78 Weeks: Six Cups

To find out what these threads refer to, please seeThe link above provides suggested dates and links to all threads for this study.

Some amongst us may be working through the deck in a different order, and using different decks.

For more general comments or questions about the 78 weeks, please post in the thread linked above.

Enjoy!

the six of cups

this six is about memories. being reminded of something. reversed, it will be a memory only after its occured.

6 of Cups

Again using my Universal Waite for the study this week (and inspiration for my own version of the card).

An older (larger) person holding out a cup to a young girl, as they both stand in garden or courtyard of a home or village. My first thoughts and impressions on this card are often about emotional help from family or friends. The loving support or advice given by an adult (mature person) to a child (or young person) in a protected and comfortable environment.

The white lilies in the cups I also relate to the purity and innocence of child like activities, carefree and content. I sometimes think of this card when my son and I spend time in the garden potting plants and just talking about 'stuff' - anything and everything - just enjoying each others company and sharing quality time together in the fresh air and sunshine.

I can also connect this card to thinking about or being reminded of the past. Remembering happy times or kindnesses, which fits for me for this card coming after the 5 of Cups in that sometimes when dealing with a loss or upset of some kind we often think back to the good times or more pleasant memories. It also fits for me that usually it is family and good friends that are there to help after times of loss to give that bit of emotional support to move on.

In my version of this card I have also included a wishing well, which also symbolises for me wishes and dreams past and future, and the sharing of these dreams with the people who care about you and may help you realise them with love and encouragement.

CreativeFire

CreativeFire - Your endless capacity to find appropriate statuary amazes me. They're all such a similar style I want to ask if they're all by the same artist?

I'm still studying as many different version of the Tarot of Marseilles I can lay my hands on. I still don't have a Grimaud. (hint, hint)

Ah, that most aligned of numbers the number six. Who ever's had a Christian upbring won't recall the number six six six.

Despite what my RWS tells me - which seems so limiting now, I've come to see this card as a type of balance in the realm of feelings. You can feel positively or negatively and can achieve results either way. Remember how happy you could feel as a child? How uninhibited? Or you can be down on things - you get to control people that way.

Results depend on focus. Your mileage may vary.

I've finally begun to realise - the pip cards in the Marseilles fling open your intuition.

I attach my version of the 6 of Cups - drawn during this period of study:

In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea. . . .

This is a line I often think of with the 6 of cups. You have the sun in your heart. All is peace, all seems well — but since the six is only a midpoint in the cycle of Cups, it can be a slightly illusory or false peace, drowsiness, complacency. Christ was not born in some pre-Raphaëlite painting amidst the posies. Christ was born in a cowshed. This is what the RWS image seems to me to be getting at.

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain;
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
--- A. E. Housman

In the TdM, the two rows of cups are walled off by a line of ornamental foliage. This too suggests to me something of a sheltered life or a fool's paradise in this card. It may in fact be rest for the weary, too, a meaning RWS gives to the 4 of Swords, but which seems at home here. It is not a place you want to remain forever, though.

Major Tom said:

CreativeFire - Your endless capacity to find appropriate statuary amazes me. They're all such a similar style I want to ask if they're all by the same artist?

Click to expand...

It amazes me too, Major Tom!! But it is getting a bit harder the more cards I do, but I just never realised how many different statues there were out there!

To answer your question - no - they are all from lots of different places and creators, I have a whole lot of photos of different 'style' statues that I have gathered in my search but try and find ones that sort of fit in with the others already in the cards when I can.

I have a special one on order (that I may use for the card backs) and she is called 'The Tarot Reader'!!

But anyway back on thread now - I shall look forward to seeing more of your cards next week in the 78 week threads!

CF

Hi Folks,

I just tried to find my way around here... and have come to the conclusion that if I were to join now, I'do the exercise for the 6 of Cups - am I correct??

Okay, thought I'd just go ahead with my ideas on the 6 of Cups.

Actually, this card already occupied me yesterday night, when I posted to the Song thread. Without thinking, a song started playing in my head - Marillion's "Lavender".

These are the lyrics:

I was walking in the park
Dreaming of a spark
When I heard the sprinklers whisper
Shimmer in the haze of summer lawns.
Then I heard the children singing
They were running through the rainbows.
They were singing a song for you
Well it seemed to be a song for you
The one I wanted to write for you

Lavenders blue, dilly dilly, lavenders green
When I am king, dilly dilly
You will be queen
A penny for your thoughts my dear
A penny for your thoughts my dear
I.o.u. for your love
I.o.u. for your love

This song to me represents a lot of the qualities of the 6 of Cups - the slightly dreamlike atmosphere and also the "wishing well" connection CreativeFire has made (represented by the rainbows). In the RWS imagery, I can well imagine the taller figure tell the smaller one "When I am king you will be queen" - sort of children's make believe, but with a true core of commitment and attachment.

Numerology-wise, the Sixes describe stability, but it is acquired, mature stability (having already passed the Two and Four). A moment of well-earned rest after the toils of the Five, preparing for the challenge of the Seven. This is most prominent in the 6 of Cups.

To move out of my comfort zone, I additionally looked at the 6 of Cups in my Tarot of Reflections, which I have not yet come around to study properly.

While using a slightly different imagery, the Refelctions is very much in synch with the RWS here - it shows two children running with a ring through lush green fields, two girls winding flower wreaths and adorning each other with them. In the vackground there's a cutesy little Holly Hobbie-house, refelcted in the sky, thus emphasizing the message of being in a protected environment - and also, being in a secluded, small environment which must be left behind eventually to expand one's horizon.

Six of Cups - Revelations Tarot

First impressions
Sleepy – both ways round. Restful, too, not nightmarish.

From the book
Upright
He lies in a pleasant daydream of happy childhood memories.
Emotions of the past will resurface again in the form of happy memories. Past lovers or old friends will reappear in your life, rekindling flames or taking you for a ride down memory lane. You may also reflect on the past to find answers for the present and future. Pleasant dreams of the past may also float in and out of your sleep.
In work situations, you may find yourself revisiting past endeavors or contacts to help you along the way. You may also reflect upon memories of past achievements and happiness in an attempt to incorporate those goals into your present life.

Reversed
He is haunted by disturbing memories of his past.
Here the memories of the past cause more grief than happiness. Bad experiences haunt and torment you while you sleep and in your waking hours. Issues such as these need to be resolved before you can properly move on.
Relationships may crumble under the pressure of previous indiscretions. One partner may not let the other partner go. Old flames and exes come back to pester and annoy. Past failures at work resurface to torment you. Promotions may be jeopardized by old grudges and bad reviews.

Images and Symbolism
The baby seahorses represent this card's association with memories from one's younger years or childhood. A pleasant smile stretches across the merman's face as he reminisces.
On the reverse, the arguing baby seahorses contrast this notion, casting their banter over the merman's rest. He fights in vain to block out the haunting sounds, which resound in his head.
Color: deep reds, blues, silver green; associated with Scorpio.

Traditional meanings
Upright:
The past, working through the present, creates the future. Pleasant memories or a visitor from long ago
Reversed:
Nostalgia, inability to adapt to new conditions.

My impressions:
Upright
A sleeping merman leans against some weeds. To his right are three little seahorse-like creatures with humanoid heads, each proffering a cup. He is oblivious of this. AS with the other cards in this suit – seaweed and bubbles in the background.

Reversed
Rather similar – except that the seahorsey creatures are red and angry and seem to be clutching the cups, rather than offering them – and the merman seems more deeply asleep; he’s turned away from the cups, and doesn’t look as peaceful.

My take
Indolence, in both attitudes. But somehow the upright image seems more positively so – and this is emphasised by the seahorse creatures offering cups (opportunities, I think) and the fact that the merman looks peacefully asleep, rather than “out cold” as the reversed one does. The upright figure is dreaming, I think – and pleasant dreams. While the reverse merman is almost drugged, knocked out. Which will be why he is provoking rage among the seahorse creatures, I think. They maybe were offering him things and are enraged that he is just so doped up that he doesn’t even notice. I think that the upright image is one of reflection and accepting opportunities in time though not at once while the reversed one is hanging on to bad habits (drink and drugs spring to mind !) and rejection of the new.

All the cards from this deck can be viewed here.

Thoth 6 Cups

Card name: Six of Cups

First impressions
Six rather – kitschy looking – cups, curiously shaped at the base, seem to fall from lotus blossoms. Below, a swelling green sea, above and behind a green sky. (I AM using a greenie deck here…)
From the Book of Thoth

THE FOUR SIXES

These cards are attributed to Tiphareth. This Sephira is in some respects the most important of all. It is the centre of the whole system; it is the only Sephira below the Abyss which communicates directly with Kether. It is fed directly from Chokmah and Binah; also from Chesed and Geburah. It is thus admirably fitted to dominate the lower Sephiroth; it is balanced both vertically and horizontally. In the planetary system it represents the Sun; in the system of Tetragrammaton it represents the Son. The entire geometrical complex of the Ruach may be regarded as an expansion from Tiphareth. It represents consciousness in its most harmonized and balanced form; definitely in form, not only in idea, as in the case of the number Two. In other words, the Son is an interpretation of the Father in terms of the mind.

The four Sixes are thus representative of their respective elements at their practical best.

The Six of Cups is called Pleasure. This pleasure is a kind of pleasure which is completely harmonized. The zodiacal sign governing the card being Scorpio, pleasure is here rooted in its most convenient soil. This is pre-eminently a fertile card; it is one of the best in the pack.


PLEASURE SIX OF CUPS

This card shows the influence of the number Six, Tiphareth, in the suit of Water. This influence is fortified by that of the Sun, who also represents the Six. The whole image is that of the influence of the Sun on Water. His fierce, but balanced power operates that type of putrefaction-he is in the Sign of Scorpio-which is the basis of all fertility, all life.

The lotus stems are grouped in an elaborate dancing movement. From their blossoms water gushes into the Cups, but they are not yet full to overflowing, as they are in the corresponding card below; the Nine.

Pleasure, in the title of this card, must be understood in its highest sense: it implies well-being, harmony of natural forces without effort or strain, ease, satisfaction. Foreign to the idea of the card is the gratification of natural or artificial desires. Yet it does represent emphatically the fulfilment of the sexual Will, as shown by the ruling Sephira, planet, element, and sign.
In the Yi King, Sol in Scorpio is represented by the 20th Hexagram, Kwan, which is also “Big Earth”, being the Earth Trigram with doubled lines. Kwan means “manifesting”, but also “contemplating”.

The Kwan refers directly to an High Priest, ceremonially purified, about to present his offerings. The idea of Pleasure-Putrefaction as a Sacrament is therefore implicit in this Hexagram as in this card; while the comments on the separate lines by the Duke of Chau indicate the analytical value of this Eucharist. It is one of the master-keys to the Gate of Initiation. To realize and to enjoy this fully it is necessary to know, to understand, and to experience, the Secret of the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O.

Click to expand...

Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:

Six of Cups = Pleasure. Tiphareth in the suit of Water. Sun in Scorpio.
The Lotus stems are grouped in an elaborate movement. Water gushes into them; they are full but not overflowing. This shows the influence of the Sun on Water. His fierce but balanced power operates on a type of putrefaction which is the basis of fertility.

Click to expand...

Also:

Six of Cups = Pleasure. Sun in Scorpio. Tiphareth.
The cups are full but do not overflow, here is love for personal gratification.

Click to expand...

This card is very balanced – in an overblown sort of way. DuQuette points out that balance returns after the bad dreams of the four and five.
Again, in the pattern of the whole we can see the outline of a butterfly – Banzhaf reckons this is the same butterfly as was visible in the lotus roots of the five. Snuffin says that the putrefying sea of the five has become blue and fertile; this doesn’t quite fit with the putrefaction as the basis of fertility as cited by Frieda herself ! Snuffin also references the TEN lotus stems at the base of the card suggesting that the pleasure has material origins and intense carnality. At the base of the bottom cup is the sigil for Scorpio; that for the Sun is central to the card. He also mentions the fact that each cup base is made up of five spheres (the fifth being hidden but has to be there or they could not balance…) which suggests Mars.

Meaning (cribbed from Wasserman)
Well-being. Harmony of natural forces without effort or strain. Ease. Satisfaction. Happiness. Success. Fulfilment of sexual will. Beginning of steady increase (but beginning only). Ill-dignified: Vanity. Presumptuousness. Thanklessness.
DuQuette
Beginning of wish, happiness, success or enjoyment.
Commencement of steady increase, gain and pleasure, but commencement only. Also affront, detection, knowledge, and in some instances contention and strife arising form unwarranted self=assertion and vanity. Sometimes thankless and presumptuous; sometimes amiable and patient. According to dignity as usual.

Traditional meanings – From Thirteen’s book of meanings:

Six of Cups
Two children among six flowering cups. There is a great deal of rich and complex symbolism in this card, but in a nutshell, it is a moment of innocent love, the boy and the girl both touching that one cup with the flower in it. He gets joy from giving it to her, and she gets joy in receiving it from him. This card is most often viewed as nostalgia, of some old friend or thing coming back into our lives and letting us relive a happy moment from our past. The real meaning, however, is "joy," in particular, a known joy. This is the connection we make with someone (or something) who always makes us feel happy. They, in turn, get an equal measure of joy from making us happy.
The joy we get is familiar and reliable. This might be gained by flipping through old photos and remembering happier times, chatting with a beloved family member, meeting with good friends for a drink, indulging in familiar foods, or enjoying the comfort of a favorite pair of slippers.
As with all the sixes, this remarkable moment of happiness cannot last, no more than the children can stay innocent children. This known joy, like a bowl of chicken soup, can make everything right and better for the moment, but the querent should not rely on it as a miracle cure. This card can also warn that the querent is too attached to the "known," and afraid to experience anything new or unknown. They may be too reliant on old habits or too attached to an old lover.
For this moment, however, the reader can tell the querent that this is what they need to restore emotional equilibrium: to connect with someone or something that they know will make them happy.

Click to expand...

(I include Thirteen’s meanings here, but the way, as while someone else was adding them to her Thoth posts, I found them enlightening in context, even though the descriptions are way different !)
My impressions (appearance of the card):
I can’t see how Frieda’s water gushing into the lotus blossoms works. If anything the blossoms are pouring water OUT – as BoT points out. It looks like a very artificial decoration; I realise tat it is very symmetrical but it seems to me to be teetering rather, not balanced as such. About as secure as a house of cards on the living room table !

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
I think it implies hedonism and greed; keeping up with the Joneses without thought of anyone else. It is just so OTT and lurid, to me.