THE ACE OF CUPS
"The Root of the Powers of Water”
The Water Signs of the Zodiac
Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
DESCRIPTION AND SYMBOLISM
An angelic hand emerges from a grey cloud and offers a golden cup from which five living streams of water emerge and flow downwards towards a patch of lotus blossoms resting on the surface of a body of water below it. Tiny droplets separate themselves from these streams and also descend like a nourishing rain upon the blossoms floating on top of the water. Above the cup the Divine Feminine Spirit personified as a white dove is seen descending from above holding a white solar disk within its beak and placing it within the waters of the cup infusing them with the powerful emotions of love, peace and joy associated with femininity. The disk is inscribed with the symbol of an equal armed cross signifying that the Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual and Physical aspects of life gain their sanctification from the nourishing waters flowing from this Cup. The golden cup is engraved with a “W”; the emblem of Dr. Arthur Edward Waite, the father of this Tarot.
ASTROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
The suit of Cups is associated with the watery signs of the Zodiac: the depth and sensitivity of Cancer, the passion and intensity of Scorpio and the mysticism and spirituality of Pisces. Cups express our relationship with the maternal, passionate and spiritual aspects of the emotional life represented by the watery signs of the Zodiac: love, friendship, pleasure, instinct, imagination and our personal relationship to the Inner Psyche. These water signs encompass the vast spectrum of human emotion. They are the deep inner wells of feeling, imagination, instinct and dream whose waters nourish every human life.
ORACLES
When Appearing Upright in a Reading
The nourishing powers of the water element are entering your life. Their potential bounty, goodness, grace and abundance are flowing to you from the inner fountain of life. Now is the right time to become serious about an emotional involvement or to liberate your imagination and commence work on a new creative endeavor.
When Appearing Reversed in a Reading
Selfish egotism and a false emotional life are undermining the possibility of entering into any real relationship. You must follow the path of a true heart or the mysteries of love and the creative imagination will be denied you. Stagnation is overtaking your life. Dissatisfaction, loneliness and disappointment lie ahead.
THE TREE OF LIFE
“The Crown”
The Powers of Water do not refer to the natural element that is the basis of all physical life but to the waters of the Inner Consciousness that are the basis of all emotional, instinctual and creative life. From these waters our individual consciousness emerged into the light of day and to them it returns at the end of its journey.