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.)

* * * *

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.