8 Coupes - How May They Be Read

Eights generally make me think of balance and stability when reading and this card looks very balanced. Each cup is separated from its neighbour by foliage which is new and vibrant. The flowers are full and not in bud and the foliage is still living, not limp as can be seen in the nine, at least in the TdM II type decks, the Noblet loses a little character for me on this point. The central bottom cup and central top cup are particularly noticeable because they are framed and protected by the leaves, as though they are precious and cherished or being presented. One is being raised to the heavens and the other is earth bound.

One possible way to read this card could be to balance ourselves and keep both spiritual and earthly matters both in our mind. I often see Cups as referring to nourishing and therefore this card could be read as nourishing not just the body but the mind and spirit too, remembering not to forsake one for the other.

Here is the Hadar 8 Coupes

I also see eights as regeneration. It's a bit like seeing fresh new buds srpouting amongst roses in full bloom. And this Hadar card does give this feeling. In fact, one can even see the two cups in the middle as those buds.

8 Confusion

I follow this logic: 2 means 2 opinions 4 is double this meaning standstill: or inactivity: 8 is double this confusion: so it is very confused. The questioner hears so many opinions and can't choose between them. Is brought to a standstill and paralysed by inactivity and trying to pick one.
8 of cups links the 8 with affairs of the heart. Suggesting to me inability to make a decison or confusion. Try a discussion with 7 other people: see what is decided.
4 is much better linked to stability I believe. A chair has four legs: a house has 4 walls. Etc.

To me the card looks like a couple, each with their family and friends arraigned behind (or standing up for) them. It makes me think of social festivities and friends coming together especially to support or celebrate a young couple.

Mr. Noblet's 8 Coupe

Thanks, Mary for that post!


I've been taking part on JMD's 30 week review of the Noblet, which I can heartily recommend! I have been struggling with this image for a very long time. So, I appreciate the opportunity to very briefly comment.

I rather like Mary's image of the associates arraigned about the central couple. I have come to see the image to suggest a partnership, friendship, marriage surrounded by family and offspring. Of course, this can be taken in a metaphorical or literal manner.

The couple may be lovers, friends, business associates--whatever! The center of the card is dominated by a very important, even foundational conversation. Perhaps the fecundity of this particular response to the duality has engendered all the others depicted.

As Lucifers Mum has suggested, it might be a conversation in a crowd [maybe even a bit thorny], but at the point of the conversation, it appears to me to be quite intimate. And, given the nature of the cups as has been pointed out above, probably also rather life-giving.

At the end of the day it might be a wedding, a birthday, an engagement, a bris, an event celebrated in a Family or community ; an event that might require diplomacy, tact. The six associates might suggest an aspect of harmony. Maybe the center sometimes holds even when the periphery pulls a bit?

It seems to me, a good omen.



CED

I like the broader perspective you offered, Conversus. To me there's a sense of the middle two being displayed before others. Being Cups and the balance of the 8, I assume the others are supportive - although other scenarios are possible.

The fence

I can see the two "lovers " separated by a cross: and all the people kept in cells to stop them killing eachother. I may be a bit on the gloomy side much to me it appears like a huge crowd blocking my way. Not malicious, but not helpful. I wish I saw the world in such happy colours.

I tend to take a slightly gloomy view of this card. For me, eights are heavy, weighty, complex. In this card, a complex and formal social situation is going on and the two in the center are the focus. It seems the vegetation divides everyone. I don't see conversation or togetherness, but rather being alone in a crowd. Perhaps a situation where everyone is out for himself, or stuck in his own private reality. I see the two in the middle as possibly being judged or ostracized.

But I also like to look at each card in the context of the cards before and after. For me, the previous card is a yearning for transcendence, a longing to be swept away by a grand passion or a mystical experience. You achieve this in Nine. So Eight is a transition card between the wish and the fulfillment.

So another way of looking at this card is to see the central cups as embarking on a life-changing quest, or relationship, that will lead to transcendant love or spiritual experiences. Perhaps they are being initiated into a lodge, or taking vows. Whatever they are getting themselves into, I think it will result in submerging their individual egos for the sake of the group, or the cause or the spiritual vision they are pledging themselves to.

Sherryl