Seaking of Rider Waite symbols (another one hehe)

Liliana

Does anyone know the symbolism of the W on the Ace of Cups? Im studying the Ace of Cups over a multitude of decks for ideas for my FACT card andIve found it repeated in many decks. Is it something stupid, like meaning Waite (in which case I will not use it) or is it deeper than that? Also, could someone give me some non christian reasons for the cross and circle? I want to make sure I can discuss my symbolism in Christian andnon Christian terms (in Christian terms its obvious that the card depicts the Holy Spirit descending upon the communion wafer and communal cup)
 

Malachite

Could it be something to do with the Grail?....the Quest for the Perfect Love?...

just a thought....i hadn;t noticed the w actually...
 

Liliana

couldb, like I said I have absolutely no clue lol
 

Briarfoote

A "W" stands for the ups and downs on life's paths. OK, I just made that up. I too had not noticed a "W". The overwhelmingly christian symbolism always threw me off on this card. Then a friend of mine gave some non-Christian themes for them.

Dove (White / purity) as symbol of peace and in some cases love.
Cup as Holy Grail, Holy Grail is retelling of Celtic Sacred Cauldron - fertility and the mysteries.

I forget some of the others... sorry.
Still seemed very heavily Christian to me.
 

Original Destiny

just a thought is it a Hebrew letter?
 

Mojo

Is it a W or an upside down M?

The W character isn't part of the Hebrew alphabet, but it is a representation of a character in the earlier Phonecian alphabet where it was the pre-cursor to the Roman F, G, U and V (as I recall).

It was added to the Roman alphabet in the middle ages, usually as a representation of the Greek Omega....

Symbolically Omega can mean the end of a path, or the end of a pattern, or the fulfillment of a quest. Lots of possibilities for the symbol on the Ace of Cups!

However, to me the letter doesn't so much look like a W as it does like an upside down M.

M is a very powerful letter! In many cultures (including the Greeks and the Romans), the M-like character represents androgyny or the inclusion or blending of both genders. Combined with the other imagery of the Ace of Cups, this opens up some pretty interesting possibilities!

Ah... but why is it upside down? I have lots of theories about that! It all depends on what the question was and where the card shows up in a reading as far as I'm concerned.

And of course, once you figure out what all that means, then you'll suddenly notice that the cup runneth over into five streams.... what could that possibly signify???

Oh... and those water lillies! What kind of message do those send?

Yup... the Ace of Cups has probably the most complex imagery of any card in the Waite-Smith deck. Lots and lots there to work with!
 

Mermaid

Didn't you guys go to kindergarten when you were kids? I thought everyone knew that W is for ... WATER!

(sorry, couldn't resist!)

BB
Mermaid
 

VGimlet

LOL Mermaid! I think you're right!

Seriously, I have about six books I'm using for study right now, and none of them mention what the W means, although a few of them do call it the Grail.
One of the books says water lilies represent peaceful emotions and eternal life.
 

Liliana

Thanks the water lily will be on the card, I already decided that :) Maybe Ill go pose it to my email tarot group and see if they have any amazing insight to share (they seem to have an opinon on EVERYTHING lol)
 

Kiama

I thought that the equal-armed cross and circle signify peace, just like the dove and water lillies.

Kiama