The Three of Cups and "Unity"

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

The Hierophant	19 Mar 2005
I would like to hear any thoughts on this. If the Three of Cups stands for "emotional abundance", how does this relate to the number "3" if three stands for "Unity?" I can see the concept of Unity working in the Three of Disks, Swords, and Wands, but not yet in the Three of Cups. Thanks for any feedback.

Moonbow*	19 Mar 2005
I am thinking of the Three of Cups in a Marseille deck specifically and I suspect that you are looking at a different one, but in some cases I think the same train of thought can apply, so see what you can pick from this. I think it can be considered unity in the sense of harmony. One cup represents a single, aloneness. Two cups are the coming together of two individuals and sharing themselves with each other. Three cups signifies the result of the duality, when two become one and therefore immense happiness and joy. Whether you can see this in the deck you are looking at, I don't know. It may show three females toasting and happy. But all the same when it comes to one of the meanings which can be seen as extreme happiness/abundance.

The Hierophant	19 Mar 2005
Thanks Moonbow---helpful. I have settled into learning the Thoth deck. Your piece of information will help me put it together. I did read that the progresion of the suits represents steps and stages. So 3 I suppose needs to be understood in relationship to 2. This will be extremely helpful as I progress through the suits(I'm up to the fours.)

LoukezXV	19 Mar 2005
this is what i think.. but it sound silly -.-" they always say " 3 is a crowd". the 3 of cup shows 3 man holding cup high to toast to something like victory. 3 man might representing a crowd toasting to happy thing/event which brings them all together. well in many chinese history story, many heros come from 3 ppl forming a group to unity just my guess =)

Enchanted	19 Mar 2005
The three of cups always appears to me when I need to "unite" with friends. With true friends we are able to be completely ourselves, so perhaps it could represent unity in the sense that all parts of the self are operating or able to operate as one from within that group dynamic. Or just the very act of uniting, coming together, with others, for a single purpose, can lead us to experience feelings of abundance, joy and harmony.

Moonbow*	20 Mar 2005
Hierophant, there is an on-line Book of Thoth which is well worth ploughing through. Unfortunately my link for it doesn't work and I've been searching for another. Hopefully someone else will come along with a link for you. Always good to read what Crowley wrote about the card.

temperlyne	20 Mar 2005
The suit of cups represents feelings, so the three would signify unity of feelings, uniting emotions. To me that could be comming together in a united sentiment. When people gather to celebrate or enjoy, their emotions are usually united and focussed on enjoyment. The uniting of emotions, but also the sharing of feelings is what I connect to the 3 of cups. The 3 of cups could mean the coming together of people who have the same feelings about a certain thing, who all feel the same way and enjoy that unity.

The The Three of Cups and "Unity" 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.