6 of cups versus 2 of cups?

What would you say is the major difference between these two in terms of how some-one feels about you in a romantic sense?

The 2 of cups is the traditional minor arcana "lovers" card. I see it as two different souls sharing feelings. I don't see it as a necessarily active card though because it is the cups reflection of the High Priestess who is passive. So I see it as two souls recognizing each other and are in balance with each other and in a special relationship but not necessarily actively pursuing it.

However the 6 of cups is the cup reflection of the major arcana "Lovers". The number 6 in some ways is a harmonious number. So playing with words the 6 of cups as a harmonious balance of emotions. However I'm not sure what that really means. And how does the choice aspect of the Lovers comes out in the 6 of cups? I can't see that in the RWS version of the card.

Anyway, what would you say would the difference between the two cards in a romantic reading?

my experience of the 6 cups...

a few month ago this card would come up in spreads I did for a friend of mine who early after a difficult break up started a 'rebound' relationship with a younger woman.

I would say that this card reflected quite well the sort of 'innocent' phase the relationship went through at the start. There were spending time together, enjoying each other's company as if in a romantic friendship. Sex was not so much in the picture, neither was any real commitment...since then the relationship has blossomed and 2 cups has been more present in their spreads. I think 2 cups would point to a relationship where both people have made a commitment to each other (at least emotionally).

I have also seen 6 cups to represent children when one of the partner is a single parent...

And another possible meaning I can think of with 6 cups is the reminiscence of good all times. One is reminding the other of an ex partner???


x

The biggest difference between the two is that 2/Cups can refer, and often does refer, to meeting a stranger. This is that "click" moment when you meet someone for the first time and you two just *click*. It's that Romeo and Juliet moment, where you see each other across and room and feel that magnet pull. And, yes, it's that time when you get to know someone and it seems like you can't look at anyone else. Everything they do fascinates you, and everything you do fascinates them. The relationship is new and fresh and attraction seems to hold the two of you in balance, as if you were orbiting each other, caught in each other's gravity.

BUT...and this is important, the card does not promise that it will develop into anything more or work out. Keep that in mind.

6/Cups, however, almost always relates to an old relationship. There's a bittersweet taste to it. Nostalgic. Like going back to the girl/boy next door, the one you grew up with. You may feel great love and affection for the person, but you can never relive that fresh, new "getting to know you" moment. Even if the card relates to a new love, it indicates that these two will feel more like sharing their past with each other than their present.

Tehanu said:

And how does the choice aspect of the Lovers comes out in the 6 of cups? I can't see that in the RWS version of the card.

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This is a card about returning home, returning to the past, and finding balance there. It is returning to a port in a storm where you know the person and they know you. And you choose to remember that past, revisit it, so as to come to terms with it, find something only it can give you.

But you aren't going to stay there. The choice you make is to go back in time for a moment, and what you take with you back to the present. Like going home for the holidays, smelling all the fragrances that remind you of times past, re-living for a moment the joys of childhood. That is the choice--deciding to do that in order to find and retrieve a missing part of yourself.

That's always the important part of the choice in the Lover's card--not just making any choice, but rather a choice that will make you whole.

I would say the 2 of cups might refer to a situation where your trying to decide what you feel and how you feel about someone or something- that your in the process of making that emotional connection

The Six of cups could be an indication that mental deliberation and emotional struggle are over with, that the decision to care for someone or something has been made and that balance and harmony have been restored or found because of it.

Blessings

Tehanu said:

What would you say is the major difference between these two in terms of how some-one feels about you in a romantic sense?

The 2 of cups is the traditional minor arcana "lovers" card. I see it as two different souls sharing feelings. I don't see it as a necessarily active card though because it is the cups reflection of the High Priestess who is passive. So I see it as two souls recognizing each other and are in balance with each other and in a special relationship but not necessarily actively pursuing it.

Click to expand...

I like the way you are linking these cards with the major deck. This offers you so much more info, I like to do this, particularly when a minor leaves wanting more!
I like to see the HP, not so much as passive, but more like a simmering potential. A need to wait and see but for now the future looks very promising. I see a lot more romantic potential in this 2 cups, rather than the 6 cups.

Tehanu said:

However the 6 of cups is the cup reflection of the major arcana "Lovers". The number 6 in some ways is a harmonious number. So playing with words the 6 of cups as a harmonious balance of emotions. However I'm not sure what that really means. And how does the choice aspect of the Lovers comes out in the 6 of cups? I can't see that in the RWS version of the card.

Click to expand...

Despite this card links with the lovers, for me and I underline for me, in my readings this 6 nearly always points to relationships that are not romantically linked, IE family members and especially children. The past and how it links with the present or future is a big part of this 6 cups meaning. All relationships face choices at some stage. It could be that maybe the relationship in question is facing major choices but this aspect may not always apply. Be careful when connecting the minor with the major, only some aspects will apply, you will have to use your instinct more with this method.
In a romantic reading, I would like to see the 2 rather than the 6. I feel there exists a sensual aspect in the 2 that isn't there in the 6. Having said this, the 2 can still be drawn for non romantic relationships, here other aspects of this card would apply. I remember a while back, there was a discussion on this very subject. Some very varying beliefs of the differences seems to exist.
Hope this sounds clear and not confusing.
Eddie

I've had 2 of Cups come up when a friend met another person on a dating site, they went out on one date and it didn't work out. I guess the "date" was the 2 of cups.

I've also had the 6 of Cups come up for the return of an old lover, an ex.

I guess the interpretation of either of these cards will be more clear within the context of the question and the situation.

GA

There's a cadeuceus (sp?) on the 2 of Cups and I've seen it meaning a healing between two people who have had differences, that being the symbol doctors and nurses wear, with its association with the healing professions.

Grizabella said:

There's a cadeuceus (sp?) on the 2 of Cups and I've seen it meaning a healing between two people who have had differences, that being the symbol doctors and nurses wear, with its association with the healing professions.

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The caduceus is also the symbol of Mercury and not only stands for healing but for messages and communications, also speed. This connection between the two is instantanous. The winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark who was at the wedding where Jesus turned water to wine--he held the cup of said water that was transformed.

Thus there is the feeling that there is a magical, special and unique sort of connection happening between the two. Not only perfect communication and healing of wounds, but the water in their cups has the potential to be turned into "wedding" wine. These two could be meant for each other.

I also take note of the equality between the two people in the 2/cups and the difference in size of the people in the 6/cups (based on RWS).

2/cups seems like more of an equality, total understanding, eye-to-eye love situation.

6/cups seems to be more of an "I'll take care of you and bring you flowers" love situation.

Also with the 6/cups being tied to the Lovers (again using RWS imagery) I feel like it refers to a return to Eden or innocence. The Lovers as Adam and Eve in the Garden are innocent, and therefore have no problem being naked in front of each other (no fig leaves yet). If Eve doesn't partake of the fruit and they stay in the garden forever, they live in a self-imposed bondage of innocence, which is the Devil card (15 = 1 + 5 = 6) - still naked, still innocent but by choice so now the innocence is more like naivete or ignorance.

So, with the 6/cups referring to a return to innocence, a return to Eden, it also to me insinuates a risk of dependency, babysitting, caretaking, etc in a romantic relationship if it doesn't develop beyond innocence. Which is why the 2/cups, the card of equal sharing and participation, seems like a healthier, more balanced approach to romance.

That's just my take on those two cards romantically.

xhollysue said:

So, with the 6/cups referring to a return to innocence, a return to Eden, it also to me insinuates a risk of dependency, babysitting, caretaking, etc in a romantic relationship if it doesn't develop beyond innocence. Which is why the 2/cups, the card of equal sharing and participation, seems like a healthier, more balanced approach to romance.

Click to expand...

Nice interpretation. Kind of a "returning to the nursery" (by that I mean playroom, not cradle) where you have someone there who loves you and wants to care for you, cutting the crusts off your sandwiches and tucking you in at night. But who also deprives you of all the decision making--which, in many relationships, is what both people want.

I do like the idea of seeing this card as having a moment where you don't have to worry or think. Where you can return to childhood (as it were) and let someone else take care of you emotionally.

We once had a very long and interesting discussion on this card and what a good many people noted was the guard in the background. He's not involved with what the children are doing, but he's certainly keeping them safe--and from seeing that world outside the castle walls. Eden is both a paradise and a prison.

But, once again, as with the Lovers Eden metaphor, there is a feeling that such a situation, between adults at least, is artificial and can't last. You can return to it temporarily to that sweet and perfect harmony, but you're not children any longer. The innocence of childhood doesn't last forever, and in the Eden story, Eve does eat that apple. Love allows you to return, but there's no staying forever. The harmony of 6 will give way to the challenge of 7 which, interestingly enough with the cups, is the challenge of choosing what is real and likely and worth going after from what is fantasy.