Dark Grimoire Tarot - The Knave of Cups

Image: The fairest of all the knaves the maiden here is standing in the water at a beach. (I am tempted to say that she is emerging from the water but the fact that her clothes and hair are dry convince me that this is not that case.) I am convinced that she is a messenger of the element and suit of Water.

The water in the image extends placidly to the horizon from a sandy beach. There are clouds above the water on the horizon. There is a light at the horizon and it seems on first glanced that the Pyramid does not reach the water but rather emerges from the clouds above the water. Yet still as I look at the card it may well be that the light at the bottom of the card is actually the entrance to the Pyramid. The angle of the Pyramids right side would extend past the edge of the card and could include the light at the water.

She is holding a chalice in front of her with both hands. She is looking forward and has a smile on her face. The most endearing smile of all the knave. It may be that she uses the Chalice for divination or she may offer a drink to all who come to her.

Interpretation

This card represents the change that comes from dreams and emotions. The haunting power of engaging in dream work or to search out our own intuition is a danger and a challenge. There is some appeal and there are secrets to be revealed but are we reading to know and understand those secrets? The welcoming smile shows that she greets all who come to her watery realm. She is friendly and as beautiful and any who come will feel the warmth of her charisma and bright eyes. Yet as with many cards in this deck there is a danger in the bright glamour that shines over many darker more sinister issues and truths.

Be prepared before you start knocking on locked doors and the hidden rooms of dreams and the shadow side of personalities. There is power in revelation but there is a cost as well that may be very steep. Repressed memories and past lives have concerns that should not be engaged in lightly no matter the appeal it may seem to have.

Dark Grimoire Tarot - Knave of Chalices

Onyx, you've described this card so well that I have little to add. It is so uplifting to find a relatively benign card in this otherwise dark deck, that I'm very drawn to escape into this card.

I'm drawn to walk ankle-deep across 100 metres of water and enter into the glorious glowing white pyramid.

Each of the enticing women who represent the Knaves of this deck holds the symbol of her element in both hands in front of her. They each stand in a mysterious moon-lit isolated landscape in which rests the large white pyramid, the height of a tall building, not far behind her.

In each case it seems as though the woman has emerged from the white pyramid, like her space-ship, to which she will return after delivering the message to us. Presumably the message is contained within the chalice that she offers to us.

The LWB tells us that the Chalices are dreams, that they correspond to our own emotional centre, joys and pains. That the Knaves foreshadow the onset of a transformation, linked to the secret knowledge of the pyramids.

It should not be overlooked that one of the meanings of the word knave is 'a deceitful or unprincipled person'.

I still want to go with this Knave, to drink from her cup and escape into the dream that is inside her white pyramid.

The Knaves correspond with the Pages of the RWS system, so the Knave of Chalices would be the Page of Cups, the gentle and reflective dreamer, who brings us social messages, while he watches the fish jump out from the cup.

I agree with Onyx; the lovely welcoming smile of this Knave invites me to drink from her cup, but all may not be as it seems, because in this deck there will be darkness, even in the most benign of situations.

*Z*