Tarot Tips: Tarot Suits as a Personality System (Part 3)
Published: Thu, 12/01/16
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![]() Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 8 #10 / December 1, 2016
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Embodiment
- Tarot School Aphorism
- Guest Article: Tarot Counseling, Skills, & Ethics (Part 1) - PsychWise: Tarot Suits as a Personality System (Part 3) - Upcoming Events
Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
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![]() ‘Tis the season of giving and receiving! We are very grateful to have an abundance of information to share with you this month in Tarot Tips. We are leaving 2016 behind, however learning and enjoying tarot never goes out of style or focus for most of its loyal enthusiasts. In this issue we bring you articles from two of the featured presenters at the upcoming Readers Studio in April 2017. Mitchell Osborn explains how to embody a card for your readings and Katrina Wynne, in the first of a 3-part special series, discusses counseling skills and ethics for tarot readers. Dr. G continues her series on using tarot as a personality system. Gina is busy with lots of gigs, working on her tarot deck and preparing for the holidays, so she’s taking a writing break. Her Best Practices column will be back soon. There is a plenty to explore here! We appreciate your taking time here with us. May the season bring you prosperity, love and joy. See you next year! And one more thing...
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EMBODIMENT
by Mitchell Osborn One of the definitions of embodiment is ‘a person, being, or thing embodying a spirit, principle, abstraction etc; incarnation.' How can we apply the idea of ‘embodiment’ to reading tarot? You know how you feel when you wear dress shoes vs. flip-flops or tennis shoes? Each pair of shoes often gives you a different feeling. They can influence you to walk a certain way or feel more ‘empowered’ to do something you normally wouldn’t do. They may even make you more relaxed, peaceful and calm about the end result of what you are currently going through. Actors are often trained to eliminate their body’s resistance to the psychic process. They are called to unite the body and mind. When I think of my years of acting, and especially when I owned an improv theatre where we did improvised sketch comedy on a weekly basis, I specifically remember having a few ‘stock characters’ I would fall back into with ease. I realized later I was truly embodying these characters and I know this because I remember NEVER having to think when I was on stage. I just reacted to what was being said to me by the other actors. It was like how we maneuver through everyday life. After all, we are mostly improvising our way through our days. I was just being me... but yet I wasn’t. I was someone else and didn’t need to ‘act’, but just ‘be’ that character and reply, react and respond as that character would. It was often effortless. I believe we can do the same thing with our tarot cards. We can connect and embody them, and NOT just the characters, but also the objects, environments/ settings and even the colors of the cards. There are many different ways to do this and reasons why you might want to. I am a very practical person in many ways so I like to teach practical things that you can use in your day-to-day life. I wanted to give you a few exercises you can try with your clients as well as in your regular daily life. Practical use #1 When you have a special event, or difficult day ahead, either randomly draw a card to embody or scan the cards to see which person, environment or objects resonate with what you will need to 'bring with you' or embody for the day. You may pick out clothes or accessories that are represented on the card or the environment. It can be adding colors or patterns to your attire or items you know the person on the card would use on a regular basis. Set a clear intention and turn your pen in to a wand and spark of imagination or carry seven coins in your pocket to ensure an abundant, fruitful meeting. Practical use #2 When preparing for a reading you may want to embody a specific card, object, environment or person in your deck depending on the client, location or event at which you are reading. A great way to prepare for your next client is to ask the card ‘Who do I need to be for my next client?’, then draw a card. Step into the colors, clothes or castle of the image on the card and be transformed as you embody it and assist your client to the best of your abilities. Your client may need the gentle mothering qualities of The Empress or the spiritual passion of the Queen of Wands during this reading. If you are at a loud and noisy event, you may want to embody the King or Queen of Swords to maintain laser-like focus. Practical use #3 Another time to put the technique of embodiment into practice is when doing a reading and you or your client are having difficulty interpreting a card. You may want your client to walk away with a renewed strength, fortitude, understanding or different attitude and this could be a perfect time to have them assume the position, literally, of a character on a card. Have your client stand, sit, and mimic an action or posture of a character on the card. You can have them move emotionally into the attitude the card or person displays. This is a place to be creative and remember that there is no wrong way to do this. I have often had the client take a picture of one of the cards and use it as a screen saver on their phone to remind them of the power they can draw from if needed. They can use props as well, like placing six cups on the table to bring in a nostalgic feeling in or lay down five knives on the table in front of them to see how mentally frustrating it may be for the ‘other’ person in the reading, which often brings about a wonderful sense of compassion and understanding. I hope you find these practical exercises useful. Please let me know if you have any ‘aha’ moments from using this technique and be sure to keep studying and honing your skills whether you are a professional reader or one who loves to dabble with the cards regularly. To continue your study, check out Mary K. Greer’s book '21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card.’ Step 17 is about embodiment. This would be a great extension of education and practical uses of embodiment work. Namaste, Mitchell ![]() who uses his abilities as a Tarot and Lenormand card reader, Intuitive Soul Coach, Animal Communicator, Dream Interpreter, Hypnotherapist, and Spiritual Teacher. He connects to and channels Spirit to help in identifying soul-level solutions for wellness, enlightenment and growth. He uses a direct, humorous and compassionate approach in his sessions and classes. Mitchell will be one of the Master Class Instructors at the 2017 Readers Studio! Website - www.MitchellOsborn.com YouTube Channel - http://bit.ly/IMYouTube Tarot School Aphorism ![]() Guest Article
by Katrina Wynne, MA, CTM, CTI, CLC TAROT COUNSELING, SKILLS & ETHICS Part 1: Counseling Skills for Tarot Readers The moment you engage in reading for another, you have
initiated a relationship with its unique exchange of energy, time, and information. On a deeper level, you have your client’s soul in your hands, a responsibility that I take quite seriously. Because of this delicate relationship, all readers would benefit from reviewing and utilizing skills and values promoted by classic counseling training. As you read through this list and descriptions, notice what techniques you already use. Then I invite you to consider incorporating new skills that may benefit you and your clients. Here is a partial list of counseling skills excerpted from my book, An Introduction to Transformative Tarot Counseling: Listening — Effectively listening to another is to be attentive and observant with a compassionate presence. This cannot be accomplished if the reader is focused on their own words, thoughts, strategies, etc. For a reader who does not identify with being particularly psychic, listening deeply inside one’s self is a powerful channel for receiving intuitive information. Listening skills also help us pay attention to the client’s level of presence or engagement, which will help detect unspoken boundaries. Patience — Listening requires patience for the reader, as well as the client. At the beginning of a reading, agree to a predetermined amount of time for the reading. Doing so helps create a safe container for working together. This will allow both reader and client enough time to go into the subject of the reading and the card details in such a way that the experience is complete, yet not so long that it becomes overwhelming. Awareness — Many readers are excellent at being aware of their intuitive knowing or psychic impressions. As a counseling skill, awareness means to be truly awake and present in the midst of a reading. This allows the reader to notice subtle communications as well as the client’s intended and unintended communication, e.g. when a card is revealed and the client’s eyes begin to tear-up a little. You can then pause and reflect back to the client noticing that there may be some feelings involved with the card. If there is an opening or receptivity by the client, continue to find out more about the client’s feelings, and connect that to card knowledge. Be patient and respect any boundary the client may have, whether stated or implied. Boundaries will be further addressed in the next chapter. Transference and Counter-transference — This concept is a classic tool and occasional concern for professional counselors. Briefly, transference occurs when the client projects a role onto the counselor, such as filling a mother role. Counter-transference occurs when the counselor in return projects a role onto the client, such as a child or younger sibling. In a Tarot reading we might look at this process in terms of attraction, roles, power dynamics, and dependency. One such aspect is the reader’s ability to differentiate between what is the client’s material and what is the reader’s. For example, during the reading you notice that you begin to feel anxious, although before working with the client you were calm. Perhaps you are subconsciously feeling the client’s emotional state. If you know yourself well enough to perceive that it is not your anxiety, then you have more awareness and choices for interacting with the client’s mood or issue. In a future Tarot Tips, I would like to continue this exploration of counseling skills with special emphasis on “boundaries” for the reader as well as the client. Feel free to send questions you may have for me to the Tarot Tips team. ============================================================ ![]() is an internationally renowned Transformative Tarot Counselor™ and trained psychotherapist with 45 years’ experience living the wisdom of Tarot. Katrina will be a featured presenter at the 2017 Tarot & Psychology Conference! Contact Katrina at: www.TarotCounseling.org - website www.MySacredJourney.org - weblog www.OracleSoup.org - podcast www.Facebook.com/katrina.wynne/ ![]() The 2017 Readers Studio is coming soon!
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PsychWise – Tarot & Psychology Q & A with Elinor Greenberg, PhD, CGP, CPTR TAROT SUITS AS A PERSONALITY SYSTEM Part 3: The Suit of Cups Introduction Before I begin talking about the Suit of Cups, I want to repeat something that I spoke about earlier in Part 1 of this series on “How to Use the Four Tarot Suits as a Personality System.” I regard the images on Tarot cards as visual symbols and metaphors for a variety of attitudes, skills, behaviors, and beliefs. When I speak of a Tarot Suit, I am really thinking about an approach to life. As a psychotherapist, I know that all of us are capable of learning new strategies and letting go of old approaches that have not been working for us. To my mind, nothing is fixed in stone (except perhaps the Charioteer in Key 7) . We all have each of the four Tarot suits within us to use as we choose. Some of us flow fluidly among them using a Wands’ skill here or a Pentacle’s one there, whatever is best fitted to the task at hand. Most of us are more limited and only use those suits that feel most natural to us. Our chosen suits color our world view, inform our approach to life situations, and also limit what we see as possible. This view of personality and Tarot has been heavily influenced by my work with the Amberstone’s Elemental Array and their other extremely useful projective techniques. I recommend their work to any psychotherapist or Tarot reader who is interested in the intersection of personality and Tarot. The Suit of Cups The Suit of Cups represents the romantics among us: dreamy, sensitive, emotional people who are focused on the realm of love, romance, and nurturing. As a therapist, these are the clients who enter therapy to deal with the emotional side of the relationships in their life. The subject can be their lover, their parents, their children, and even their boss and colleagues at work; but the underlying concern is organized around the figure of love, nurturing, and emotional fulfillment. In their simplest and most obvious form, these are the people who come for Tarot readings and ask: “When will I meet my soulmate,” or “How can I get my lover back?” Disappointment in love and a lack of nurturing from others takes center stage in their life. THE COURT OF CUPS
I use the Court Cards of the Suit of Cups as a way of talking about the client’s level of experience and competency and his or her actions. Below are some examples of what I mean by Page, Knight, Queen and King of Cups. Page of Cups In my personality system the Page of Cups can be a description of three types of people: 1. Any young person with pronounced Cups’ traits (1-18 years old). 2. A person of any age with Cups’ traits who is beginning to use their emotions in a new way. 3. Someone who is beginning to develop their latent Cups’ traits who usually utilizes other elements more easily. Example 1: A Young Person with Cups’ traits—the Nurturer Lisa was a very dramatic version of the Page of Cups. She started dating at thirteen and always had a new boyfriend that she had a mad crush on. While the relationship lasted, she was consumed with thoughts of her beloved, could not focus on her schoolwork, and spent a lot of time writing his name over and over in her school notebook. Each breakup was (I quote) “the worst thing that had ever happened in the history of the entire universe.” She was inconsolable until the next boy became the center of her life. Example 2: A Young Person with Cups’ traits—the Romantic James loves animals, insects, birds, and any other creature that crosses his path. While other boys were off playing ball, he was nursing injured birds and bringing home as many stray cats and dogs as his parents could tolerate. He knew he wanted to be a veterinarian at an early age. James was a born nurturer. Example 3: A Cups Adult Learns Discrimination Marsha started therapy because she inevitably chose the wrong man to love. She was drawn to men like her father: angry loners who professed to love her but proceeded to treat her badly. The focus of Marsha’s therapy was on her acquiring the skills she needed to pause and evaluate her next suitor before she committed herself to the same type of abusive relationship again. Instead of asking, “Why doesn’t he love me?” she learned to ask, “Should I love him?” Marsha used her Swords abilities at work to analyze financial stocks, but it had never occurred to her to use her analytic abilities to evaluate a man. She decided that her next boyfriend would be different. She wanted someone who was already happy with his life and not angry or unsocial. Her therapy consisted in large part of her closely listening to what each new man said to her, and before she gave away her heart, asking herself some key Cups questions: • Is he a happy person? (obviously none of her angry loner boyfriends or her father was happy). • Does he treat me in a loving fashion? • Does he have friends? It did not happen overnight, but once Marsha got in the habit of asking the above three things, she found it changed the way she looked at men and her romantic life changed for the better. Cups and Swords The above is a good example of the relationship between Cups and Swords in the personality. Often the solution to a Cups’ type problem, is the use of one of the powers associated with the Sword: analysis, reflection, discrimination, and judgement. The Suit of Cups represents the element of Water Water will flow uncritically into the next container it encounters. This is something like what happens with Cups’ people. They may love uncritically whomever and whatever is available. When love fails, it is seen as unmitigated tragedy. The heart does not break things into degrees. It is the mind (Swords) that asks, “Is this really so tragic?” Example 4: A Swordsy Guy Opens his Heart David taught graduate level mathematics. He was most at home in the world of abstract thinking and logic. He even chose his wife logically by evaluating their areas of compatibility and the similarities of their life goals before he proposed to her. What David did not expect was to fall in love with his new baby daughter. When he saw her for the first time, his heart opened as he touched her tiny fingers and one curled around his. Suddenly, he was flooded with emotions that he was not sure how to express. At first David tried to use his analytic skills to express his love: he figured out how much money it was likely to take for his daughter to go to college and started a fund for that purpose. No one in his family of origin had ever hugged him past the age of two or said “I love you” to him. When he once asked his father if he loved him, his father said “A man shows his love by his deeds, not his words” and that was the last time David asked. David’s mother was equally brusque and unaffectionate. She thought that the fact that she got up to feed David breakfast when he was a child was all the proof he needed that she loved him. In therapy, we discussed words and gestures that he could use that would more directly and emotionally express his love for his daughter. He practiced saying “I love you” out loud and imagined himself hugging her. As this progressed, he also started expressing his love for his wife more directly, and their relationship became warmer as well. Knight of Cups As I mentioned in a prior post, in my system a Knight’s key characteristic is that he or she is in motion and active. The Knight is always on a quest seeking something. What he or she seeks varies with the suit. The Knight of Cups is the most idealistic and romantic of the Knights. He seeks truth, beauty, and true love. He is also the least practical of the Knights. He exists in the world of feelings. In contrast, the Knight of Swords is concerned with the world of the mind and wants to know and understand what is going on. The fiery Knight of Wands is pursuing an exciting project that usually involves the will to succeed, overcoming all obstacles, and defeating the competition. The earthy Knight of Pentacles is concerned with the actual manifestation of something that can be put to practical use. Example 1: The Knight of Cups comes for a Tarot Job Reading John was just out of college with a degree in English literature and an interest in the romantic poets. What he really wanted to do right now was take a year off and travel to the famous Lake District in England that had inspired so many of the poets he read. Instead, he decided that he needed to take a job to pay off his student loans. (His concern about his loans told me that he was not all Cups, but also had some ability to use the practical powers of the Suit of Pentacles). John wanted a Tarot reading to help him decide between two job opportunities that had popped up. One job was as an assistant editor in a small publishing house. It paid very little, but did involve the world of literature, so he was tempted to take it. He loved the idea of being surrounded by other people who also loved the written word. The other job possibility was as an adjunct English teacher at a local community college. It paid a bit more and, if he did well, there was a slim possibility of a full-time job. He would be teaching a freshman writing course. Neither job would actually earn him enough money to start paying off his loans, but the teaching job paid more and he believed that it was the more practical of the two (again a Pentacles concern). John’s Tarot Reading I did a 6-card reading with my Rider-Waite-Smith deck. I laid out two rows of 3 cards each, one row for each job possibility. Each set of 3 cards had the following meaning assigned to it: Card 1: The Present Card 2: What will happen during the job after he takes it Card 3: How will he end up after being at this job for awhile Reading for Job 1: Assistant Editor Card 1: Knight of Swords Card 2: 5 of Wands Card 3: Key 14 Temperance Reading for Job 2: Adjunct English Teacher Card 1: Key 10 Wheel of Fortune Card 2: 10 of Swords Reversed Card 3: Page of Swords Reversed My Interpretation: I said something like this: “John, it seems to me that although the second job seems like a chance for a new beginning (Key 10 The Wheel of Fortune), there are things about actually doing this job that you will find very deadening (10 of Swords Reversed). It won’t be emotionally satisfying (no Cups in any of the three cards) and you are likely to end up mentally on the defensive without any appreciable gain (Page of Swords Reversed). The good news is if you take the first job as an assistant editor, you are likely to find yourself later in an excellent position to rise even higher (Key 14 Temperance). The cards suggest that you need to rush in quickly to accept this offer (Knight of Swords), be prepared for some competition with co-workers at your level (5 of Wands), and work hard at staying balanced and preparing to ascend to the level of above you. Notice that the last card Key 14 Temperance shows an Archangel who is calm and radiating energy as he pours the waters of consciousness between two cups. I am taking this to mean that with a cup in each hand, you will be quite happy with this job and grow from this experience.” Example 2: A Complicated Knight Comes for a Romance Reading Lisa, an attractive 30 year-old professional woman, was actively looking for the man of her dreams to marry. Like all Knights, the stress here is on “actively.” She had signed up with three online dating services, but was disappointed with the results. She had liked some of the men she met and thought that they had “clicked,” but none of these relationships actually went anywhere long term. She had come for a Tarot reading because she was beginning to lose hope. Lisa wanted a general love reading that would give her some insight about what was going wrong and how she could meet her ideal man. My first thought was that Lisa was a strong Knight of Cups. As I prepared to do a 10-card Celtic Cross reading, two cards fell out of the deck during the shuffle: The 10 of Cups (Lord of Perfected Success) and then the 2 of Wands (Lord of Dominion). It turned out that these two cards summed up Lisa’s dilemma: There were two strong sides to her personality, one Cups and the other Wands. The Cups side wanted everything that the Cups suit can provide: romantic love, a family, and children; while the Wands side was concerned with extending her personal realm of dominion. Here is a summary of the Celtic Cross reading that followed: Card 1 (Center): Lisa in the current situation—8 of Wands Card 2 (Crossing Center Card): What helps or hinders Lisa—5 of Wands Card 3 (Below Center): Foundation of the situation—Key 10 The Wheel Reversed Card 4 (Above): Possible Outcome—2 of Swords Reversed Card 5 (Right of Center): New energy coming—4 of Cups Card 6 (Left of Center): Energy leaving—3 of Wands Card 7 (Bottom of Pillar): Self-Image—Ace of Wands Card 8 (Environment): Knight of Wands Card 9 (Hopes and Fears): King of Wands Card 10 (Outcome): Ace of Swords—Page of Swords Reversed—2 of Cups Lisa asked for two more cards to be laid down to explain the outcome card the Ace of Swords. She pulled the Page of Swords Reversed and then the 2 of Cups. When I saw that the cards were so heavily in the Suit of Wands, I thought that I had made a mistake classifying Lisa as a Knight of Cups. Was Lisa a Knight of Wands after all? It turned out to be a bit more complex than that. While Wands did play a large part in Lisa’s public personality (She was a Leo, fixed Fire, and could be quite forceful), she turned into a mushy Cup in the area of romance and family. The Problem Lisa was far from being a pure Knight of Cups. Her outer more visible self was almost all Knight of Wands—fiery, passionate, ambitious, and competitive. The problems in her love life seemed to be the result of Lisa trying to use her Wands abilities in the service of her Cups agenda. This was not working. Under Lisa’s somewhat intimidating air of competency, she had an inner core that was soft and loving. Her feelings flowed like melted chocolate. Inside, Lisa was a dreamy romantic whose idea of bliss was curling up at home with the one she loves (10 of Cups and 2 of Cups). Unfortunately, what men saw when they looked at Lisa was a competitive, competent woman who liked challenges. Lisa and I discuss the reading (A Summary): “This is basically a love reading, but the fiery, competitive, go-getter side of your personality shows up in six out of the 10 cards. How do you think the men in your life see you?” Lisa was quiet for a minute, then said: “Well, I hope that they see that all I really want is to be loved, but I suspect that I mostly try to get their love by proving how smart and competent I am.” I continued: “This might explain some of your difficulties with men. You probably present a confusing picture of what you want. The card at the center of this reading is the 8 of Wands speeding through the air. Some call them “the arrows of love.” They are likely to land on the next man you are attracted to. They also suggest to me that you may get attached way too fast. However, this central card is then crossed by the 5 of Wands, your competitive side. You will get attached, but then you may show your attraction by displaying your strength and jousting with the man. Unfortunately, it is hard to get close to someone with a stick in their hand. This will not lead to intimacy. However, the good news is that your outcome cards— the Ace of Swords, Page of Swords Reversed, followed by the 2 of Cups (The Lord of Love)—show what you need to do to get the love that you crave.” “I see the Ace of Swords as indicating that you need to try an entirely different approach. The Ace of Swords represents the powers of the Mind: judgement, analysis, reflection, and verbal ability. It is followed by the Page of Swords Reversed which suggests to me that you are still learning to use your mental powers appropriately in the area of romance (the Page is the youngest of the Court Cards). It also suggests that a concrete step that you need to take to get the love you want is to stop being so defensive with men and do less clever verbal sparring. The Page needs to put down her sword. The combination of your preferred approaches to life, Wands and Cups, leads you to be a bold, impulsive and passionate lover who feels very deeply. When fire meets water things get steamy pretty quickly. The cool analytical powers of the Sword can help you stop and think about the issue of suitability and how you are presenting yourself before you are in over your head.” We ended the reading with me suggesting to Lisa a few questions to ask herself when she met a new man that she liked: • How can I connect with him without competing? • Which side of myself am I showing him? • How am I letting him know that I like him? Queen of Cups The Queen of Cups is dreamy, loving, imaginative, and most at ease in the realm of emotions. She may also have psychic ability. At her best, she embodies feminine mastery over the flowing emotional tides of love and emotion in all its forms. It is usually fairly easy to tell if someone is a Queen of Cups type (whether male or female) because generally all they want to talk about is their romantic life and everything attached to it. What they feel and who they feel it for is the center of their world. These are not generally the people who want to discuss current events, unless it involves celebrity marriages and breakups. Some famous Queens of Cups are the late Princess Diana (1961-1997) who said that she wanted to be the “people’s Queen of Hearts” and Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) the much married movie star. Example: The Queen of Cups comes for a Therapy Session Rosa came to therapy consultation because she was inconsolable after her breakup with her latest boyfriend. She alternately felt abandoned, hurt, and furious. These were familiar feelings for Rosa. Men had been the center of Rosa’s life since she developed womanly curves at age 14. Although Rosa had graduated college and had a job, work and learning always took second place to romance. Everything took a second place to romance. When I first asked Rosa to tell me about herself, the history that she related was focused almost entirely on the men in her life. When I shifted the topic to other issues, such as her family of origin or her career, she rather dutifully supplied answers, and then went back to talking about her romantic relationships. King of Cups A King’s main characteristic is mastery over the energy of his suit. At his best, the King of Cups is a master of love, romance, and the world of emotions. Like the Queen of Cups, his real interests lie in the realm of emotions. He is concerned with feelings, not facts. These Kings tend to be idealistic and often embody noble ideals. They also tend to choose life paths that express these ideals. Given the choice between love, money and power, these Kings choose love. Their motto might be summed up by the romantic poet John Keats’ lines in “Ode to a Grecian Urn”: Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know. Some well-known Kings of Cups are Giacomo Casanova (1725-1795) whose name has become synonymous with obsessive sexual “conquests;” the romantic poet Robert Herrick (1591-1674) who wrote the famous words, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” in his poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time;” and the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII (1894-1972), who gave up the throne of England in order to marry the woman he loved. Example: Marrying the King of Cups Emma, a beautiful young woman in her late 20s, came to therapy because she had married the love of her life. He had been the most romantic of suitors. He wooed her with flowers and poems. He made her the center of his life. He was an expert and passionate lover. It seemed as if life with him would be blissful. However, after the most romantic of weddings in which he wrote the most beautiful of wedding vows, the day-to-day realities of married life were ruining their relationship. He was as romantic as ever and still wrote her poems and little love notes every day, but Emma found herself wishing that instead of another love note, he would remember to put in a new roll of toilet paper. And while he was at it, could he please call the plumber to fix that leaky faucet in the kitchen. Emma was tired of being the only one who seemed to notice and do all the chores that go into everyday life. It turned out that Emma had been seduced by Cups, but actually lived in the Suit of Pentacles. Yes, her Cups side had fallen in love with him, but now her practical Pentacles side felt frustrated by her husband’s single-minded focus on dreamy, romantic love to the exclusion of all else. The Cups Cycle: A Summary All of the Court Cards in each suit can be viewed as a cycle in which one goes from being a beginner (Page), to an active seeker (Knight), to an expert (Queen or King) and then sometimes back to the beginning again with a new object of interest. For example, we might be seeking someone to love and go through all the stages and get mastery and become the King or Queen of Cups with regard to getting a mate; but then we have our first child and the whole learning curve begins again with the focus on how to be a loving parent. Pages of Cups begin to learn about the world of Emotions Pages of Cups are naturally attuned to the world of love, beauty, and emotions. At this stage of their life, they begin to recognize what they are emotionally drawn to, whether it is certain people, activities, or pets. This is the stage of crushes on other children or adults. It may also be a time when Cups children start to fantasize about love and noble deeds and play games with these themes or read fairy tales and myths about these topics (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sir Galahad). Pages of Cups are innately sensitive to all the different ways that emotions are expressed in the world around them, both good and bad. These are very sensitive children. In response to the strong emotions that they feel, but do not have control over yet, some may act out dramatically, while others may become quiet and retreat into whatever seems to be a safe haven. Knights of Cups search for Love This stage is a time of active experimentation with love and sexuality and other topics to which they are emotionally drawn. If all goes well, they move from the search for a loving mate (2 of Cups, Key 6 The Lovers) to wanting to create a happy family of their own (10 of Cups). This stage also includes the search for meaningful employment. When they have any choice, these idealistic Knights do not work for money or worldly power alone. They want their work to provide emotional fulfillment and feel cheated when it does not. Queens and Kings of Cups live in the world of Emotions The natural domain for these Queens and Kings is the world of emotions. These are our poets, our songwriters, our artists, our animal lovers. They are interested in feelings, their own and other people’s. They make sensitive and attuned parents, but unless they have a liberal dose of Pentacles or Swords in their makeup, they are unlikely to be the disciplinarian in the family or the one who remembers to buy paper towels. They are there to cuddle their children and kiss away emotional and physical pain. When both parents are in the Court of Cups, the children are likely to feel loved and understood, but may never have had a regular bedtime. ![]() is an internationally renowned Gestalt therapy trainer who specializes in teaching the diagnosis and treatment of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid adaptations. She has been studying tarot since 1995 and is psychology consultant to The Tarot School, where she earned a Third Degree in Tarot. She is a member of B.O.T.A. (Builders of the Adytum) and has been certified as a professional tarot reader by the American Tarot Association. Dr. Greenberg is the author of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations: The Pursuit of Love, Admiration, and Safety, which demystifies the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders. Tarot Salon
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