Mythic Tarot - Eight Cups

[rwcarter]

Psyche performs the final task that Aphrodite has given her – journeying into the underworld to retrieve a pot of Persephone’s beauty cream. She realizes that she may not survive the journey, leaving her sad and resigned. Behind her are eight neatly stacked golden cups.

Overview
voluntarily giving up hope for the future is the most difficult stage of Psyche’s journey toward her goal of relationship
she knows that no living mortal can return from Hades’ realm, yet she honors her commitment to Aphrodite and to love
the cups represent both her past hopes of reconciliation and her already completed tasks
nothing further can be done, and one must be willing to let go because nothing else can be done and start again
the underworld represents mourning and the relinquishing of control; it’s also the place where old attitudes die and are transformed
the act of letting go changes one because it is a submission to the will of the divine, in this case the goddess of love
her only hope is to abandon hope
Random Thoughts
abandon hope, all ye who enter
doing something that one dreads in order to honor one’s commitments and/or to attain one’s goal
sometime the only way to obtain that which is desired is to resign oneself to never getting it
being willing to die in order to get what one desires

The keyword/phrase I came up with doing my workbook exercises on 16 Nov 91 was "letting go".

Rodney

[sapienza]

This is probably my favourite card in the deck and certainly my favourite 8 of Cups in any deck. Although the card gives a sense of resignation and of sadness, I always loved when the card came up in a reading. It was, for me, about walking into the unknown. Different to the Fool though, where we are leaping more joyously into the unknown. With this card we are walking away from what is safe and know and really embracing the fear of not having a clue what we are walking towards. But the fear is worth it because we are motivated by love, or by a desire for something which we can only dream of. Without risk, we stay safe, but we don't grow. This card speaks to me of growth through taking risks, especially emotional risks.

[rwcarter]

This card speaks to me of growth through taking risks, especially emotional risks.
I can see that in this card, although it's not an interpretation I would apply to the RWS versions of it.

Rodney

[sapienza]

Interesting. I think because this was my first deck and I used it for about 5 years before picking up a RWS, I took my associations from this deck with me. I do sometimes wonder how different the RWS would seem to me if I'd had it as my first deck.