ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDY GROUP - 10 Cups

rwcarter

I'm having a lot of difficulty pulling imagery from this card that helps with interpretation and study of the card. Hopefully someone who reads this will help to fill in the gaps.

What appears to be two richly dressed couples gather in celebration around a table laden with food and wine.

Four female musicians play and sing to entertain them. Music corresponds to being in or out of harmony. It can be associated with an idea or an experience that's in tune with oneself, one's environment or the universe. It represents the ability to focus one's energy into a specific direction or purpose. Singing/singers can correspond to self-expression or harmony. They can also indicate the desire to speak out in such a way that others will listen.

A servant pours wine for one of the celebrants.

Behind the assembled group is a scene of a transport ship that's loaded with jars of wine. Below the ship are figures who are engaged in the process of making beer.

All of the women except the servant have some white thing tipped with red on their heads. I have no idea what it is.

The woman seated on the left of the card is apparently the mother of the kneeling child whose hand she is holding. Although he has toys (a ship and a chariot) to keep him occupied, he has discarded those in favor of the glass he holds.

There is something under the table at which they sit, but I can't see enough of it to figure out what it might be.

Each of the female celebrants holds a flower. They might both be lotuses, but I'm not sure. The woman on the left holds her flower in the same hand with which she holds the child's hand. There's probably some significance in that.

The male on the left has his foot resting on a low platform. I don't know if this had significance in Egyptian culture.

Each of the four adult celebrants holds a glass. Four more glasses are on the table. The child holds a ninth glass. There's a tenth glass along with a platter of grapes on the floor in front of the woman on the right. Since she's already holding a glass, I'm guessing this is an offering to some god.

Rodney
 

rwcarter

rwcarter said:
Each of the female celebrants holds a flower. They might both be lotuses, but I'm not sure. The woman on the left holds her flower in the same hand with which she holds the child's hand. There's probably some significance in that.
I've decided that both of the women do hold lotus flowers. The lotus suggests both something about to blossom and gradual enlightenment. The cup that the child holds symbolizes the unconscious. Since the child has discarded his toys and is now between the lotus and the cup, the suggestion is that he is ready to move onto the next stage of his development where he starts to gain a sense of self in relation to others, tempering his desires against what's good for the group.

The woman on the right also holds both a lotus flower and a cup, suggesting that the process that the child is about to undergo is a continual process that occurs throughout one's life.

Rodney