Please fill me in on this little LWB query.

I'm using various sources as I learn. I've decided to leave Waite's book for a little while because of differences of opinion. I will read it though because I'm just a bit thorough like that and I think I don't mind struggling into the void of maybe.. anyway in the meantime one of my things I consult is still the Rider Waite LWB with the Empress on the front. The booklet was revised 2004, and I find it offers unusual converse meanings.. anyway there is a mistake.

The two of cups definition is partially missing.

It get's as far as :

a youth and maiden are pledging one another, and above their cups rises the caduceus of Hermes, beneath the great wings of which there











and there it runs out. Could some kind soul paste in the missing bit for me? The rest of the definition, the divinatory meaning and the reversal exactly as they are in the book? It's a favour, but I'd be grateful. I could write something entertaining back for you perhaps! A poem. I offer a poem.

Hehehe Namesoftrees, The LWB you have might be 2004, but it looks like nothing has changed since the 1970's.I have the old plaid backed RWS.
Two.- A youth and maiden are pledging one another, and above their cups rises the caduceus of Hermes, between the great wings of which there appears a lion's head. It is a variant of a sign which is found in some old examples of this card. Some curious meanings are attached to it, but they do not concern us in this place.
Divinatory Meanings: Love, Passion, Friendship, affinty, union, concord, sympathy, the inter relation of the sexes, and- as a suggestion apart from all offices of divination- that which nature is sanctified.
Reversed: False love, folly, misunderstanding.

Because I place great store on Robert Place's book I will add his bit on the two of cups as well. I have great difficulty with Arthur Waite's convoluted way of writing and am not convinced in my heart that he had influence over the minors anyway.
TWO OF CUPS
From the earliest examples, the two of cups in the Marseilles tradition depicts a flowering stem in the centre between the two cups. Near the top, two tendrils branch to either side and terminate in the dolphin heads, which turn inward and lick the flower. This is a tree of life design. The Waite-Smith card reinterprets this symbol as the snake-entwined cadeceus of Hermes terminating in a winged lions head. The winged lion is like an anthropomorphized Egyptian solar disk. Together with the cadeus it has ties to the lion- heade god of the Mithraic mysteries, a winged human figure with the head of a lion and a snake spiraling around its body. It represents divine power.
As in many of Smith's illustrations for the minor Arcana, the epople in the picture stand on a flat surface like a stage and a straight horizontal line seperates them from the scence in the background, as it would if the scene were a stage backdrop. A distant house with a red roof can be seen painted on the backdrop. A similiar house will also appear on the ten of cups. The two cups on this card are held by a man and a woman, as if they are toasting one another in a performance. Waite says they are pledging. The man reaches out with his right hand to touch the woman. This is a card of sexual attraction.
There you go Namesoftrees. People here might say that relying on book meanings might stunt your intuitive skills, but its my guess that one has to start with at least a LWB after looking at the card and forming ones own opinion ~Rosanne

Thousand little thanks

Well the Waite LWB is hardly to be relied apon with it's lists of possible meanings or strangely dischordant one, from a beginner's point of view. Now that's a clever way to insist that a new student can't lean on the meaning but is forced to think. Yes I'm taking that one with salt grains
I'm also using this site a lot, and A huge book By Irene Gad on individuation which is inspiring, so I'm working very associatively. I think Robert Place ought to become an accompanying standard for me so thanks for that. I've discovered his site and deck on the net. Any way voxboxing.. I am indebted, to you madame, and I promised you a poem. I'll send it to you as soon as i write it, soon.

regards (can't have that card missing!) names

2 of cups poem for Roseanne

Pledgeling

Up ledge, citing to gather
to have and to hold on
May kin a move in May
besotted if you like say
in things like do, swinging
a zither here a lute, a cute
sense Ay shun of stinging
a heart dart, a loose foot
or two, a smart dance lay
down by sunshine hay
Ledger to make bold on
an idea that you're sold on
a pledge reciting eye love...


hope ya like it! names

Katahi ano!!!!
Yep -Tarot is your hand, your hand is Tarot...and so is poetry. Many thanks names, I get the feeling you will enjoy the journey ~Rosanne

Kia Aroha!

I'm striding out on the path of this year thanks to this website. I'm quite addicted to it though, occupational hazard. Tarot has brought me to this internet forum thing in a way I hadn't come across yet.

So yes, I'm stepping up to the mark. It's lovely to find a local here too. I haven't seen any other nz'ers yet.

See you around, then.

As my Universal Waite Tarot LWB too lacks the full text for the Two of Cups, I searched the forum and found this thread. In the interest of providing the description and meanings "exactly as they are in the book" [OP], I thought I'd, well, post the meanings exactly as they are in sources that I've located, correcting apparent errors in Rosanne's reply.

Note: The description and divinatory meanings are straight out of Waite's Pictorial Key (which lacks reversed meanings for this card); the reversed meanings as stated by Rosanne I could only confirm on very few Web sites, none of which indicated a primary source, neither Waite nor any other.

TWO OF CUPS—A youth and maiden are pledging one another, and above their cups rises the Caduceus of Hermes, between the great wings of which there appears a lion's head. It is a variant of a sign which is found in a few old examples of this card. Some curious emblematical meanings are attached to it, but they do not concern us in this place. Divinatory Meanings: Love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, concord, sympathy, the interrelation of the sexes, and—as a suggestion apart from all offices of divination—that desire which is not in Nature, but by which Nature is sanctified. Reversed: False love, folly, misunderstanding.

I place great store in Marcia Masino's books, one being the "Easy Tarot Guide" - it's like a textbook, complete with quizzes and tests. Before slamming you with so many different meanings, she helps you get an understanding of generals - the numbers, the elements, the suites. Her book, like many, uses the RW deck pictures. I credit this author for much of my finally learning and understanding of the tarot! I have an older issue, but it has been reprinted with additional information...

Here is her take on the 2 of Cups:

Balance is indicated in the 2 of Cups. This is a picture of sharing relationships, friendships, partnerships, or romance where the mind and emotions are balanced. This card can indicate a discussion of importance between friends, lovers, partners, or family members, or mutual exchange of caring or sharing. We achieve this integration by making sure that loving balances with friendship and intellectual sharing.

A reciprocal give and take is pictured. Passion balanced with spirtuality is the symbolism of the lion and the Caduceus. Magnetic attraction between the couple is also indicated.

Reversed:
Arguments, serious disagreements occur.
Romantic infatuation wears off,
resentment and hatred could result.
Loss of balance leads to emotionalism, selfishness and rejection of a friend or lover.
The relationship has lost it's balance.
Someone may be doing all the giving, while the other does all the taking.