The Four of Cups and the number four?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

The Hierophant	19 Mar 2005
Would appreciate some help here. I'm studying the Troth deck and the title for the Four of Cups is Luxury. I'm cross referencing the card with a lot of other books to see how it all fits together. Even though the interpretations vary somewhat, i am looking for the common thread among them. Most of what i have read describes the card as boredom, emotional detatchment, lack of enthusiasm, detatchment, missed opportunity etc. How does the concept of luxury relate to these? Is luxury here meaning excess that can lead to meaninglessness or apathy? Being spoiled by too much of a good thing? And if 4 stands for sability, structure, foundation, a "square", etc. then what is the correlation between that and these concepts? The only thing I can think of is that a "square" can imply a solid or completed structure as a strong foundation--a positive sort of thing, but can also box you in---a negative so to speak. Maybe the fourth cup pushes the "emotional abundance" of the Three of Cups over the top. I don't suppose a "square of "water" would be very stable. Can't tell if I'm figuring something out here or getting a little lost. I guess a little of both!

temperlyne	20 Mar 2005
I'm not sure about the luxery part of this card. But concerning the general meanings of the fours, stability, structure etc. I see this card as a stagnation of the emotional flow. There are 4 full cups, but there is no refreshment, The full cups are not shared but rather kept safe to just look at in contentment. The content stays in the cups and without refreshment it will go stale. I picture the cups as filled with dirty, unfresh water. Like a mother smothering a child, loving it so much that she will keep it safe but at the same time locked up. Emotions need to flow, and what started out as a luxery, 4 full cups, is now a decaying, eutrophiering situation. I hope this makes any sense... I'm having difficulty expressing myself in english with this one...

irisa	20 Mar 2005
I see the Lord of Luxury as being kind of 'too much of a good thing'... I think the cups are filled with deep feelings and emotion. The red lotus, stongly rooted - emotional security. An abundance of love and emotion - the sting in the tail is that often when we have a lot of something we don't value it as we should... we get careless, take things for granted expect it to last forever so don't see as things start to slip away because we're not paying enough attention. irisa

rainwolf	20 Mar 2005
If you look in the LWB, i think it said how the luxury turns out not-so-nice because it is stale and when water is still, it isnt that great (you know how mosquitos and all that go in it?). Just think about the emotional life of the rich-its not so emotionally happy usually-even though it is stable (4)

Vincent	20 Mar 2005
The Hierophant wrote: Would appreciate some help here. I'm studying the Troth deck and the title for the Four of Cups is Luxury. I'm cross referencing the card with a lot of other books to see how it all fits together. The essential book you need to read, if you wish to understand this deck, is the Book of Thoth. Crowley can be surprisingly knowledgeable and intuitive about his own deck. The Hierophant wrote: Even though the interpretations vary somewhat, i am looking for the common thread among them. Most of what i have read describes the card as boredom, emotional detatchment, lack of enthusiasm, detatchment, missed opportunity etc. How does the concept of luxury relate to these? Crowley re-titled this card. It used to be called the Lord of Blended Pleasure which does give a little insight into what Crowley may have meant. If you take Luxury as the Cause, you may see those other concepts as the Effect. Vincent

The Hierophant	21 Mar 2005
Together, your insights are very helpful.

The The Four of Cups and the number four? thread was originally posted on 19 Mar 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.