The Suits in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot; Part 3: The Cups

Part 3: The Cups

CUPS

This is the suit for me that always blows my mind.  The elemental association is water and water is indicative of movement, change and impermanence.  The Cups also represent emotion; love, sadness, hatred, and all that lies in between.  In classical mythology, the Goddess Psyche was representative of the Human Soul whose form was that of a beautiful woman.  Psyche was loved and adored by Eros, who was the God of Love and is often depicted as Cupid.  The Tarot cross-references this myth by illustrating the magnitude of emotion experienced by Psyche (The Soul) while enveloped by the support of Eros (Love).  This is emblematically important: what fills the Cup is emotion, in this case love, but it can be any emotion depending upon the Querrent and what the nature of the other cards in the spread are, but the Cups represent our human soul.  As I stated previously, the elemental correspondence is water, and while water is usually fluid it can take on other forms as well: steamy, icy or frigid, taking the form of what ever the prevailing emotion is.  The Zodiacs that represent the Cups are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces and people who are born under these signs tend to have heightened emotions.  The Cups are female and righteously so, as women tend to be more connected to their emotions.  Directionally the Cups are in the west and they are associated with autumn.  Cups can mean a multitude of things when they come up in a reading, keeping in mind that our soul is capable of tremendous expression, at times leaving us feeling over-whelmed or feeling as though we are seated upon a throne at infinite heights…but the water can always change its direction, just as our own human emotions can…and do!

Lord Byron: Life’s enchanted cup sparkles near the brim.

 

The Tarot can be an insightful tool.  For those of you who would like to pursue it further I would suggest the Albano-Waite deck.  This deck uses the same original art work but Frankie Albano uses a brighter color scheme and the card depictions truly jump out at you.