Lo Scarabeo Tarot - 6 of Cups

L8deblu

This is perhaps my most confusing card in this deck. From other decks, I've taken the meaning of the 6 of Cups to usually refer to memories, unexpected gifts, blending of the past with the present... things of that nature and the 6 of Cups in the LST just makes be draw a blank. Anyone else having trouble with this card in particular? If not, any tricks of thinking that could be helped to get the meaning of the card would be appreciated.
 

Skydancer

Sulis posted this in the other thread - the Bravo! thread:

I would say that the 6 of Chalices is based on the Crowley Thoth 6 of Cups - pleasure.
But the configuration of Cups in 2 rows of three cups looks like it comes from the Marseilles pattern.

http://i6.tinypic.com/6f0lt9d.jpg
http://www.angelpaths.com/decks/tho.../sixofCups.html
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/...s/6deCoupes.jpg

I had not thought of the 6 of cups/chalices as being about pleasure. That interpretation really has escaped me all these years. I thought it more about being nice, pleasant childhood memories, giving.

It's been the hardest card for me to get a handle on in this deck so far. :)
I really think it could have been done differently. In fact, I wish it had. BUT - it does add an interesting dimension to the deck. It's not one I'll read with for youngsters however.

*S*
 

Queen of Disks

I've come to think of the Six of Cups as innocence, partly because the female figure reminds me of Eve with her apple. Just maybe innocence in a different sense then the RWS Six of Cups, which shows children playing in a overprotected (and slightly creepy) enviroment. (I haven't had it come up in a reading yet, so I'll see how it works.)

I think somebody wrote something similar (was it you Skydancer?, on the other thread-I just got from there and forgot already.)

I usually have no problem with nudity, but I found this card a little distracting at first.
 

Jamil

Six of Cups

L8deblu said:
This is perhaps my most confusing card in this deck. From other decks, I've taken the meaning of the 6 of Cups to usually refer to memories, unexpected gifts, blending of the past with the present... things of that nature and the 6 of Cups in the LST just makes be draw a blank. Anyone else having trouble with this card in particular? If not, any tricks of thinking that could be helped to get the meaning of the card would be appreciated.

I'd mulled over this one, too, as I thought of the six of cups as nostalgia, the past, and what have you. Reading that the new card represents pleasure, I wondered if it could be argued that nostalgia is a longing, often, for an idealized memory of the past. Maybe the figure on this card reflects the same kind of idealization -- either of what you desire, or how you desire to be, or how you may have once been, or how the person/thing you draw/drew pleasure from was when it was shiny and new and you'd not got around to seeing its flaws?
 

GypsyHeart

This card came up in a reading today and I had actually read this thread earlier today, so I was lucky to have all of your great observations to help me.

The Eve imagery is interesting...she hasn't taken a bite yet, that I can see, so is this before the knowledge of good and evil? Is that the nostalgia?

The whole naked adult woman in a card in which I'm used to seeing children was disconcerting. But is the point maybe that she is naked and completely comfortable with her body, unencumbered by issues of what (she) should be? Well, with her figure, guess I would be, too.

As far as "pleasure," like most of you, not an association I'd make with this card. And the "pleasure" here has a sensualness, no a sexualness (yes?) that doesn't match my usual notions of this card. I feel like I'm on the verge of "getting it" -- but clearly not there yet!

Okay, now I'm just babbling.
 

Sagefire

Might I join in? I just got this deck for Christmas and I'm loving it. :)

The change threw me for a loop too, I was just getting the hang of those children. Whenever I would get the 6 of Cups in a reading I would interpret it as nostalgia, fond memories of innocence long gone, remembering when things were better, etc. I think this card demonstrates that but in a way uncomfortable to many. If you're like me when you get nostalgic you probably tend to put on the rose colored glasses when you remember the past. We think jokes are funnier, beauties more beautiful and hurts more painful. Memories can be deceiving and more often than not are colored by our own perception. It is very pleasurable to mull over fantasies but we must not forget that while it is enjoyable, it is also a bit unrealistic and frivolous. So remember and enjoy, but don't bite that apple. ;)

Also, I've heard the 6 of Cups can sometimes be interpreted as playing. The LST 6 of Cups sure looks like playing to me!! How I wish I had some clamshell shaped fountains to frolic naked in...
 

hopena

I haven't liked this card since I first opened the deck on Christmas Day. I'm ashamed to say that I think it's because, for the first time ever, I'm having trouble with the idea of a birthday: my 35th one. I'll get over it (I hope), but at the moment, I'm feeling a little inadequate next to the girl in this card. :joke:

Jamil said:
I'd mulled over this one, too, as I thought of the six of cups as nostalgia, the past, and what have you. Reading that the new card represents pleasure, I wondered if it could be argued that nostalgia is a longing, often, for an idealized memory of the past. Maybe the figure on this card reflects the same kind of idealization -- either of what you desire, or how you desire to be, or how you may have once been, or how the person/thing you draw/drew pleasure from was when it was shiny and new and you'd not got around to seeing its flaws?

I've gone through phases of idealizing the past, and basically re-writing history when mentally/emotionally beating myself up over certain things - thinking that certain things shouldn't have been so difficult to deal with (that may be true of some things, but not all). I can see it as remembering only the good, as in a relationship with a person that you miss, or high school (which I loathed).


GypsyHeart said:
The Eve imagery is interesting...she hasn't taken a bite yet, that I can see, so is this before the knowledge of good and evil? Is that the nostalgia?

I'll keep this in mind, so it, hopefully, will no longer bother me... I looked at it, and saw temptation.
 

zephyr_heart

Large sized and detailed image: http://www.albideuter.de/html/lo_scarabeo_41.html

To me, it means purity and spirituality. The pureness of the naked lady; which is clear for us to see that she has no taints, and the pureness of the apple; which has not taken a bite yet. Also, the water also stands as a symbol for purity. We use water mainly to wash, to clean things. Water is also act as a thirst quencher. It serves to satisfy our thirst. Water is also the symbol of spiritual attunement with the universe at large and also spiritual fulfillment.

Remember the RWS version of this card?
I think without purity, there would never be any childhood, where we are still untainted, still pure. The very essence of childhood is of purity.

Just my 2 cents.;)
 

Aset

This came up in a reading for me recently, and in the context of the reading I have to say that this card very much reflects the Thoth interpretation of the 6 of Cups - high-level pleasure, sensuality, fertility. The apple and the water, both fertility signs, as well as the buxom figure. The sensuality is obvious. I might not have come to the same conclusion, but it was crystal clear in my reading that this is exactly what the card was signifying.