to a fish.
Reversed – the hat now looks ominous and the fish looks frightened. The waves now have the feeling of a tsunami
Dusty – Pages have numerous meanings. Good news.
Reversed – lack of creativity, depression, anxiety, hearing voices in one’s head
Knight of Cups – This card reminds me immediately of King Arthur confidently riding towards Camelot that might be on the cliff but we can’t see it. Mighty horse. Wings on the helmet
He sits ram rod straight as the horse is in a dressage trot with the horse’s head pulled towards its knee. The foot in the blue sabaton or solleret looks like a really skilled rider’s foot.
Reversed – This doesn’t give off a negative vibe. I’m not sure how I feel about the card upside down.
Dusty – reining in the horse so tightly it can’t lift its head – young man with the ability to focus or obsess completely on a task at hand. Keeping drive and emotions in check. Enter into any relationship slowly with caution
Reversed – obsessive, jealous man RULED by his emotions. Generally unreliable and dishonest.
Queen of Cups – angry looking woman glaring at elaborate cup with angels flanking each side of the cup, cherubs are on the top of the throne. Her feet seem to be on piles of colorful pebbles on a the beach of a river or the ocean with cliffs in the background. A strange looking cherub is in the base of the throne.
Reversed – HEADACHE, burdens are too heavy
Dusty – this cup is the most intricate in the Tarot
Emotionally sensitive woman, usually gifted with some sort of psychic ability or creative talent!
Reversed – woman whose emotions get out of hand
King of Cups – I do not like this man. Stern, unapproachable, one foot is on the edge of the throne dais which looks like it’s anchored in the midst of a rough sea. He has a fish clasp.
Reversed – Like other cards, upside down this gives me a headache. Heaviness
Friday, January 8, 2021
Dusty – page 174. “Behind those eyes rage a storm of emotion”. Supportive man with good character.
Reversed – Shifty devil. His wood is not to be trusted. Potential alcohol and drug abuse. Emotionally unstable.
STORY TIME
Long ago and far away, the God of Wind held a chalice in the palm of his hand as it overflows. A dove dips a communion wafer into the fountain. The blessed water of life flows down into the lake filled with lotus pads. Eons later, a man and a woman exchange vows in a valley underneath a winged lion head and two live snakes forming the caduceus of Hermes, the god of merchants. The happy union of the two leads to much merriment and three daughters who dance with great joy every harvest season. A son, in contrast, sits alone morose and unsatisfied with his lot in life. The God of Wind holds out a smaller chalice, but the son is too depressed to notice. As he ages, he succumbs to depression and self loathing as all of his riches were squandered. Meanwhile, the children of the daughters have inherited a lovely home and share gifts with each other. The son re-emerges from his depression and is tempted by all that life has to offer yet he cannot chose. Eventually, he gives up and leaves it all behind to go on a journey into the wilderness.
The grandfather is now a banker who hordes the wealth his son should have gotten. He makes loans to the less fortunate and takes great delight in his wealth. The grandchildren of the three happy daughters have now grown and gotten married and are raising happy children. They are very grateful for their good fortune and shout out their praise as they glorify all that they have. But the malise passes on to a grandson who ends up talking to a magical fish. The fish instructs the lad to become a knight and seek his fortune in far away lands for a queen that broods and a king who has become enchanted by the same fish so much so that his every thought is dictated by the fish!
For FURTHER READING
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/making-the-tarot-literary-again
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