Forest Folklore - Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten of Cups

[Rede Seeker]

Set side-by-side the message seems to be one of distraction.
Seven - young manhood distracted by sex or imagined desires
Eight - Motherhood distracted by the immediate needs of a child
Nine - an Elder holding tight to what sustains her
Ten - a young woman critically examining what she has acquired

Yikes! What negative connotations to the Suit of Cups. Then again, water is a fluid element. If you don't set boundaries to it, it will move to the next moment leaving you with nothing to show for your efforts. Perhaps that's why these Cups are all crystal clear glassware rather than the gold or silver chalices of the other Tarot decks. The clear glass contains the element or does it? Other than the seven of cups with its naked women, can any of the other cups be said to contain anything? Air and water are both transparent. It's difficult to see any waterlines in these cups. So are these cups half empty or half full - or is it what's in the cup that matters, not how much?

 

[rcb30872]

I see it rather differently.

I tend to see the seven, eight and nine of cups, more in terms of maturation of emotions, or whatever.

Seven of Cups - teenager
A typical thing a teenager thinks about is sex and the attractiveness of the opposite sex. They are not at all interested, well, most aren't, in forming permanent relationships, they want to be out there sampling the wares, so to speak. It aslo equates to the immaturity of their knowledge of themselves. They don't know who they are, and they really have no idea what they want in a relationship, or out of life. They are experimenting, trying things on size, in a matter of speaking.

Eight of Cups - I would hazard a guess that is a woman in her 30's to 40's.
If that is the case, then that means that they would have more of an idea who they are and what they want out of life. They have sampled out of the seven cups from the Seven of Cups, and now they are looking more at the big picture. In other words, they have more of an idea what would make them happy, and they may not settle for second best.

Nine of Cups - maturer years, geriatric perhaps
They have experienced most things that there is to experience. How they lived their lives would have a very strong bearing on how they would be at this age, in their senior years. I am sure you have noticed that there are some that are really rather sweet and nice, and others are just bitter and twisted (elderly people). It is a time where they can sit back and enjoy, perhaps, depending on how they treated themselves, how they treated their offspring, etc. If they have been good, so to speak, then they would have lots of fruit, so to speak, coming from that, whether the children would take care of them, they would see them on a regular basis, as well as grandchildren. It is all dependent on how they have treated others in earlier years to how they are going to be treated in their later years, or at least one would expect to be the case.

Ten of Cups - no idea what age group, youngish woman
Looking at what she has, either appreciating it, or not.