Lead with the heart

Jean Noblet Tarot, Flornoy 2014

Yesterday I drew Knight of Cups from Dodal Tarot in answer to what I need to do for my security. I interpreted it as 'go with your gut feeling.' What could it mean for me today?

The Noblet LWB suggests that Cups represent 'priests and healers', and that 'with maturity', the individual 'will fly on his own and take responsibilities, become the horseman in the phrase: "to have in order to act". The Knight of Cups, then, has attained enough skill in healing and spirituality to act independently of others. His training wheels are off, so to speak.

I wonder what's going to happen today that I will need to have my emotional training wheels off for. Whatever it is, I should lead with my heart instead of overthinking it.

If we look at the card literally...a horse is fast, and the figure on it holds out a cup. Maybe it will be a fast-paced day in which I need to remember to drink plenty of liquids. :)

Advice for the week

This is a reading for myself...but you could use the same technique for your own questions. First two questions are a 3-card draw (lines 1 and 2), final question is a 1-card draw (single card on right).

What is the best course of action to take this week to assure the outcome we want?
What is the best course of action for security in the future?
What is my best next step?

Tarot de Marseille Francois Chosson 1736, Yves Renaud

Be prepared to spend a lot of money; otherwise, the outcome is out of my hands.

Stability is the result of optimism, trusting in a partner, and going with gut feeling.

My next best step is to wait for the call. Nothing else to be done.

Knight of Cups - he's not such a drip after all

Jean Dodal Tarot, JC Flornoy 2009

Knight of Cups: Development of Love

A feeling, emotion, relationship or aspect of spirituality is growing.

The knight holds a very large cup aloft, balanced on his outstretched palm. The cup shows lots of red, denoting passions and emotions. The knight's mantle is also red, in the garment worn over his torso, nearest his heart.

The cup is gold, the knight has golden locks cascading over the hat or shield on his back, his horse is trimmed in gold, and the vegetation underfoot is gold.

If that shape on his back is his shield, then he is certainly showing willingness to be vulnerable, by wearing his protection on his back and holding out his treasure so precariously.

In his left hand, he clutches the reins of the horse, which are tied off in a knot. The effect is rather phallic, though. Make of it what you will.

The knight -- and his horse! -- cut their eyes toward something in a rather coy and flirtatious manner, chin down and looking out of the corner of their eyes. Very flirty indeed. One expects a flutter of eyelashes any minute. The knight has very wide eyes in his face, and a pleasant expression. The chin-down posture and hunching-forward shoulders give him an 'aw-shucks' bashful feel. It's the 'Here, I picked you some flowers, Mommy,' posture he's got there. It just asks for the 'Aww, thank you, sweety,' response.

I have often seen the Knight of Cups as a mewling little drip. But he's kinda cute here. He can't help how he feels. :)

What love is developing in you today? Are you hesitant to express it? How might you offer your love to the world today, however bashfully and possibly at the risk of making yourself vulnerable? Are you willing to do that today?

Revisiting the Knight of Cups

Here's someone I don't see everyday! The Knight of Cups. Oh, I've talked about him now and then. I think I'll take a look at past impressions of Mr Moonbeams:

Those Cups. They're just so deep: Cosmic Tarot.

Grail Shrimp: Deviant Moon Knight of Cups. 

You have chosen wisely: Haindl Prince of Cups.

Crashing to the shore: Prince of Cups Thoth. 

I remember you: Knight of Cups Greenwood Tarot.

Splash a little holy water on your jaded soul: Knight of Cups Vampire Tarot

Androgynous much? Wheel of the Year Tarot.

Unabashedly odd and loving it: Chrysalis Knight of Mirrors.

Don't feed the plant! Crystal Tarot.

What do you think of the Knight of Cups? Is he a hopeless romantic? I've OFTEN compared him to that kid who films the carrier bag in American Beauty. Here he is:

Oh no! Romeo!

Ricky in American Beauty: 'Sometimes there's so much...beauty...in the world...I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.' -- Perfect Knight of Cups sentiment.

Here we go again

An opportunity has come up to do my current role full time in a different location. It would mean moving to a new town and stepping into an environment in transition. I thought I'd draw a few cards:

1. What are my chances of securing this post?
2. How will I feel about working in this role in this new environment?
3. What are the major challenges I would face if successful?
4. How would I overcome them?
5. What would be the biggest rewards of taking this role?
6. How would taking this job affect the overall quality of my life?

That is a pretty definitive answer to the first question! My chances of getting the job are quite good, as I have drawn the Six of Staffs, the traditional card of triumph depicting the homecoming of a victorious military leader.

The forward momentum of the first card, in which the figure has his left arm raised toward the rest of the spread, continues in the next card, Page of Staffs. In this role, I would feel energised and enthusiastic. The Page of Staffs in the Byzantine Tarot is a messenger, and this card implies that I would be busy following orders and acting as a go-between. This is actually in line with my job description and comes as no surprise. I do like the fact that Page has youthful energy; it implies a freshness. However, it also denotes a naivete and so it's possible I might bumble through the role oblivious to certain undercurrents -- and that's okay with me, too.

The third card continues to face right into the spread; this time the Knight of Cups holds the cup aloft -- toward the heavens? Toward his superior officer? There is a feeling of a Grail Knight about this figure, and we know what sort of life a Grail Knight led -- slogging lost through the wastelands seeking to do the impossible. Oh my! That's a big challenge to face. Perhaps the job might feel overwhelming, or I might feel that my personal commitment and dedication is not paying off in the way that I'd hoped or dreamed. I may feel called upon to 'gallant' behaviour, defending those who I feel are weaker than myself, in other words, always trying to stick up for those I supervise. I can see that.

The way to overcome this challenge is depicted in Ten of Swords. I will need to recognise lost causes and practice letting go of the fight. There is no point in carrying on with a battle that you can't win. I can see a real conflict between the Knight of Cups and the Ten of Swords here. The Knight of Cups clings fiercely to his ideals and his causes, which are quite often romantic illusions, no matter how passionately he feels about them. The Ten of Swords couldn't be a stronger message of how futile such battling would be. That is a stark warning. Do I want to get myself into a situation where I would constantly need to let go of my higher ideals, for my very survival? That's a question. But it could also be character building, in that it would involve learning to live in reality instead of illusion.

I get reinforcement for these interpretations in the next card, which answers 'What would be the biggest reward of taking this role?' Answer: Fortitude. The Byzantine Tarot depicts the Bible story of Jacob, who encounters a stranger (who in fact is an angel) and they engage in a wrestling match that lasts all night. Jacob gets him in a hold and won't let the angel go until he receives a blessing. The encounter leaves Jacob with a limp, but also a name change -- to Israel, and he becomes the patriarch of the Israelites. This has a different feel to the traditional image of the maiden overcoming the lion through the strength of her gentleness! In this Strength (or Fortitude) card, the man pays a price for his reward, and his strategy does not involve gentleness but iron will.

And as to how the job would affect the overall quality of my life, I have drawn Judgement! So the new job would pretty much change everything. It would be a transformation. It's interesting, though, that this card depicts the other side of the coin of Judgement Day that you don't see in RWS -- not everyone who rises gets into paradise. I take this to mean at the very least that the changes will be profound, and both good and bad.

Grail Shrimp? Deviant Moon Knight of Cups

The knights in Deviant Moon Tarot (US Games 2013) all ride a steed of some sort (Knight of Wands rides a giant bug, Knight of Swords a horse, Knight of Pentacles a mechanical steam-powered conveyance) except our Knight of Cups, who seems himself to be some sort of sea creature clad in armour. Maybe he's thrown himself so much into his element that he's become part of it (water).

'The loyal knight presents his find to the world: the gift of hope. His long search has taken him over and under a boundless sea. His once magnificent armour now bears a green patina. This journey has changed not only his body, but his soul as well.' ~ Patrick Valenza, LWB

So, he has evolved over the course of his quest.

This interpretation differs somewhat from the traditional view of the Knight of Cups as an adolescent figure overwhelmed by his own passions and emotions, much like Romeo, impetuous and histrionic. The Deviant Moon's Knight of Cups seems to have completed his grail quest, and holds his resulting treasure reverently, with both hands.

Learn to release -- time to drop that sack

I rarely post about oracles because to me, oracles tend to be straightforward, personal messages. There is not a lot of interpretation involved, whereas of course tarot cards are so full of esoteric symbolism and associations that they could be discussed and written about forever (and hopefully will be!).  Today's draw from Conscious Spirit Oracle by Kim Dreyer (2013) gives us an affirmation:

'I release that which does not serve my higher purpose with gratitude and love.'

What unwanted clutter is holding you back from your full potential? We've all got it. It's just a matter of realising you're holding on to it. 

This reminds me of a story I read somewhere. A man is walking down a path, carrying a huge sack on his back. The sack is quite a burden; he's nearly doubled over. The man stubs his toe on a rock in the path and stumbles. 'Oh, idiot,' he says to himself. He stops, picks the rock up, smashes himself in the head with the rock and throws it into the sack. He continues down the path, trips on another large rock. 'Stupid! Stupid!' he mutters, stops and picks up the rock, smashes himself on the head with it and throws it in the sack. He does this another three or four times and finally a second man who had been standing on the road side observing this (the man with the sack wasn't able to move too fast or get too far for obvious reasons!) finally steps into the road. 

Let yourself be that guy and see what happens -- Knight of Cups

Recently I posted about shining a light, and today in my Daily Greatness Yoga Journal, I was asked the question, 'How can I shine my light more?' I decided this was a good question for the tarot -- and I drew the Knight of Vessels (or Cups).

I must admit my attitude to the Knight of Cups has been a little harsh. He always strikes me as a moony adolescent. But you know, he does have qualities that would help us shine our lights more.

He throws his whole heart into things.

He holds nothing back.

He is completely open in expressing how he feels in the moment, and does not balk from expressing how he feels in the next moment, even if he's changed his heart entirely (much like Romeo's sudden change of allegiance from Rosaline to Juliet.)

He doesn't care what people think about his devotion and passion.

He allows himself to be vulnerable.

He is willing to take tremendous risks in pursuit of what he wants.

He believes that persistence will win out.

His balloon never lands. :)

I can see how his qualities could help us shine a light in our lives. Being the Knight of Cups for a while will help us reconnect with what is really important to us, and fill us with the love and devotion to commit ourselves fully to those things, not out of obligation, but because we adore them.

Allow yourself to be a bit Knight of Cups this week, and let's see what happens.

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Unabashedly odd and loving it

I have to laugh. This deck is forcing me to deal with its court cards. The Chrysalis Tarot (US Games 2014) offers me The Dreamer, Knight of Mirrors (aka Knight of Cups). At last, a court card that makes sense to me. The Knight of Cups is surely the dreamer of the tarot courts. The Dreamer here rides his magic carpet through his many daydreams and romantic thoughts. The tiger leaping forward could represent his imagination. He reclines on one elbow, his hand to his chin, showing that he himself is more of a, well, 'dreamer' than a doer. But when he does decide to take action, he can be impulsive (like a pouncing tiger).

The Knight of Cups has positive aspects I'm sure, but mostly I don't have much respect for him, as I see him as a moony teenager in love with his romantic notions about reality, himself and the world.

BUT...

I need to ask myself today -- in what ways is it good to be a moony teenage boy, writing bad poetry to some girl in your 6th period study hall, listening to Morrisey, and smoking weed at the local socialist rally? Now that I think of it, it's probably good in every way! Why not dream? Why not?

We visited Glastonbury last weekend and I was greatly impressed by a man in one of the shops, a lovely bloke but wow! He was wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt decorated with a huge rainbow spiral, and on his forehead and wrists he was wearing copper coils. Yes, he was wearing a copper headband that put a spiral right in the middle of his forehead, and he stood there talking to us like it was the most conventional and routine thing in the world. We saw so many Dreamers in Glastonbury - a lone young  man in dreadlocks galumphing down the street with bare feet and robes tied about the waist with a length of rope, a lady selling raw chocolate confections that she claimed had a 'high vibrational frequency' (they were delicious by the way, and one bite seemed to thrum right through my veins), all these people openly and unabashedly being Dreamers. Hubby and I sat down on the steps of a statue in the square and ate floppy hummus and nut roast sandwiches and talked about how great it felt to be in the middle of a community where everybody is as weird as we are. We just aren't 'openly' weird.

Maybe the Dreamer card today is telling me -- why not be more openly weird? Why not ride the magic carpet a little more? Why not unleash that tiger in public a bit more?

Why not indeed!

I remember you

Air of Water
'Prince of the Chariot of the Waves'

Chesca Potter wrote of this card: 'This card denotes someone whose life serves a greater purpose, someone with perseverance, determination, self-sacrificing and wise. Could have a tendency to martyrdom-to give away too much of one self.'

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary.

What do I see in this card? It looks like a sunrise (or sunset) over a burial mound on which trees are growing, and flowing out of the entrance is water, pouring down a stepped spillway toward a golden bowl that floats on a pool of blue. A colourful salmon leaps from the water in the foreground, beside some cattails.

This is nothing like the Wildwood Knight of Vessels, which features an eel swimming and which I find not remotely appealing. Some of the landscape from the Greenwood is used in the Wildwood 6 of Cups; the leaping salmon before cascading water is in the Wildwood Queen of Vessels.



I prefer Potter's otherworldly coloration. There's a surreal quality to the light in this Knight of Cups card. There is something about Potter's colour palette in this deck that seems to lend itself easily to trance. There's a flashing colour quality to it.

(In Irish mythology, there's a story of a salmon that ate hazelnuts from trees surrounded the well of wisdom, and that the person who ate the flesh of this fish would become wise. Some other stuff happens. Click the link.)

Anyway, I like this card very much. Like many cards in the Greenwood, there is something somehow mournful about it. The salmon has always struck me as a good symbol for self-sacrifice. I asked hubby what a salmon represents to him, and he said, 'Endurance. It's doing something that's hard, but it wins. It's doing what it's supposed to do. Just because it dies doesn't mean it loses. It's doing what it's supposed to do. It's following the natural order of things.' I didn't tell him anything about this card or how I think it might have anything to do with our anniversary.

Being married for ten years hasn't exactly felt like swimming upstream (not the whole time anyway :) ). but it is true that a marriage requires some 'sacrifice' or compromise, a bit of effort. There's a quality of sadness, too, there, lurking in the background. We push onward through this life together joyfully, and when it's not joyful, we hold each other up, but somewhere inside we are always aware of the ultimate destination. We know that end will come, and we push on toward it anyway, because it's the only direction we're allowed to go in. The most romantic thing people can say to each other is that we want to grow old together. It is romantic, and it's wonderful, but it's also sad, of course. We know when we finally get there, one of us is going to go first and leave the other behind. We know our days together in this life are numbered. Our time is brief. Twenty years, thirty years, forty years. What is that? It's a twinkling of an eye. This is why people cry at weddings, and at anniversaries, and when they decide to get married. There's so much of life, and so little at the same time. You don't cry  because you're sad, but because there's so much beauty and fragility to the whole thing. It overwhelms.

 An anniversary is a both a celebration and a reflection. Time goes by so fast.

Nat King Cole is my favourite, and every year hubby and I have a little slow dance to this on our anniversary. It's our song:

Crashing onto the shore - Prince of Cups

Thoth Tarot

The Prince of Cups from Thoth Tarot comes blowing toward us, pushed by a giant wave, his curvy chariot pulled by a black eagle. In one hand, a giant lotus, in the other a cup with a snake rising from it, and on his head, a very grand helmet topped by what I assume to be another eagle. I like the way the eagle skims low over the shallow water of the beach, and how the incoming tide crashes along just behind our hero.

Though Prince of Cups is not much of a hero. He's not much like the RWS Knight of Cups, either, if that's what you're thinking. I don't know what Crowley's problem was with Prince of Cups, but he says:

'He is subtle, violent, crafty and artistic; a fierce nature with a calm exterior. Powerful for good or evil but more attracted by the evil if allied with apparent Power of Wisdom. If ill dignified, he is intensely evil and merciless.'  He goes on to say he is 'completely without conscience and usually distrusted by his neighbours.'

What, our mooning Knight of Cups intensely evil and merciless? This is something new indeed! For a more open perspective, I quite like Angel Paths website. Jan uses these words to describe the Prince of Cups: self-contained, secretive, hiding deepest passions, moody, sensitive, highly perceptive, readily using intuition. These qualities make more sense to me -- the Prince of Cups after all is 'Air of Water'. The thoughtful side of emotion. She goes on to say: 'The Prince of Cups works with desire on all levels. All we have to do is wish hard enough. And his energy will help us to achieve our aims. So on a day ruled by him, select one thing that you really really want, and spend a little time visualising it, imagining what it would feel like to have it, or experience it, and then gather all your strong feelings up into a bundle and push them out into the Universe.' 

Now that makes more sense to me. It seems to be more in line with Gerd Ziegler's interpretation in 'Tarot: Mirror for the Soul' -- 'Spend some time each day visualising yourself and your desires without getting lost in them.' (Although he seems to think that those desires are of a sexual nature, as the affirmation for the card given is: 'I now live out my sexual desires. This makes me more vital and fulfilled.' Well, this is why we need to read more than one person's thoughts about a card.)

I can put together some advice from all this, though. Today is my first day in a new job. I take this card as meaning I should keep my thoughts and feelings to myself, play things close to my chest. Best not share everything that flits through my head!

Also, I have been shortlisted for a completely different post, and the interview is on Monday morning! I just found out yesterday afternoon. So today is a good day to begin visualising myself being successful at interview and securing the post, but without losing sight of the current new job and the possibility that this is my 'new home' (should I not be successful at Monday's interview.)

Splash a little holy water on your jaded soul

Today's card from the Vampire Tarot by Robert Place is the Knight of Cups, or Knight of Holy Water, in this instance. The figure on the card is Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, an Irish author and writer of the novel Carmilla, published in 1872. It was this book that inspired Bram Stoker to write about the supernatural. Carmilla is considered the most important vampire story after Dracula. (An interesting side note about Carmilla...people tend to think lesbian vampires are a product of the shlocky early 70s horror flicks, but Carmilla, one of the earliest literary vampires, is a lesbian, so this notion has a long lineage.)

According to Robert Place's brief notes in the companion book, Le Fanu's style 'introduces psychological insights that were innovative at the time,' and so the card is said to represent someone who has insight into the unconscious and people's hidden motives. In other words, a sensitive type.It must have been pretty tough to come up with a character from Dracula or vampire legend that would fill the bill of Knight of Cups. I guess this link, tenuous though it may be, will serve.

I myself will always associate Knight of Cups with a particular character from the film American Beauty, the boy called Ricky, who spends his time mooning about on the sidelines of life, filming plastic shopping bags floating about on the breeze, and proclaiming life to be so beautiful that sometimes he feels like he 'can't take it'. I've provided a link many times to the clip in question, but I find it so perfect for the Knight of Cups that I can't resist showing it again:

Maybe I've drawn this card today to remind me to try not to be such a cynical butt hole. ha ha ha ha Seriously, though. Sometimes maybe seeing fathomless beauty in a bit of trash blowing around might make a nice change. (And with the level of litter picking our council provides, may as well try to get something positive out of all those blowy crisp packets, eh?)

Oh no! Romeo!

If there's one card I don't see myself as, it's Knight of Cups! But this is my card of the day from Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot (Kunati, 2009).  He's certainly an interesting character. Easy to mock. My very favourite movie character to associate with him is a lesser known character, but you may remember him: the kid Ricky from the film 'American Beauty'. He's the kid who liked to go around videotaping things. He shows the girl next door a video he made of a plastic bag caught in a little whirlwind, and says, 'Sometimes I think there's so much...beauty...in the world...that I can't take it.' I am by nature a Queen of Swords, and as you may know a Queen of Swords would have two kids like that guy for breakfast and still have room for a mid-morning snack. So perhaps the card is telling me to try to allow myself to be a bit sappy today about something.

On the other hand, it could be a warning of a capricious mood today. The Knight of Cups falls hopelessly and crushingly in love with something one minute, then can just as passionately hate it the next. It's the Romeo syndrome. Romeo was theatrically in love with Rosaline the morning he met Juliet, by the next morning he was desperately in love with Juliet. Had circumstances been different, no doubt in a day or two he would have fallen in love with someone else. That's the Knight of Cups. Or at least one aspect of him.

The thing is, I have to work hard not to focus on the shadow aspect of all Cups courts. So let's look at his positive side. At least he feels free enough to throw himself fully into the emotion of the moment. He doesn't hold back. Though he does seem to be more attracted to lost causes, and doesn't REALLY seem to want to be happy, as being in throes of a passionate torment is so much more romantic. Oops, there I go delving into the shadow again. Pardon my Queen of Swords' cynicism. ;)

Androgynous much?

Wheel of Year, LS 2011

Here's the Knight of Cups from the Wheel of the Year Tarot, LS 2011. Flowing blond locks, clear skin, could-go-either-way face, what can only be described as 'well-developed' pects, accompanied by, without being crude about, a tidy little cod piece. ha ha  Though he's rather skinny in the flanks, for a horseman. What is going on here?

Well, who knows, but this Knight of Cups is a jolly and rather fey looking fellow, surrounded by blue skies, butterflies and daffodils. He doesn't seem nearly as murky and moody as some Knights of Cups, but his horse could pass through the shadow any minute now and throw him into the depths of despair.

May I not take myself nor my emotions too seriously today, as the Knight of Cups has a tendency to do. May I not be blown about by each passing wind (or shadow).

Is Joey in your tarot?

'In your own favourite deck, does the Knight's horse reflect the Knight's personality? Does the horse's livery reflect the suit's qualities?  Not all Knights are on horses - other creatures are used - do the other animals chosen reflect the Knight's suit, or has it been chosen arbitrarily?'

Alison at This Game of Thrones asks this question, so let's listen to the Knights in Courtney Davis's Celtic Tarot:

Knight of Cups

Ah, a 3-day weekend

I've got a 3-day weekend coming up. Nothing booked, no real plans. Today I've drawn the Knight of Cups, 3 of Wands and Fool from the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black (Kunati, 2009). The figure in the Knight of Cups stares straight out at us, and his body is turned toward the other two cards, receiving their energy. The figures in 3 of Wands and Fool both face in the direction of the Knight of Cups, but with their eyes cast into the distance (and in different directions from one another). To me this suggests hubby and I are going to enjoy a loved-up weekend, during which we don't bother with elaborate planning (see how the 3 of Wands figure has turned his vision away from the distance? If he were scanning the horizon, he'd mean planning the future to me, but as he's turned away, in this reading at least, I see it as not bothering so much with planning but instead focusing on what is closer, right next to him.). And then of course the Fool suggests all sorts of potential for unplanned adventure. So who knows what could happen. Maybe we'll impulsively take off to the hills for some walking, or fall in love with a car (we intend to do some more test driving) and buy it on the spot. No knowing! Looks like it will be a fun weekend, though.

Now to make it through today's work day...because the card I drew for today was Page of Swords! Oh no! Not Billy the Kid again!