Necronomicon Tarot -- Eight of Cups

I'm beginning to really love the story behind this suit of cups. In the seven of cups we saw our young hero being denied some milk by catwoman (Bast) and in the eight of cups we see him turning away clutching his cup. The book has the following to say:

"The young acolyte stands with his back to the goddess, silver chalice clutched close to his chest in both hands, a stubborn expression on his face. She extends her hand to him in welcome, but he does not see it. Arranged on the floor in a row on his right side are four silver chalices, tipped on their sides and empty, their bowls pointed away from him and on his left side, three empty silver chalices in a row similarly tipped away from him."

I don't think the goddess's hand is extended in welcome. I think she is giving him the message to go away and not come back until he understands that you cannot possibly know anything until you have emptied your mind of everything. Apologies for yet another zen interpretation!

I can almost hear her say:

You clutch emptiness to your chest.
Emptiness lies at your feet sevenfold.
Do not return until you are as empty as the cup you hold and the cups at your feet.

I'll have to agree with you here Sanctum_Priest on the emptiness concept here and definitely about her hand gesture. Her hand gesture is definitely a "get out" signal.

After Bast's second rejection, the eyes of the apprentice here have a look of understanding as if he's trying to convey "I know what to do now". His heart is obviously heavy on this thought which is also conveyed in his eyes.

Sanctum_Priest said:

I don't think the goddess's hand is extended in welcome. I think she is giving him the message to go away and not come back until he understands that you cannot possibly know anything until you have emptied your mind of everything. Apologies for yet another zen interpretation!

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