Sacred Sites : Queen of Cups

[Mi-Shell]

Queen of Cups
A huuuuuge marble statue of a seated woman wearing flowing robes, a book on her knee, holding up a wine glass as in a toast. An angel winged child at her side. All this in front of a large richly decorated buildingthat holds the inscription ….B ADVENTIVM REGIS
In the background houses and another tower. A city
My very first reaction to the card is : Stone cold,
hard, calcified, turned to stone, unmoving a statue , not a human being.
Hmmmm....
Can I live with a deck that shows the Q o C like a stiff stone, frozen in position – a still idea, not a Being? This is the first statue I encounter in the deck... aside from the Chac Mohl to whom I have a very vivid and personal connection.
The LWB says, it is the “the Great Mother God Church in Turin, Italy.”
Hmmmmm. I have my personal experiences with the “Great Mother God Church” and none of them were any good. I am a survivor of her violence.
I focus on the 3 Pigeons that are found in the image.
They are alive, mobile and they probably shittt on her...
This Queen of Cups is from a time gone by.....
Because she is not alive she is in trouble. And so am I, because her children come knocking on my door looking for answers....

 

[rachelcat]

I can see your concern that this depicts a calicfied vestige of a once-living spirituality that is no longer flowing and nourishing the way it should.

On the other hand, symbols are symbols, and if we find something meaningful in "defunct" ones (like the mesoamerican ones in this deck), then they still work for us!

This is not a statue of the Great Mother of God, or the Church, it is a statue in the front of the Great Mother of God Church in Turin. It is a statue of Faith (holding a chalice). On the other side of the steps is her counterpart, Religion, holding a cross.

Something I read online (that I can’t find now!) said they are “Faithful” and Religious,” possibly meaning laypeople and clergy?, but it might have just been a poor translation. Especially since in normal Catholic practice (at least in the US), laypeople usually don’t drink from the chalice, only the priests do. So it would be kind of backwards . . .

Unlike other sites in this deck, this one is not very old. The church was built in 1831 to celebrate the return of the king of Sardinia after the defeat of Napoleon. The whole inscription above the door is:

ORDO POPVLVSQVE TAVRINVS OB ADVENTVM REGIS
“From the people of Turin on the return of the king.”

The statue of Faith is probably the Queen of Cups because there are rumors that she is pointing out the hiding place of the Holy Grail with her chalice. Or some say the Grail is hidden in tunnels under the church itself. Well that, and she’s a regal female holding a cup!

Here’s a blog post with the basic background on the rumors and beautiful photos. http://www.simplyitaliana.com/2012/08/15/magical-torino-and-the-holy-grail/

I can see Faith as a Queen of Cups attribute. It is more interior and reflective, while Religion is more exterior and conventional. The cherub at her side suggests that inner conviction can be subtly encouraged by more “outer” manifestations of spirit. Sometimes, when we know, the universe or nature or Goddess or whatever is letting us know we’re on the right track and in tune with the way things really are.

Of course the Grail connection is suggestive of lots of things, including the subversion of established religion. Faith in the grail is an inner understanding not supported by the outer teachings of the church. The birds are a subtle reminder of the RWS Ace of Cups as the grail, with the Holy Spirit descending to place the host in the grail, a personal sacrament outside the church celebrated for the faithful, successful quester.

“Adventum regis” in the background also gives this an Arthurian flavor, the once and future king whose people quested for the grail. Perhaps the Queen of Cups is the representative of the divine feminine of the land that the king must marry to truly be king. In other words, she represents purely feminine (water of water) qualities that must be combined with masculine qualities to make a balanced person (or king, or country).