78 Weeks: Two Cups

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

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Enjoy!

two of cups

this two is all about unity. adding together. reversed, it is disunity, usually by misunderstanding. a failed union. so in a way, in a deck of playing cards, is used in substitute of temperance.

Two of Cups

Universal Waite

A woman stands on the left and facing her, a man on the right of the card. They both hold cups in their hands, and also with their hands just touching. Above them is the winged lion and caduceus symbol. In the background between them is a house on a hill in the distance.

To me this card is about the beginning of a relationship - friendship and/or love. The coming together of two people to share their emotions and feelings which is symbolised by the 2 cups themselves. Also the house in the background for me represents perhaps where the relationship may eventuate if it is a love relationship - cohabitation, living together, marriage, building a home and family.

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When designing my version of this card, alot of my inspiration came from symbolism in the UW. However I tried to give it a more relaxed and natural feel by having the man and woman sitting in a garden under an archway, enjoying each others company and sharing their thoughts and feelings - taking time to get to know each other better. I have also included a version of the lions head (representing sexuality) and the winged caduceus (symbol of healing and wisdom) to represent the successful combining of opposites.

Instead of a house in the background, I decided to use a strong, old ficus tree to represent the continual growing and strengthening nature of love and friendships over time if nurtured and given a fertile environment to put down strong roots. The red roses intertwined in the greenery of the archway represent passion and desire. The white lilies symbolise the purity of spirit of the commitment two people make together to form a union of friendship and love.

CreativeFire

I have attached my version of the Two of Cups below. The rest of the deck in progress can be seen at Creative Fire Tarot.

I've been studying 6 different versions of the Two of Cups from the Tarot of Marseilles. They are all remarkable similar with a slight exception of the Fournier, which has no block at the bottom of the card set aside for information.

My RWS upbringing has taught me that the 2 of Cups is about partnerships, which seems a rather limited interpretation for the Marseilles. The entire nature of duality seems tied up in the Marseilles 2 of Cups.

For my own version, I've saved the space at the bottom of the card for any appropriate information should the deck ever be published.

This card is a classic decision card it might be an easy decision or a dificult decision but it is based on emotion and or intuition rather than logic. It is potentially about love and could represent the choice of a new relationship or a choice between relationships. but this is just a choice based on a basic idea it has yet to come into fruition. That takes planning and effort of impementation. So it might not mean you will have a union tomorrow but if that is what it is about one may be just around the corner.

Radiant Rider-Waite

Two of Cups

LWB
A youth and maiden are pledging one another, and above their cups rises the cadeuceus of Hermes, between the great wings of which appears a lion's head. It is a variant of a sign which is found in some examples of this card. Some curious meanings are attached to it, but they do not concern us in this place.
Divinatory Meaning
Love, passion, friendship, union, affinity, concord, sympathy, the inter-relation of the sexes, and - as a suggestion apart from all offices of divination - that which nature is sanctified.

My Impression
If anything, I would say that if this is in relation to a relationship, say between a man and a woman, then the feelings would be mutual between the two. Also, there seems to be an indication that there is an advancement of sorts, or at least an approach. It can be seen that some sort of move has been made by one of the parties, as the man in the card seems to be making a step towards the woman and at the same time he has reached out with one of his hands to take her cup, or at least to touch her hand.

Other than that, I see that the crd my indicate a balance or an integration of some sort between the masculine and feminine aspects of yourself. If that is the case, then the feminine apsect would include intuition, nurturance and feelings, and the masculine aspects would include action, enthusiasm, optimism and eagerness. In tha tway, there is a sense of wholeness and maybe healing, which the pole with the two snakes intertwined makes me think of healing.

In some sense this card may indicate meeting a soul mate, of sorts, as the wings remind me of a guardian angel or something. Other than that it may indicate that when you have the sense of integration and balance between the masculine and feminine aspects could indicate tha tyou would be able to spread your wings and go for what you truly desire. The lion's head would indicate that this is possible if you have the courage and strength to follow your dreams.

The fact that they are on a road would indicate a journey or more simply your direction in life. If that is the case then the road ahead may be a long one, but one worth taking, as the house in the background seems to be of a great distance.

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Golden Tarot of Klimt

2 of Chalices

LWB
Profitable business, falling in love and marriage.

My Impression
Both the man and woman are naked, indicating that they are able to expose their feelings, in a manner of speaking, without feeling vulnerable. There is a sense of intimacy, that's for sure. Apart form that there can be a sense of protectin, tenderness and comfort. It is hard to tell, but the woman can be crying, where the man is there to soothe her. At the same time, there seems to be a sense of smothering or clinginess, and a co-dependence on each other.

On the other hand, taken in the context that they could indicate the masculine and feminine aspects of yourself, seen in this way, it could also be the light and dark/shadowy aspect a swell, where the woman is the light, who is being held by the man, who is dark/shadowy. Then if that is the case then it could indicate that the self-sabotaging thoughts may be stopping you doing something that you truly desire to do.

On another note, the background of the card is dark, indicating night, which may indicate uncertainty. So, I guess in some way bey having that someone who you can turn to be a frined, as well as your lover, means that the feeling of uncertainty is not so sever, as the other person would provide you with that sense of reassurance, in a manner of speaking.



I hope this makes sense, I did this when I was unwell.

Two of Cups - Revelations Tarot

First impressions
Under the sea – I like it ! (and the book even backs me up ! that isn’t always the case.)

From the book
Upright
Together they entwine in an understanding of partnership and commitment.
The Two of Cups represents the harmony that can be found in partnerships. Here the bond and understanding between two individuals exemplifies their symbiosis. The connection can be on both a mental and an emotional level. This card can also herald the arrival of a new partner in your life, engaging you in a loving and romantic relationship.
In terms of work and career, this card indicates a fantastic partnership between two people. Positive and productive mergers and arrangements will blossom under this card as both parties are passionately driven in the same direction. Relationships with loved ones and friends will also experience a deeper connection in this period of time.

Reversed
They can't see eye to eye and stand to lose everything if they continue this way.
There will be distrust and a failure of communication. Egos will be bruised and resentment will be felt between partners. Difficulties will seem to be the special of the day every day. The balance that was once experienced will seem to have left in the middle of the night, leaving both parties in a vicarious juggling act of emotions.
In situations, this card warns of a possible separation arising from these difficult times. Contracts may be dissolved, and time will be wasted mending fences. Disharmony will shadow over the atmosphere around you. In relationships, this card highlights the highly emotional time that both parties may be experiencing. Feelings are not expressed and moods swing from high to low.

Images and Symbolism
This card has always been viewed as the lesser version of the major arcana's the Lovers.
Here the partnership seems less about two people being together for love and more for an object or project.
The cups symbolize their commitment to be together. In the background a guardian/sentinel watches over their union. The sentinel represents a higher level or force that played a role in forming the partnership.
In the background on the reverse the sentinel has his hands up in the air in a gesture of appeal to a higher power for the sake of the union.
The merpeople have their backs turned to each other. They are so caught up in their own pride and egos that they couldn't care less for the cup, the symbol of their partnership. Color: pastels and blues, associated with Cancer.

Traditional meanings
Upright:
Love, understanding, sympathy, harmony, coming together of opposites, co-operation, an end to rivalry

Reversed:
Separation, divorce, deceit, unfaithfulness, betrayal.

My impressions:
Upright
Two merpeople hold a cup between them; it is perfectly balanced. She looks shyly down a bit for some reason – head lowered, hair flowing. But both are beautiful. Behind them an underwater mountain carved into a face and floaty seaweed – and a crab.

Reversed
The crab is now pronounced, the weedy background, looking down on the two people and throwing its claws in the air, as if in desperation. The people are an angry reddish gold, they have their backs to one another, and the cup is falling to the side, ignored.

My take
Upright – all is going well in a relationship. Communication is good and equal, there is affection; things are relaxed. Both partners value what they have. It’s a good time to look forward to a constructive future. Reversed is – well, the reverse ! No-one is talking, no-one is listening; the business at hand is forgotten; there is anger, resentment; maybe it’s time to call it quits and pack it all in.

All the cards from this deck can be viewed here.

Card name: Two of Cups

First impressionsON a green sea floarts a pink lotus blooson, from which grows a lotus flower on a stalk. Twined round that stalk are two fish – (I know they are supposed to be dolphins – but they aren’t – they are more like goldfish.) Water pours from their mouths into the lotus flower. The lotus flower at the top pours two streams of water which bounce off the fish into two overflowing cups (5 streams of water pour from each cup, if that is significant !) At the top are the sigils for Venus (also serves as the female symbol) and Cancer.
From the Book of Thoth

THE FOUR TWOS


These cards refer to Chokmah. From the point of view of the ordinary person, Chokmah is really No. 1 and not No. 2, because he is the first manifestation; Kether is completely concealed, so that nobody knows anything about it at all. Hence, only on reaching the Deuces does an element appear as the element itself. Chokmah is uncontaminated by any influence; therefore the elements here appear in their original harmonious condition.

The Two of Wands is called the Lord of Dominion, and represents the energy of fire; fire in its best and highest form.

The Two of Cups is the Lord of Love, which performs a similar office for water.

The Two of Swords was formerly called the Lord of Peace Restored; but this word “restored” is incorrect, because there has been no disturbance. The Lord of Peace is therefore a better title: but it needs thinking hard to work this out, since the Sword is so intensely active. It may be helpful to study the Essay on Silence (p. 120) for a parallel: the Negative Form of the Positive Idea. See also the Essay on Chastity (Little Essays toward Truth, pp. 70-74) which concludes: Sir Knights, be vigilant:
watch by your arms and renew your oath; for that day is of sinister augury and deadly charged with danger which ye fill not to overflowing with gay deeds and bold of masterful, of manful Chastity.
Witness also Catullus: domi maneas paresque nobis Novem continuas futationes.
Nor does he misunderstand the gesture of Harpocrates; Silence and Chastity are isomers.
It is all one case of the general proposition that the sum of the infinite Energy of the Universe is Zero.

The Two of Pentacles was of old time called the Lord of Harmonious Change. Now, more simply, Change; and here the doctrine must be stated a little more clearly. This suit being of Earth, there is a connection with the Princesses, and therefore with the final Heh of Tetragrammaton. Earth is the throne of Spirit; having got to the bottom, one immediately comes out again at the top. Hence, the card manifests the symbolism of the serpent of the endless band.

LOVE TWO OF CUPS

The Two always represents the Word and the Will. It is the first manifestation. Therefore, in the suit of Water, it must refer to Love, which recovers unity from dividuality by mutual annihilation.

The card also refers to Venus in Cancer. Cancer is, more than any other, the receptive Sign; it is the House of the Moon, and in that Sign Jupiter is exalted. These are, superficially, the three most friendly of the planets.

The hieroglyph of the card represents two cups in the foreground, overflowing upon a calm sea. They are fed with lucent water from a lotus floating upon the sea, from which rises another lotus around whose stem are entwined twin dolphins. The symbolism of the dolphin is very complicated, and must be studied in books of reference; but the general idea is that of the “Royal Art”. The dolphin is peculiarly sacred to Alchemy.

The number Two referring to Will, this card might really be renamed the Lord of Love under Will, for that is its full and true meaning. It shows the harmony of the male and the female: interpreted in the largest sense. It is perfect and placid harmony, radiating an intensity of joy and ecstasy.

Of necessity, the realization of the idea in the Four (as the suit develops) will gradually diminish the purity of its perfection.

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Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:

Two of Cups = Love. Chokmah in the suit of Water. Venus in Cancer.
The card re[presents two cups overflowing on a calm sea. There are filled from a Lotus, floating on the sea, twined with two dolphins, showing the harmony of the male and female interpreted in the highest and broadest sense.

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Also:

Two of Cups = Love. Venus in Cancer. Chokmah.
Two overflowing cups filled for a lotus and twined with the dolphins of Venus. This is the harmonious union of male and female.

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The “dolphins” are supposed to symbolise love; it’s just as well they are mentioned in Friend’s descriptions. They are associated with Isis, and with Aphrodite - because – says Banzhaf, the word delphis (dolphin) sounds like the word delphys (lap.) I’m not sure why a lap means love, but still.
The division of the lotus shown in the Ace shows the polarisation between the two sexes, and the two parts want to be reunited – the “search for the lost portion” in the words of Banzhaf.
Snuffin mentions the ten streams of water from the two cups and says that it indicates that “the qualities of this card will come to full manifestation”. The green of the sea is the colour of Venus.
Snuffin also points out that the lotus nourishes itself through the two dolphins.
He also points out that the dolphins are coloured in sun colours – red and gold – but that one has a yellow eye (Sun) and one a silver (Moon.) Also that – which I would NEVER have noticed – the fins of the fish are different – the one of the dolphin on the right, with the SUN coloured eye has 5 points (Emperor) and the one on the left has only 4 (Empress) – this assumes that the Fool counts as the first trump, as that is not, of course, the way they are actually numbered ! But taken that way, it is another male/female duality. However – I think I see 5 fins on the one on the right anyway, so… I think this is “wishful thinking” on Banzhaf’s part, maybe. If it were true though - the Emperor is also, alchemically, Sulphur, and the Empress, Salt.
DuQuette also mentions a violet sky. Not in my copy…

Meaning (cribbed from Wasserman)
Love. Harmony of male and female interpreted in broadest sense. Perfect and placid harmony radiating intense joy and ecstacy (sic). Pleasure. Warm friendship. North. Ill-dignified: Folly. Dissipation. Waste.
DuQuette
Marriage, love, pleasure.
Harmony of masculine and feminine united. Harmony, pleasure, mirth, subtlety: but if ill-dignified – folly, dissipation, waste, silly actions.
Traditional meanings – From Thirteen’s book of meanings:

Two of Cups
This card of two people looking into each other's eyes is one of the easiest to read - it is recognition of love, of a friend or a sympathetic soul. It might also be that kind of recognition of being drawn to a creative endeavor or spiritual path. Thus, the swelling of emotion within you is toward this person or thing. This happens all the time to us. We're at a party, feeling like we can't talk to anyone, sit down at the bar, meet the eyes of the person next to us and feel that they feel the same way. That we're "simpatico." Maybe we laugh or smile or exchange a few words.
It is a moment of shared feeling, and it could lead to more if we want to invest more emotion into the relationship, if we feel that this might be for us. Or, as the night ends, we might just nod to the other person and go our separate way. A choice must be made of whether we will direct our new emotions toward them or not.

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My impressions (appearance of the card):
It is startlingly symmetrical – and so very balanced. This would suggest the sexes are very equal in a way. The fact that the fish are not dolphins is annoying, in a way – as for anyone without books, much of the symbolism would have been lost ! The tail fins are almost like a flower in themselves, below the “upper” lotus. The cups, like the dolphin, are coloured red and gold for the Sun. They als seem to be floating ABOVE the water rather than on it.

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
Harmony and balance. Give and take – sharing. Also a degree of letting things happen and it will turn out OK.