Two of Cups Analysis
Weekly Tarot for Mar. 2. 2008
Card: Two of Cups
Deck: Universal Waite Tarot (Pkt)
Key words: Union (two persons or of self), Self-Development, Balance, Resolution of conflict, Reconciliation
Okay, this is just getting ridiculous now. I draw dozens of cards for myself every week and the only time I draw this one is when I am writing these weekly contemplations.
Obviously, I’m either not getting something about myself, or I’m not getting something about how I should be presenting this card to you. I’m going to go with the latter since I never get this card any other time.
I am going to analyze the crap out of this card.
When I analyze a card, the first thing I do, & this is a good thing for you to do in your tarot journal if you have one, is to objectively describe everything you see in the card.
I see two people here, each holding a cup. What hovers over them is an orange winged lion with a caduceus beneath him. The woman wears a white garment, cloaked in blue, with a green wreath on her head. The man wears a yellow/brown garment, with a pink wreath on his head, yellow tights and brown shoes.
In the background are green rolling hills, with scattered trees, and a red roofed house in the distance. The sky is blue.
Once you’ve described it objectively, then assess what the symbols mean.
We can put this together like this:
Depending on the reading and the interpretation, as in any card, this may be positive or negative. We are not sure whether the man is taking the cup from the woman, or whether the woman has just received the cup from the man.
Her blue cloak tells us she may be ‘wearing her heart on her sleeve.’ She wears a green wreath that tells us she has gone, or is going through, a growth period. Her white clothing may denote a process of reflection or her innocence in the relationship, if this relates to a relationship with another person. (It may also indicate a relationship between two opposites of the self.)
The man is wearing yellow and brown, maybe indicating he is approaching this relationship from a more intellectual and grounded viewpoint, whereas her blue cloak indicates an emotional one. Or it may mean, in positive terms that he is feeling carefree about the relationship, or in negative terms, feeling some fear about it. He also wears brown boots: it appears to be a grounded person, and he feels that his groundedness protects him. His pink wreath may indicate that no matter how he presents himself, his purpose is pure.
Hovering over them, in front of a blue sky, is an orange winged lion attached to a caduceus. This tells me that the relationship (either with this other person or with one’s self) is charged with “Mana” or “life force” which comes from solar energy. It may indicate that this relationship is in a healing, communicative stage, which may carry it from one level to another, in a higher sense. This healing energy hovers over them and protects them during a process of change, which can always be difficult.
The fact that there are two cups may indicate that there is a decision to be made, or steps to be taken, in order to achieve the balance and unity these people, or this person, is seeking.
In the background we see a red-roofed house in the distance, nestled in a grove of trees on some green rolling hills. This may indicate the desire of these people to open themselves up to one another (or to one’s self) by revealing the deepest darkest secrets that reside in their hearts.
They do this knowing that it may be a step towards growth or reconciliation (if appropriate) in the relationship, that it may nourish the relationship, and that this ability to bare one’s soul in such a way, to self or to another, may only be possible by the wisdom we accrue from our own contemplative and meditative process about our lives, our purpose and our life experiences.
The Two of Cups is a card of relationships. One with another or with one’s self. The process of choosing and change can be difficult, but without it, we would be unbalanced and off center. There is a positive and negative aspect to all cards, just as there is to all life. One without the other would be unnatural. If we choose to center our selves, it can only work towards ‘a more perfect union’ of body, mind, and spirit. The more perfect the union within ourselves, the more chance we will have a that ‘perfect union’ with another.
Symbols
— Boots: Protection
— Caduceus: Healing, Communication
— Cloak (Blue): Love, loyalty, devotion, emotion, ‘Wearing heart on sleeve’
— Cups: Emotions, relationships, fulfillment
— Rolling Hills: Ancient wisdom, nourishment
— House: Deepest secret, tender part of heart, protection, value, security
— Sky (Blue): Overseeing spirit, heaven
— Trees: Regeneration, growth, life-process, element of air (thought, intellect)
— Two: Duality, balance, union, decision
— Wreaths: Victorious Spirit (Green: growth, Pink: Purity of purpose)
— Winged Lion: Transmutation from lower self to higher self
Colors
— Blue: Communication, justice, melancholy, spiritual wisdom, creativity, sub-conscious
— Brown: Groundedness
— Green: Regeneration; Growth
— Orange: Solar Energy, The Changing Process
— Pink: (Cross Red/White:) Purity in purpose. (my interpretation)
— Red: Life-force, action, purpose will, willpower, might, force
— White: Light, process of reflection, spirit, truth, innocence purity
— Yellow: Intellect, sunlight, carefree, light-hearted, fearful (cowardly)
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If you have found value in this, more than the reflections I’ve been writing, please leave a comment, or email me and let me know. This site is rather new and I would love suggestions about the things which would help you most, as I am building it.
Thanks,
Caat
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References:
“Pictures from the Heart: A Tarot Dictionary” by Sandra A. Thomson
“Tarot Teachings”
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