Universal Fantasy- Four of Chalices

.traveller.

This is an interesting depiction of a card that is often interpreted as ennui, and disinterest. I don't see either of those traits at first glance. I see a man, a knight, who has gone on a binge and he appears to be suffering. There is an apparition in the tree, alluring and enticing but very much part of the tree. A dryad perhaps? One never to be separated from her tree and thoroughly magical. Is she a figment of the knight's imagination, a memory he is trying to drown out with wine? Yet he has set up a strange sort of camp at the base of this tree, with luxurious pillows and a plush rug or spread. Does he plan to be here for a long time to be close to the source of his torment? What could be so terrible to have reduced a knight to this state? His sword is sheathed and leans neglected against the trunk, his helmet is cast heedlessly aside. He certainly does not appear noble or proud, he is consumed by his suffering. A suffering both physical (caused by the drink) and emotional (what has brought him to this state).
 

Skydancer

Here's another take on this card:

This is our knight at a most disasterous time in his life/day. I can see where the spirit holding the cup is not really there. Our knight is thinking of her and what she offers ... "yet one more!" "Come hither, my good man!" She is his memories, his conscience, his Achilles heel. She is his desire and his downfall.

Yet, his sword leans against the base of the tree - so is this a real tree and she (a spirit) hiding within?? Or is his sword the connection between reality and myth? Between "here" and "there"??

Look at the progression of the 3 - 4 - 5 of Chalices; fantasy party - hungover and hurting yet being enticed to do more - great remorse for something lost.

I think a book could be written just on these three cards/images/ideas/possibilities.
I have never seen these ideas, and varrying ones at that, so vividly portrayed. Something about them ... you can feel emotion.
 

.traveller.

The whole suit of cups packs a wallop, its quite refreshing (The King is WAY scary). I was thinking about this card some more... I really like what you said about the sword being a bridge (well, you said connection but similar concept). The sword bothered me because it was so deliberately placed and therefore had a very important message to impart, but I just wasn't getting it. Seeing it as a bridge makes so much sense.

I started to see the "apathy" in the card if I looked at the specter as if she were a memory. He'd rather curl up and suffer, than go out and do something about his predicament. The lush accouterments might suggest that he enjoys his suffering, perhaps we see a martyr mentality going on here.

On a more positive (?) note, an artist might see their muse this way. Often there is much suffering in the creation of art, both in the process and the environment surrounding the creation. This could be extended to performing artists, writers and poets.
 

thorhammer

The image on this card is extremely personal to me. It recalls so very strongly a recent phase I went through, where I truly could not see any reason to go on breathing. I turned to drink. Instead of helping me forget my troubles, it amplified them until all I could focus on was the misery that I felt, the complete, suffocating, abdominal-pain-inducing pointlessness of it all.

This poor guy is feeling this way. Our Knight has reached that point in his quest where he is questioning his motives, the possibility of success, the value of the quest itself and the prize at the end. He's turned around to face the darkness that creeps up on us, stared it in the face and seen complete emptiness. He's (temporarily?) lost his purpose in life, and now he's got no direction.

The dryad represents reality, to me, being the glowing entity on a generally stark and saddening image. She offers the goodness of Life in that cup, another refill to replace the others that the Knight has drunk dry. It represents the little spur that we get in those times we're at our lowest, that little thing that gives us just enough energy to get over the last hurdle into the downhill for a wee while.

I know I talk in analogies, but it's how it comes to my head. I hope this sparks a bit more discussion of this beautiful card :).

\m/ Kat
 

Queen of Disks

The dryad wishes to help this poor traveler. But the traveler has to open up his eyes and SEE this cup and accept the good things the dryad has to offer. He has to accept that things can get better.

I have an idea how he feels. I've had days where everything seems horrible and I'm stuck where I am in a stagnant situation. I have health problems which make things feel worse then they are. I've felt like nothing will change or get better. I've wanted to lie down and die. But I didn't, because I knew these days will pass. Deep down I feel that things will get better. (Don't ask me how.)
 

Shuvano

In this card I see the man as introverted, isolated, withdrawn, depressed, void of any desires/goals/initiative and simply feeling sorry for himself. The tree is offering him an elixir as a cure/remedy to his problems, but the man is so self-absorbed that he is missing it. He is so 'stuck' in his current mental state that he can't see help is right there, but he has to 'snap out of it' and want to help himself.