FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THE KNIGHT OF CUPS

In the time since my first and rather brief post about The Knight of Cups (KnC) I've collected a good many more thoughts and meanings. But first, a variety of Knight of Cups cards.

Here's the more unusual of the images for this card that I'll be sharing today, from The Stone Tarot:

As you see, it's a female figure. In this deck knights of the "feminine" suits of cups and pentacles are Amazons.

This next image moves toward the more usual for the KnC and is from the Universal Fantasy Tarot. However, that down-held cup is different. As if this centaur had already drunk it dry, or is rushing off to get it filled (again?):

This next KnC is from one of my oldest, well-loved and used decks, The Tarot of the Cat People:

This deck's images are grounded in those of the Rider/Waite-Smith deck, even if the Knights all ride very large cats. The look on this tiger's face is priceless. Is it aware of the bright spirit bubbling over its head? Or does it have its eyes on something even higher and further along the path?

And for COMPARISON, here's the KnC in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck:

THE KNIGHT OF CUPS: The first thing I thought on choosing the images of the KnC to use with this post is that it's not surprising this card would be up for attention in my life. For some time now I've been trying to figure out additional ways that I can be of use in the retirement community in which I live. What ways I can offer the cup of my caring, if you will. Ways that honor my limitations, utilize a skill or two of mine, and engage my interest (maybe even teaching me something). I don't ask for much, do I! Yet I have found two ways so far (re-stocking books on our library shelves, and taking a part in a small play one of our residents has written) that do all those things. So a gift this Knight has given me is to remind me to pay it forward, to express gratitude in some way for all I am given. Taking a different tack, it occurs to me that the Tarot Knights are frequently very active figures, very engaged, and on the road. Very "hands on," in a way. And can therefore be less internally oriented, more about doing than thinking/feeling. Even this water (emotions and intuition) knight can become totally focused on the road, on the ride, on the heft of the cup in his aching out-stretched arm. However, as you'll see from what I say below this is rarely the case in my readings for myself.

MEANINGS/INSIGHTS/READINGS FOR THE KNIGHT OF CUPS, SOME LESS COMMON OR EVEN QUIRKY -- Please note: The below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick Google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with it. (Given my heavy reliance on projection of my feelings and experiences onto the cards, I recognize that I may very well reveal more about myself here than I do about any particular card. However, this is exactly my point: I use the cards as a path to self-discovery and healing. I hope what I post here that comes out of that process will be useful in some way to other seekers.):

-- Someone whose generosity is motivated by a desire to manipulate others.

-- A person who tends to be a bit too readily and intensely emotionally expressive. It's almost as if he/she uses up all the oxygen when they're around ... exhausting.

-- This offer is an attempt to get you indebted to the giver. It's the only sort of connection he or she trusts and understands.

-- This person does not give very much at all. They're trying to keep others working for their approval; to keep others a bit off balance, unsure.

-- Feeling that one is not loved, parched and empty.

-- Focusing on finding love so intensely, constantly, and single-mindedly that one is ironically blind to its presence.

-- He's capable of denying/hiding darkness in order to make his point, to share his enthusiasms. However, this is usually more a problem for himself, than for those he shares with.

-- Progress can be made and a painful backslide prevented. It's not so much this recurring challenge that causes problems as the refusal to take it on.

-- You may not want to drink from this cup. But it is necessary to do so. Only time will reveal why.

-- You may be trying to control this issue or your emotions too much. Letting go will be a gift to all concerned.

-- You'll know when the time is right because you'll feel motivated from you heart. I.e., you won't do much thinking or planning about it. You'll just start doing it.

-- Feeling so loved/loving that it spills over onto others.

-- Magic happens: pouring out love and generosity refills rather than empties the cup.

-- Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Accept the gift as offered. It isn't even the real gift. The true gift is the caring connection made by the giving and its acceptance.

(If you'd like to read other posts on this card, click on the "Knight of Cups" Label at the bottom of this post.)

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N.B. A small thing, but just in case: some of the extra reference links offered at the very end of my oldest (years old) posts no longer work. As there are so many posts here to go through I am choosing not to find and change all of those links that are "dead." If you are interested, you can try Googling for the name of the site or article referenced. I've found that some are still around in new locations or incarnations, some not.

'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever ways it comes to you in your life,





[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS) (charter member); Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THE KNIGHT OF PENTACLES

In the time since my first and rather brief post about the KNIGHT OF PENTACLES (KnP) I've collected a good many more thoughts and meanings. But first I want to share some more unusual versions of this card. The first KnP (Knight of Coins in this deck) below is from the surreal and stimulating Karma Tarot, which frequently takes me back to my hippie years when viewing its art:

Next is from the beautiful fine art paintings of The Stone Tarot. In this deck the Knights of the feminine suits of earth (pentacles) and water (cups) are Amazons:

And here's the Knight of Coins (Pentacles) in The Giants' Tarot. The figure here is a Norse giantess (another female knight):

And for COMPARISON, here's the KnP in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck:

THE KNIGHT OF PENTACLES: The KnP has been like a hovering angel in my life for many months now (replacing the Queen of Swords as my advisor), whispering in my ear "slow and steady ... slow and steady." This whenever I get frantic about time -- which is all too frequently. As I had done with the Queen of Swords before it, I xeroxed four very different versions of the Knp and taped them to my wall to remind me to breathe and slow down. Especially internally. When I heed this angel on horseback, one upshot has been a more thorough awareness and appreciation of each moment along the way. Not to mention that I'm more able to do what I have before me. (At least until I speed up again.)

MEANINGS/INSIGHTS/READINGS FOR THE KNIGHT OF PENTACLES, SOME LESS COMMON OR EVEN QUIRKY -- Please note: The below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick Google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with it. (Given my heavy reliance on projection of my feelings and experiences onto the cards, I recognize that I may very well reveal more about myself here than I do about any particular card. However, this is exactly my point: I use the cards as a path to self-discovery and healing. I hope what I post here that comes out of that process will be useful in some way to other seekers.):

-- Knights in general: have to do with being in or getting in to motion. The Knight of Pentacles is the slowest; The Knight of Cups a bit faster; The Knight of Swords faster yet; and The Knight of Wands the fastest. This aspect may help when dealing with timing issues in a reading.

-- An oppositional person. No matter which way you want to go, he or she will want to go the other. No matter what you say, he or she will have a smart aleck response.

-- This feeling of being stuck or held back is a red herring. You are basically avoiding moving on because of the sustained effort you know going ahead will require.

-- Someone who's slow to refocus when a situation demands it. That look of theirs is one of puzzlement, not annoyance.

-- There are both forward and backward looking aspects to your feelings/thoughts about this. All need to be heard and considered respectfully. This may slow things down quite a bit. But it's much better than being tossed from the saddle altogether should you dismiss or not see something crucial.

-- Someone who takes their sweet time to respond to almost anything as they hear any request or question or problem as a demand.

-- Take your time on this. There's no rush, and going too fast could cause problems.

-- Slow down internally. Try not to react before a bit of time has passed. Let the world respond to you, instead of trying to wrest control from others by rapid reaction. Time often has a different story to tell than your immediate reaction might have led you to believe.

-- Clinging, or being clung to. Time to free up the situation, to loosen it up.

-- Don't let others pressure you into rushing on this. Take the time you need, or that the situation requires. Their pressure speaks more of their insecurities or lack of knowledge and experience, than of you and/or your skills.

-- They're not disinterested, just pre-occupied with something major having nothing to do with you. Give them time to refocus on your interaction.

-- What the situation requires and what you have to offer will eventually match up. Be patient.

-- Recovery from this all too familiar problem will take longer than it has in the past. Don't give up or lose heart.

-- That this is going so slowly is as if it were saying "forewarned is forearmed." Rethink the situation.

-- Someone who's not very quick on the uptake, but once on board is thorough and reliable.

-- Late or slow bloomer.

-- Enjoy what's going on around you. I.e., don't just focus on your goal. "Take time to smell the roses."

-- True home is where you are at any given moment. All the yearning for and fear that you won't find home is like chaff in the wind. Another way to put it: Wherever you go, there you are.

-- Maintain a sense of curiosity; take the time to be open.

-- There's a heartful spiritual striving here. And given we are always a work-in-progress spiritually, the journey can sometimes feel very slow and very long indeed. Exactly the length of a life time.

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N.B. A small thing, but just in case: some of the extra reference links offered at the very end of my oldest (years old) posts no longer work. As there are so many posts here to go through I am choosing not to find and change all of those links that are "dead." If you are interested, you can try Googling for the name of the site or article referenced. I've found that some are still around in new locations or incarnations, some not.

'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever ways it comes to you in your life,





[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS) (charter member); Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE KING OF CUPS

TODAY'S CARD IS The King of Cups. This version is from The Stone Tarot by Alison Stone (visit the link to see a few other cards from this strong and very colorful deck):




For comparison, here's The King of Cups in the Rider/ Waite/ Smith deck:



THE KING OF CUPS: in the Stone Tarot above looks very much to me like the King of Cups in his more negative aspect(s). Way too brooding and intense, the overly sensitive "artiste." Actually, I have identified with those aspects of this card so much over the years that he usually shows up in my readings for myself only in those capacities. Of course, this then raises an interesting issue: Does one become set on particular meanings for a card, or does that card actually mean those things, time and again, when it shows up in readings? I am always aware of that former possibility of habitual responses to the cards, which is one of the reasons I so like working with new decks. They shake up my understandings and let in fresh air. And that is just what, IMHO, The King of Cups above in The Stone Tarot appears to need.

DIFFERENT OR LESS COMMON, EVEN QUIRKY MEANINGS FOR THE KING OF CUPS: (i.e. the below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with this card):

Possible addiction issues, especially alcohol.

Can be a very shady character. His stormy aspect may be camouflage for dishonesty and manipulation.

Out of emotional control, or about to be. In dire need of emotional balance. Conversely, so controlled as to be like a "black hole," draining others' energies.

Don't confuse thought and emotions. Know also that what you think can determine what you feel.

Well-meaning and empathic, but not necessarily very effective.

It may be time to fully attend to your creative ideas, to take care of them with concrete action so that they may manifest.

A tremendously creative and capable nature, that supports the efforts of others.

Can sometimes indicate a romantic partner or relationship.

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Resource: The Glastonbury Tarot, another brightly colored deck.

‘til next time, keep keep balancing thought and emotion, and enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry and Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka).****