3 of Cups

Jean Dodal Tarot, Flornoy 2009 

Well, this is unexpected, especially after the 10 of Batons day I had yesterday. I won't go into it except to say, it did turn out to feel like a tremendous burden, but there was an ally who told me not to worry. (Fat chance!)

'Three shows things growing,' Dawn Jackson's saying goes, but as Camelia Elias points out in Marseille Tarot: Towards the Art of Reading, it can be growing in increments, or it can be diffusing. Three flowers growing in a tight bunch can be something of a bouquet, but three flowers spread across an entire lawn just looks a bit messy. With a three, you either focus, or you scatter.

The playing card, 3 of Hearts, can mean either love and happiness growing, or emotional problems and inability to decide who or what to love.  (I saw this meaning repeated in several places online, so it must ring true for a variety of bloggers).  The three 'shows us a fork in the road. We must choose which path to take. Negatively speaking, the three symbolises uncertainty and confusion. Positively, the three means entertainment and 'right choice'. We must be optimistic and above all have faith' (Metasymbology).

What do I see here? It's hard to forget the three sisters (I think of them as sisters) carousing in the RWS image. But if we look at what's here in the Dodal image, there are some cues to springboard from. We do see a single cup followed by two cups, and there is  sense of growth in that. We also see that the cups are separated by vines and leaves, and there is a sense of dispersion in that. I also see that underneath the top cup there is a spiky red shape that reminds me of flames. How very curious. What's putting that cup's feet to the fire? There could be fruit for interpretation there, depending on the question and the intuition of the reader in the moment of the reading...

For me, I'm seeing more the separate between the cups than the unity today. To me, it looks like two against one. Two what against one what, though? Don't know yet. :)

One more thing I have lived through

 Of course there are times in our lives when we think, 'What could there possibly be to celebrate?' It's the worst thing that's ever happened to us, or so we feel at that time, and the very idea of seeing any sort of bright side seems like a betrayal of our own suffering. And yet today we see Three of Chalices from Sirian Starseed Tarot (Cori, 2012).

Three frosted wine glasses with golden stems float above the surf on a beach. In the background, superimposed on the sky, three little girls with garlands of flowers huddle with their heads together, giggling. They look (disturbingly, in this instance) like members of a wedding party.

According to the LWB, this key (that's what Cori calls the majors) is about friendship and the celebration of unconditional love. It reminds me that from all over the world online and in my real life, too, people have been reaching out to me in concern, asking what's wrong, and extending their well wishes. All of this positive being sent to me can only be helping me to heal and find my feet. I appreciate it more than you know.

'The three opens to the celebration of what comes from sharing emotionally and spiritually with others -- without limitation.' ~ Cori, LWB

Openness is a pivotal part of what has been happening to me lately. Sharing everything without limitation is the only way that my current situation is going to be resolved, or that those of us involved can possibly heal and move forward. We have to be able to share our thoughts and feelings, and most importantly, be able to teach each what we need from the other. It's crucial.

The Indigo Angel card for the day:

'This card reminds you that life will continue long after you've gotten through this challenge and forgotten all about it. The angels ask you to concentrate on the good things in your life and see beyond whatever is going on around you.' 

There will never be a time when I will have 'forgotten all about' this. But if I can release the pain enough in this moment, I can see that there will be a time when it feels like and is a distant memory. It will feel like something that happened to someone else, a story that I was told. (That's the way all my other traumas that are now in the past feel to me, so I am sure that will be the case for this one, too.) 

I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that one day this will all be in the past, just one more thing I have lived through. 

Full Moon in Aries Emperor Reading

                               1. How am I an Emperor?
                               2. How am I not an Emperor?
                               3. Where do I need to take charge?
                               4. What will help me do that?
                               5. How am I weak?
                               6. How am I strong?

I really don't think I like this reading at all--and it is those uncomfortable readings that we need to pay most attention to. This one has brought up some of my shadow aspects, things about myself I don't like to look at.

Summer Solstice Reading 2014

This is my summer solstice spread for 2014. I shuffled the cards very well and laughed when I drew the Sun as the first card.

1. Sunrise - What is beginning in my life? - Sun
2. High noon - What is my greatest power right now? What should be my sharpest focus? - Dreamer Two (2 of Swords)
3. What is winding down in my life right now? - Justice
4. What is under the surface, at rest for the moment? - Dancer Three (3 of Cups)

Sunrise
I'm entering a new phase of optimism, success and achievement in my life. The figure in the Sun card beckons directly to the viewer to join hands and dance around the hill, which resembles Glastonbury Tor, topped by a tree framed by the sun, which is also the faery glyph. The little butterfly fluttering between us and the figure is a symbol of rebirth. It is also me, freshly emerged from my chrysalis, seeing everything with new eyes. Can you imagine what it would be like to be fresh born, looking around for the first time, feeling yourself moving for the first time, and the first sight you see is this scene? Nothing but joy and wonder would ever have been your portion. You emerge from your shell to go directly upward toward bliss. My, my.

 The sun in the card shows its great power, as it is the source of all life after all. The sidhe join hands and progress up the hill in a snake-like procession, toward the Source and the Tree of Life. This is kundalini rising, it is enlightenment of a kind. The upward spiral image is used to characterise kundalini and the awakening of bliss. Eion Finn refers to joy as an 'upward spiral.' We know that life itself is an upward spiral, we can see it in the form of the double helix of DNA. We see here in the card, the bottom of the card is somewhat murky in colour, though creatures of flight abound - birds, fluttering bugs and butterflies of various types. There are also some rounded objects in the two lower corners that look like geodes, a word that itself means 'earth-like'. The red-haired sidhe beckons me to join the creatures of the earth in a spiral dance into the greenness of life, upward, to return to source, to return to the True Self.

The card does not point to specific events necessarily, but an overall feeling of happiness and radiance. It is the start of my time to shine. Combined with the other cards, it suggests ways to gain in self-confidence and personal power, and that success and hope are on the rise. I can see many connections to my spiritual practice, my yoga practice, and the direction I hope to move my life.  All this is in the sunrise phase of the 'day'.

High Noon
At its zenith right now in my life is Dreamer Two, 2 of Swords, titled 'Half-Moon Truce'. The card shows a purply-bluey sky dominated by a huge circle, half black and half white, containing the ghostly face of a sidhe. It is ephemeral; there are wisps around the circle suggesting it may have suddenly appeared, and may be going into and out of focus. At the bottom of the card, the yellowing of the sky above two mountain peaks, in swirls of clouds, and hanging between earth and sky is a magpie, its wings outstretched. With its black and white colouring, the magpie represents duality in some ways. In folklore, the magpie can represent risk-taking, as its dual colours suggest both good and bad. Magpies are courageous, daredevil birds, they have amongst the most complicated of bird vocabularies, and they are notoriously attracted to shiny objects. All of these help us to see the sorts of things represented by the black and white moon - decisions, decisions. Do I dare to take a risk? Do I dare to speak my truth? Do I dare to go for the shiny objects?

Called 'Half-Moon Truce,' this card actually represent the pause between decisions. It is the moment of drawing breath between having an idea and speaking it into the world. We know that words make manifest. The moon is the silence of the heart, the mountains the resolution of the spirit, the magpie, then, would be the speaker of the magic. So all the swirling around the moon becomes the breath that gives life to the words.

In Dreamer Two, none of this has happened yet. It is the moment between initial foment and subsequent action. It is the balance that cannot last, it is like a rock that has been pushed up to the pointy top of a precipice, where it pauses, filled with potential energy, before either rolling back or teetering over and down the other side of the hill. It cannot just sit there forever. Natural laws will not allow it. Spiritually and mentally however, we can prolong this moment through hesitance to move either way. This is one reason why the woman in the traditional RWS image wears a blindfold and is seated in the non-land at the edge of water ('between the salt water and the sea strand', as Simon and Garfunkel call it, a non-place). One message of this card is that you cannot sit in this non-place forever. The moon in the card cannot stay half black and half white forever. The magpie cannot hover with outspread wings forever. Even the mountains will not endure forever!

So what is at its greatest power right now, what should be in sharpest focus in my life right now?  I am at the crossroads of possibility, the state between changed states -- and my greatest power is in being able to see with clarity, by looking inward, where I've come from and where I want to go. There are many decisions that must be made, but the card suggests that now I am at my greatest potential for making them.

Sunset 
The time for balance is over. The previous card just talked about how a balance act can't last forever. And then to represent what is on the wane, we see a card which represents a balancing act that lasts forever. In the sky of the card we see a sun and a moon side by side, the clouds around them forming the lemniscat of infinity. The green-haired sidhe, wearing a fetching red leotard, balances on the tips of the fingers of both hands on the handle of a glowing sword, which stands on its tippy-tip in the centre of a spiral, which is of course a faery glyph. The hair of the sidhe spills down from her head, forming the earth and the spiral, which actually looks like it could be the surface of a small pool of water. Here we have day and night, sun and moon, light and darkness, earth and sky, rock and water, and the flashing colours of green and red. The balancing sidhe can clearly maintain this pose forever. She herself is part of the landscape she balances on. It's all connected.

 However, the Justice card isn't about rock solid stability. Even this highly skilled, amazing strong sidhe cannot maintain such a posture like a marble statue. The balance requires continuous tiny adjustments to maintain the equilibrium to allow her to stay there in that position, which may vary in tiny degrees moment to moment, but which, overall, always appears the same. Look very close and you will see all the tiny tremours and miniscule movements of muscle that allow her to maintain the pose. (Just like in yoga.)

My time of 'continuous tiny adjustments' to maintain my status quo is now on the wane. It's on the way out. The time of tiny adjustments to keep everything looking the same is over! In conjunction with the previous Dreamer Two, the message is clear. Change is about to happen, based on decisions that I make. And because 'adjustment' is on the way out, making these decisions is something I can't avoid. Or even if I do avoid them, refuse to make them, change is going to happen. It's going to happen.

Night
Dancer Three or 3 of Cups is the card of celebrations, parties, festivities, community, lightness and joy. And this is dormant right now. Oh yes, I can certainly see that. We can safely say that I haven't felt like these water nymph type sidhe, frolicking together in the warm sea under the radiance of the full moon. I have felt isolated, agitated, and in many ways hopeless and directionless. Perhaps not hopeless, but certainly I have had no joy in community of any kind to speak of for many, many weeks. And in fact, this aspect of life is still dormant for me right now -- but there's one good thing about night. It doesn't last forever. If something is in the darkness of night, there is a clear implication that it will eventually see the light of day. If something is asleep, it will wake up.

And actually, I do have several social engagements lined up in the near future, and of course a big cause celebre is the end of this secondment, which is the main source of my feelings of isolation and unhappiness lately.

Advice
I decided after all this to draw one last card, asking for advice. How do I move more fully into the sun? How do I make the best of the Half-Moon Truce? What is the recommended action?

Girl talk

Shining Tribe Tarot, Pollack 2001 

You know, I suspected what this card was about before I read the companion book. Look at it. Starting from the top, a spiral oozing red. Then three downward pointing triangles (female symbols) trailing red into a vessel decorated with a green spiral and a band of red. As if that weren't clear enough, the top triangle is decorated with a 'tree' with curiously hairlike leaves and a red slit for a knothole. The others contain a red triskele and a sliced-open pomegranate.

The imagery is all about a particular monthly occurrence in most women's lives. More than that, it's about how we oddly get in sync with each other when we spend enough time together. And thus we arrive at the same meaning as the RWS 3 of Cups - albeit by way of much earthier imagery.

'This card's meanings reach beyond that specific subject to the idea of deep harmony between people, men as well as women. The card carries special meaning for spiritual work that people do together, in particular, ritual,' writes Pollack in the companion book.

There's only one person I share that close a bond with, but ht is is a daily draw and it's good to remember that daily draws should probably remain on the light side. So I think perhaps this is pointing to the 'sort-of' bond being formed in my current workplace. It's nice to have someone I can talk to now and then. On the other hand, she went home with a migraine yesterday, so she may not be at work today. Where's the calendar?

What are you three staring at?

Oh, another watery card from Morgan Greer tarot--though there's no actual water in sight. This card reminds me of the Stepford Wives, those beautiful women with their vacant stares. Here the three traditional lasses of the Three of Cups do not do a dance of joy, but rather gather round a table in what appears to be a vineyard, judging from the grape leaves behind them. I notice the table is not groaning with a feast, but in fact contains a rather light repast. One bunch of grapes, one orange, two cherries, two strawberries, half a peach and a quarter of a honeydew melon, to divide between three grown-ups--that's not much lunch! But wow, look at the size of those cups. No wonder their eyes are vacant.

Today I travel to Warwick to show HR my qualifications and passport, even though I've worked for the organization since 2002, apparently they have to copy them again because I'm starting a new role. The forms must be filled in, whether it makes sense or not! It reminds me of when I went for my citizenship test. Even though I am a native speaker of English and have a degree in English, I was going to have to take an English proficiency test. Then some bright spark realized that taking the test in English was itself evidence of English proficiency, so they dropped that component. Never mind that much of the test was based on the 2001 census and had little to do with life in the UK. I had to learn things like more households in the UK have cats than dogs. Nothing there about dealing with a dividing queue or how to avoid the splodges of vomit on the pavements on a Sunday morning. Essential skills indeed.

I'm taking this card to mean there'll be more rain today (cups) and that lunch might be light (!) but that overall, it will be lighthearted day and my spirits will be high. Fingers crossed!

Ancient Italian Tarot Pairs: Day 6

'Ask yourself what "problem" you have right now, at this moment. 

Not next year, tomorrow, or five minutes from now. 
What is wrong with this moment?'

~Eckhart Tolle

3 of Cups                                                Ace of Wands

Whoa! Remember yesterday when I said there were no wands this week? Now here I am with the mother of all wands cards -- in the RELEASE position! And in the embrace position, 3 of Cups.

The image that dominates this draw from the Ancient Italian Tarot is that humongous chunk of wood in the Ace of Wands. It's gigantic and the hand is gripping it with purpose, like it's about to be used as a weapon to bash something (or someone) to smithereens. So I'm reading this draw today as:

Don't beat yourself - or anyone else - up today. Celebrate instead.

This is good advice because it's a tense time for us right now, waiting to find out what's going on with hubster's job. I only just found out last night that it could be at risk. Now we have to wait until Monday after next to find out what's going on with the budget and so on. 

BUT...

This draw seems to be telling me to live in the moment and be happy. Not take a stick to my own back. Now normally I would see swords as being overthinking, but I'm going with my most instinctive response to that image of the Ace of Wands today. Because when I look at that card all I can think is, 'Take cover!' 

Eckhart Tolle says, when we find our minds racing forward or back, to come to the present and ask ourselves, what is the big problem right at this moment. I think most of us can safely say, nothing is actually wrong at this moment. Unless we're being chased by wild animals or our butts are on fire or some other serious threat to life and limb, nothing's wrong. Surely if you're sitting there reading this blog entry, you are in a quiet, safe moment. So celebrate it. 'In this moment, I am safe. I am whole, I am breathing. I am alive. I am known. I am loved. I celebrate these things. Any challenges that may present themselves, I will deal with by accepting that they are happening and taking necessary steps one at a time. But again, right now at this moment, all is well.'

Some people reject present moment thinking. I encourage you to just try it. It really does help bring you back from the edge of 'Oh my God, THERE IS NO HOPE!' to a saner, calmer place. 

Fun as a slice of watermelon (?)

Today's card from Crystal Tarot is 3 of Cups, and features watermelon tourmaline. I quite like watermelon tourmaline, it's amazing to me that there's a stone that's green and pink with a little whitish layer between, just like a slice of watermelon! It is said to be a 'feel better' stone because it balances male and female aspects of self.

Of course 3 of Cups is about celebration and feeling good. I'm glad to see this card today; I see it as meaning that today will be an enjoyable day, the work day will go by quickly with no major incidents, and I will probably have some fun conversations with work colleagues. So that will be nice. :)

Watermelon tourmaline

'Good times! These! are! the! good! times!'

Interesting Three of Cups here from the Sacred Rose Tarot (Gargiulo-Sherman, US Games 1982). Usually there are three women carousing. Here we just have one woman on her own with the three cups. The LWB says it speaks of 'good luck, healing and celebration'. The meaning is pretty much the same, though the traditional RWS 3 of Cups is often interpreted as being social or celebrating with friends.

I wonder what I'll have to celebrate today. I'm in a training session today to help improve my interview skills -- not to interview others, but to improve my performance when I go to interviews for a new job myself. This is provided by my employer. Nice of them to help out.

I am so ready for a change. Any kind of change. I've lived in the same flat for years, done the same job for years. Whenever I visit some place nice, like we did this weekend for a mini-break, I always wonder what it would be like to live there, to have a nice house, to not have to worry about how to afford to retirement. I'm not talking a retirement that involves lots of travel and leisure, I'm talking being able to stop work while still having basic food and shelter. Oh well, the Three of Cups here doesn't really speak to any of that, unless to tell me to celebrate where I am now, which is all well and good, until I get to where I'll be then. Then there might not be so much to celebrate. But who knows. Maybe today's workshop will help lead to something to celebrate.

Emotive moment: 3 of Cups in Cosmic Tarot

Cosmic Tarot

This is a very romantic image, not so much in the relationship sense, but in the artistic sense--it's idealized and sentimental. This card is a departure from the familiar 3 of Cups of the RWS, which shows three women celebrating in a sort of folk dance, or possibly an elaborate toast. The dance shown in this card is more intimate and balletic. Even the background is romantic, with a misty river, a boat like the one in Waterhouse's  Lady of Shallot, willow trees, cattails and the sort of improbable rock formations seen in Chinese landscapes. It's a bit like an antique oriental screen, and in fact, these dancers could actually be posed in a photographer's studio in front of a painted backdrop, rather than actually on some sort of picnic where they're having only three overflowing cups of something. Even the cups themselves are overstyled, with very long thin stems and impractically tiny bases. They'd surely tip over in real life.

Joy to the fishes on the deep green sea

The card for today from Book of Thoth Tarot is 2 of Cups. In this card we see a greenish sea against a blue sky. Floating on the sea is a lotus, out of which grows another lotus. Two fish wrap around the stem of the lotus, pouring water from their mouths into the blossom floating on the sea. Out of the top lotus flows water or energy, which bounces off the heads of the fish (I read them referred to as 'heraldic dolphins' somewhere), and into two cups that float on the sea in the foreground. They fill up and run over. On either side of the uppermost lotus are two symbols: Venus on the left and Cancer on the right. Venus is in Cancer. As I know nothing of astrology, I have no idea what significance that has on the meaning of the card. I know Venus has to do with love/emotion. Cancer, I thought, had to do with being stingy (I think of a crab's claws as grasping, like a miser). But there may be some other significance to it. I don't know anything about tarot decanates. I know that the 2 of Cups is about emotional connections, and possibly alliances, and that this card is a very good one to draw. So I'm glad to see today will be a day of love and cooperation and emotional happiness. 

May I seek out opportunities today to give and to receive loving support. 

Musings on the Celtic Tarot: Cups

Cups suit from Celtic Tarot, Davis, 3rd edition 2002

The Cups do not lend themselves immediately to a continuous story, as the Wands suit does. There is a thread that runs through them, though. Each card features cups suffused in a kind of effervescent glow, suspended in front of a circular pattern reminiscent of a rose window. The groupings of the Cups and a few subtle cues in the rose window are all the clues you get, really, to help you interpret these cards.