Valet de Coupes - how may it be read?

This Valet has also before been discussed...

In a reading, he may indicate that the person is bringing with him or her a gift of spiritual import, but also that perhaps the person needs to go out and further see what else may be gleaned from the situation at hand.

No decisions are here indicated, but careful listening and the ability to be able to receive gifted insight into whatever is being considered.

I like this card, though the different versions confuse me. He can look sad like Eyeore or simply solemn; he can be hiding or revealing his cup. As you said in another context about the whole of the TdM, Jean-Michel, the essence of the Valet de Coupes can be found somewhere between those different versions.

To me he indicates an emotional situation, or a young person, that needs nurturing because it/he is still too young to flourish alone. For example, when I get a new idea for a story, but still unformed and not ready to make it to the page, or just a few images I can jot down, I shall often draw this card. I used to think it was only with the RW-type decks: but since I started studying the TdM, I also receive the Valet de Coupes card as an indication I need to nurture the idea further, and eventually reveal it.

And yet the sadness/solemnity. Is there something he must lose, too? Is it that in pursuing this emotional situation he will grow up and it is making him sad (or solemn)?

There is a spiritual element to this card, as in all cups; and a powerful receptivity - a reminder of the Grail. Does he hold what could become a Grail? In the realm of the spirit we are all children - perhaps the Valet tells us to be as open and trusting as children when it comes to receiving the gift of the Divine? Perhaps he is looking solemn because of the contradiction at the heart of this card: this Valet looks both young and old, wise and foolish. He tells us - grow up in order to become as children again. Only then will you see that the cup you hold is a Grail.

It seems to me that with the Valet is holding the lid,
then the Coupe is "uncovered" in that sense alone.
And we are, in any case, supposed to see the Coupe.

Fournier ~ Uncovered:
http://www.wischik.com/lu/tarot/cards/u_11knav.jpg

Hadar ~ Covered:
http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?s=&postid=368541

Dodal ~ Unavailable: (hint )
Le Tarot de Dodal gives an interesting interpretation,
with quite a bit of roundness to the protruding form.

I'm curious as to why he seems to be walking so gingerly with this cup, as though he doesn't want to spill the contents....... but then why not put the lid on? In the Hadar, part of his scarf is covering the top of the cup.

I see this card as a young person who is new to some emotions and carefully considering them and dealing with them. He is a little clumsy and therefore needs to practice suppressing them. It also points to a dreamy situation where a decision is difficult to make and perhaps needs more consideration, before taking action. Another aspect is of a new emotional situation which needs careful handling.

Yesterday afternoon I was in a section of the city I only rarely go to, when a sign for a soup-specialist 'restaurant' caught my attention: it was a mediæval looking woodcut-type Valet-waiter holding a large tourine balanced on one hand - very similar indeed to our Valet!

Its contents? I hope it was tomato or deep-red carrot soup...

How interesting, jmd!

And if we think of court cards as people, and the valets as perhaps at times acting as "those who serve others," then your tourine/cup of soup does indeed take on new meaning.

Helvetica...once again, I enjoyed your summary, your take on the mood aspect of the figure.

I, too, see these things when I look at the card.

I am looking at the Hadar.

The valet's head is bowed and hat removed almost as if in
deference to ....

What?

the spirituality, the emotions, the feelings, the love contained within the cup...as though the valet is carrying it to someone else, but hasn't yet earned the right to see and partake of its contents.

Also, of the four Valets in the Hadar, at least, this one is moving actively toward the left, the past?

It is as a left-oriented card, more feminine, more reflective, suggesting that experience, remembrance, intuition, the unconscious may be aspects to consider when this card appears.

So we have, perhaps, an innocence, devotion, beginner's mind at play here in terms of the spiritual and emotional aspect of a card of cups. Fragility? Vulnerability?

Is this valet, maybe, one who is still tied to his mother's apron strings, charming, yet timid and somewhat subservient, yet romantic and sweet?

To preface what I think of the Valet de Coupe, if you'll kindly indulge me as I reiterate another post I made on AT.
I see the Valets as the He-final (of the YOD/HE/VAU/He sequence), which is the most corporeal formation of Yod/He/Vau and most probably concerned with the pragmatic manifestation of the matter. Thus, Valets are concerned with the nuts and bolts of matters: the small details, errands, to do lists, etc. The Valet is concerned with the auxiliary details and accouterments around the drama of the Court.

Valets are errands and necessities, minor/supportive actions (that are nonetheless necessary enough to the plotline to bring up), but once in awhile, they are young people 20 yrs and younger (roughly the age when Page/Valet/Squires would graduate into Knighthood). Valets are servants, service, employment, help, errands, lists, the little daily matters, an episode in a larger matter, and by tradition: information (letters, emails, newspapers, phone, internet, etc). A subordinate by conditions of age.

The Valet de Coupe is thus these aforementioned qualities paired with the attributes of the Coupes. (I term these attributes as the 3 R's: Religion, R&R, and Relationships.) Of course then, the possibilities are many. In the case of LOVE, the Valet de COupe often pops up to signify those little things that we think about when we are courting (like spontaneous calls, notes, flowers, chocolates, random acts of kindness). For established couples, it tends to represent the deliberate infusion of these "immature" qualities into the relationship. It's as if the mature partners "regress" to a more childlike state (regress in a good way, that is) and remember the freshness of their love.

Paul said:

The Valet de Coupe is thus these aforementioned qualities paired with the attributes of the Coupes. (I term these attributes as the 3 R's: Religion, R&R, and Relationships.)

For established couples, it tends to represent the deliberate infusion of these "immature" qualities into the relationship. It's as if the mature partners "regress" to a more childlike state (regress in a good way, that is) and remember the freshness of their love.

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I love the 3 R's, Paul, for Coupes...it's so apt!!

Very interesting post.

I do see Valets, in general, as being "young" either literally or referring to a stage of development one may be in no matter what age the person may be. We have a friend who is 69 years old, and has never left home or basically had a relationship and has fallen "in love" with a 38 year old woman who has two teenage children.

I see him as a Valet de Coupes to some extent....he's doing all the little things you mentioned, from flowers to candies to notes to giving her BIG amounts of money.

Arrested development within an adult, then, could also be signaled by the apperance of a Valet de Coupes, non?

terri

One thing that really does strike me with this valet, in all the versions I have seen, is how young and old he appears. His features are old but his expression is insecure. Perhaps he is really very old and he has reached his second childishness; or perhaps he is insecure because he is older than the other valets and he should have got on in life by now, and hasn't - he is still a valet, a servant.

Young people usually put on a mask of security, of bravado. His face is naked.

How to read that young/old element? I put a postive spin on it in an earlier post, but I think tmgrl's suggestion of "arrested development" is a very apt reading too, depending on circumstances.

tmgrl2 said:

I love the 3 R's, Paul, for Coupes...it's so apt!
Very interesting post.

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Thank you, Terri. These are mnemonic aids I used when I used to teach tarot, particularly the TdM. Plus, they help when reading non-scenic minor pips.

tmgrl2 said:

Arrested development within an adult, then, could also be signaled by the apperance of a Valet de Coupes, non?

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Indeed. To be true, I would find the Valet reversed in this aspect, presuming that "arrested development" is to be considered as, I daresay, negative?