Pearl of great price

Spiral Tarot (US Games 1997)

I'm glad I checked the LWB, else I woudn't have realised this girl in Princess of Cups in Spiral Tarot is meant to be a mermaid. 'The pearl in her cup symbolises the seed of imagination and creativity and as the dawning of psychic ability,' it says. I guess since she IS a fish, she doesn't need a fish popping out of the cup, as it does in RWS Page of Cups, which this card is roughly equivalent to.

The card certainly plays up the water element, and the artistic temperament, with the water symbol, the mermaid, the seaweed clothing and the dolphins leaping in the background.

I suppose today will be a dreamy kind of day. That's all right, I like those. :)

I enjoyed reading Uncle Al's interpretation of yesterday's card so much, let's do it again today:

The Princess of Cups represents the earthy part of water; in particular, the faculty of crystallization. She represents the power of water to give substance to ideas, to support life, and to form the basis of chemical combination. 

The character of the Princess of Cups is infinitely gracious. All sweetness, all voluptuousness, gentleness, kindness, and tenderness are in her character. She lives in a world of Romance, in the perpetual dream of rapture. On a superficial examination she might be thought selfish and indolent, but this is quite a false impression; silently and effortlessly, she goes on about her work. ~ Aleister Crowley, Book of Thoth

Actually, I quite like that interpretation. It makes sense. I can see it in this card. I'm going with it! Of course, he does have this to say: 'Rarely, at the best, are they of individual importance. As helpmeets, they are unsurpassed.' WHAT! Doesn't that tell you so much about Crowley's personality, though. 'She's a mousy type, of no real importance or significance in her own right, but she's a dandy little helper-outer. Takes orders well.'

Sheesh.

I would hope that if I manage to be the Princess of Cups to anyone today, they will value it more than the king of narcissistic personality disorder himself, Mr AC.

Turn, turn, turn

The Princess of Cups is the card of the day from Druidcraft Tarot (Carr-Gomm and Worthington, 2005). First thing I notice is the orangey, autumnal leaves on the tree, and the golden glow in the sky in the background. Yesterday and today, I feel the first stirrings of autumn in the air. Yesterday there was a decided nip to the temperature, and today I woke up to pitch black and outside my window; in the gloom I can see the silhouette of trees blowing. I feel it may be a bit of a wet and wild day. I just checked the weather forecast and it says sunny spells with a high of 16 C. The season of fall and autumnal weather are the first things I think of when I see this card this morning.

Anyway, this decidedly autumnal scene surrounds a girl with flowing ginger hair and red and russet robes - more autumn colours - who stands barefoot beside a pool of water on a mossy rock, holding a cup. A circlet with a crescent moon sits on her forehead. She holds the cup up to her face with eyes closed. To me, I see her as feeling a deep communion with her surroundings. Her robes billow and her hair floats about her shoulders - maybe she is meditating upon the autumn breeze.

Hey, I just noticed a Green Man on the tree!! Look at the pattern of the ferns on the tree just by her right elbow. Ha!

This card suggests to me that I make the most of my time out doors today to notice the changing seasons. Autumn is my favourite season of the year, and it doesn't last long in this country. It isn't such a blaze of glory as in my native country, but it's there if you watch for it. :)

A surprise from the deep

It's the Princess of Cups today from the Tarot Illuminati (Dunne & Huggens, LoScarabeo 2013). Clearly modelled on the RWS Page of Cups, the image includes the curious sight of a fish emerging from the cup, which the human figure understandably seems to be quite amazed by. There's an interesting bit about fish in the Cups suit at Tarot Teachings. In particular, I like the ideas that fish represent emotion/intuition because they 'move and react according to intuitive instinct', and 'abide by the flow, move with the current, accepting the yawning void in which they live.'

The Cups suit in the Tarot Illuminati features faery-like folk with silver hair and pale skin, as opposed to the other courts(Wands - Persia, Swords - Elizabethan England, Pentacles - Asia). I think this is probably because the Cups suit concerns itself with the intuition and that part of the self that is more fanciful and nebulous.

Overall I'd say the card is suggesting to me that I be sensitive to things today, both to my own emotions and those of others. I need to pay particular attention to the ebb flow of my own inner world. Perhaps some new insight will pop up, like a fish emerging from a cup.

Dealing with Dosh

I wanted to know about financial planning today, so I asked for three cards: Do this - Don't do this - Outcome:

Cosmic Tarot, US Games 1988

The cards are telling me to keep my emotions shielded and my gaze steady. The Princess of Cups is a thoughtful, even pensive person. I believe she is saying to pay close attention to instincts and intuition and avoid being gullible. There is a lot of information out there about investments, much of it actually marketing strategies. I will do best to pay attention to my feelings about things. For example, if a service provider has a great interest rate on offer but I don't feel good about the customer service I receive, I should pay attention to that. If  I feel attracted to a provider because of their ethical investing or even just their friendly approach, I should pay attention to that. A big part of being happy in my investments is feeling happy in myself about it all. This also reminds me to pay attention to level of risk tolerance. That could be another reason she is shielding her cup.