Tarot Erotica (by Lori Walls) - 8 of Cups

Tarot Erotica (by Lori Walls)

Our current conversation is on the 8 of Cups..

Imagery:
A horse hovering over a woman in the missionary position.. the horse looks as if he is angry or spooked..

My take on the card:
Dominance.. there is a dominate force in the questors life.. either by a partner, friend, parent, or themselves.. too much physical activity in questioners life.. a regrouping of thoughts is needed.

*edited to add* Someone recently pm'd me asking to see scans of this deck.. While I don't have the time to scan each individual card.. you can prevew the deck here:

http://www.tarotgarden.com/boutique/onlinecatalog.php?view_title=Tarot+Erotica&pageenter=0

I had several different thoughts on the 8 of cups in this deck.

Initially, I think some people who look at this card think "beastiality" and get grossed out. Taking that perspective I look at it as someone who's so desperate for a change in "xyz" area of her life that she'll go to any extreme to make that change. I read somewhere that eights are about movement. In this respect the Tarot Erotica card illustrates an even greater movement than say, the RWS where the person pictures is calmly walking away from the cups, heading up a mountain, perhaps joining the Hermit. This is a far more active movement away from the old life.

After studying the card some, though, I had another idea. The horse looks more like he's reared up and planning on trampling the woman. She's naked, on her back, and completely vulnerable. All of this takes place on a plateau, in fact, all of the eights in this deck take place atop a staired platform. Why did she climb up there? No one else is in sight. Was she trying to reach the cups (love, emotion) on the platforms even higher above her? Was she, Lady Godiva?, riding the horse and it threw her? Whatever her reasoning, she now finds herself, as September Pixie wrote, in a position where someone/thing else has dominance over her.

oh thats interesting.. I never really made the Lady Godiva connection until you mentioned it.. I think I will have to take another look at the cards to see what else I can find

eight of cups

good morning,

since this deck has so few animals, and many of those are mythological/fantastic, I believe that the horse in this case is pointing to our primal drives running away with us. I also use the idea of 'movement' or 'process' if you will as a baseline for interpreting any eight card. In case of eight of cups uncontrolled drives and passions will tend to trample us under foot. The good news here is that since it is a process, it is a dynamic situation--we have the opportunity use this energy to get off of whatever plateau 'place' we may be. Integrating more material from numerology, cards 6-9 tend to signal the culmination of a situation. Eight of cups suggests that we get our relationships or emotional situations in order--and that the processes are already in motion. A horse is herbivore, not a particular aggressive animal, but a powerful one nonetheless. Strong enough to carry heavy loads, endurance to run far, agile to surmount obstacles, and swift to outrun predators. On the other hand they are very dependent on the herd, and creatures of both instinct and habit. As a cup symbol, it is suggestive of codependent relationships and relationships that are perhaps hemmed in by social rules and/or 'the way we always done it/the way xyz says it should be done.

I am grateful that you've decided to make this study public. This was actually the first deck I acquired---and certainly fated in that I was able to pick it up brand new for only $12.00!

I consider this to be a shadowed deck---good for exploring what we fear, what we might be ashamed of, where we are not living up to our best potential. I don't consider it to be a good deck for divinatory work, but for commenting on what's the underside of current situations.

peace,
sechat

That is also an interesting way to look at it Sechat

The actual book meaning for this card is:

Abandoned Dreams
The 8 of Cups wears a stern, disciplinarian exterior around a vulnerable little girl. When her heart breaks, it goes in a big way

Upright:
The seeker finds the power to break a bad habit. Discipline, self-denial, and spiritual movement follow.

Reversed:
The seeker is aware of the need for a new lifestyle, but is unwilling or unable to make the change.

Preemptory:
This is not an easy time. You must be very strict with yourself, and not worry about others. Refine your plans as necessary.


Basically.. I much prefer the examples given in this conversation as opposed to the book.

This is probably one of the weirdest cards of the deck. It made my eyes wide open while I was thinking about zoophilia or something in that line and thinking "I'm really seeing this an a tarot deck?". But, looking at it more calmly, I arrived to similar conclusions than Mj07:

mj07 said:

After studying the card some, though, I had another idea. The horse looks more like he's reared up and planning on trampling the woman. She's naked, on her back, and completely vulnerable.

Click to expand...

However, the woman is just lying there, grabbing her thigh and raising the neck to look at the horse. She seems to have put herself in that possition willingly. So, that could be another meaning for this card.

Another idea I get from this imagery, is looking for stronger, risky and powerful emotions.