Tarot Post – Page of Cups

 

Page / Princess of Cups (Earth of Water)

 

Page of CupsPage of Cups by G A Rosenberg

 

Sandbars at low tide
Summers spent in innocence
We drank of life’s joy

 

Inspired to dream
by a child’s questions
quite unexpected
my eyes opened to wonder
by innocence
my staid adulthood tamed
to submission
by wide eyes
and guileless charm
as answers fell into place
around me.
Private thoughts that made me smile
as to the senselessness of all
now came crystal clear
as I realized the joke was on me
All day our talk continued
histories shared,
revelations
Now the child is gone
returned
and my life begun anew..

— GAR

 

The suite of Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions.Pages (or Princesses as they are called in many decks) represent the grounding or emergence of the energy involve. Water is the medium for crystallization. When enough of a substance is combined with water it crystallizes and a new substance is born. The questions that come from an innocent mind can often form new realizations in even the most jaded of hearts.
The Page of Cups has many of the best qualities we associate with childhood. He or She is open-hearted and imaginative, sympathetic, seeking to understand and learn. Often they exhibit psychic abilities and can be very dreamlike. The archetype that springs immediately to mind is The Little Prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book of the same name. There is much inspiration and realizations sparked by the questions and play of our inner child if we were to listen.

 

I Ching Correspondence – 41) Sun – Decrease

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The trigram for the Mountain is over that of the Lake. As the lake evaporates, its moisture enlivens the mountains. Our childhood dreams and imagination spurs us on to the adults that we become. If we can hold on to that spark of open-heartedness then it can continue to inspire us no matter what period we have reached in our lives. At times we may need to dissolve some of the misconceptions that have arisen along the way and dip back into this pool of dreams in order to build anew.
This hexagram reminds us that everything comes in its time but to balance out both our inner needs and our outer experience. Just as the lake nourishes the mountain, the mountain also sustains the lake. To continue expanding as a person without stagnation, it benefits us to sustain our inner child.

 

When the Page of Cups is seen in a reading, it often tells us that we need to access the child within and to take time out to dream and play. It may also be telling us that we need to rely on our intuition and what’s more to trust it. The card may also be suggesting that it is time to gain a greater spiritual understanding either within the system we followed when we were younger or in a new direction that will re-spark our inner life. The Page of Cups may refer to a child coming into our lives who will reawaken our sense of wonder.

 

The Page of Cups reversed in a reading may refer to a time when we have let ourselves play a little too much. Perhaps we have confused our inner and outer realities and have caused discomfort to ourselves and others. We may be acting impulsively and ignoring some of the consequences of our actions. The card may also refer to either ourselves or someone around us becoming disturbed by psychic flashes or visions that they are having. It indicates that it is a good time for a reality check.

 

Any Given Path

“It was the straying that found the path direct.”
–Austin Osman Spare

 

Certain themes seem to keep coming up for me. One of them is definitely the idea that one’s path is unique and that whenever we are following a defined (whether religious, social, political or philosophical ) road that others have set before us, it is not that we are following that path as much as that path has temporarily become part of our own. It may seem a minor distinction but it is a crucial one. By Temporarily, it can be years but even in a case where we have joined a monastic order, we will not hold exactly the same beliefs or interpretations of that belief as any other person there. Nor will we be coming to it with exactly the same background so even then our path is a unique one. Often the farther we stray from any GIVEN path, the more we find our own.
Blessings, G

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DreamScape17Dreamscape 17 by G A Rosenberg

 

Magenta ContemplationContemplation by G A Rosenberg

Perpetual Journey

“I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.”

— Walt Whitman

 

Do you have joy in your journey? What’s stopping you? Are you sure the journey is your own? Oh it is. If you are on it then how can it belong to anyone else? You can say that someone else chose it for you but then in most cases you chose to listen or go along with that other person’s choices. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Perhaps it was. I believe that there is a playful part of ourselves that chooses even the challenges as they are the ones we need. Perhaps the greatest of these challenges is to find the fun in decidedly unfun situations. That is not as difficult as it may seem. Wildly exaggerate your sorrows. Play can you top this with yourself. Today was so hard and I just bet this could happen tomorrow. Make it comical. Anything from falling donkeys in your path (to fecal matter from the donkeys flying in the first place 🙂 Find a way to laugh at just how bad things can get. You might find it surprising how much easier laughter and exaggeration can make it. I hope always that I have the courage to choose joy.
Blessings, G

 

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Rising SpiritsRising Spirits by G A Rosenberg

 

<h5 style="text-align:center;"Another StarAnother Star by G A Rosenberg

Tarot Post – Prince of Cups

 

Prince / Knight of Cups (Air of Water)

 

Prince of CupsPrince of Cups (Revised) by G A Rosenberg

 

Dreaming in secret
Other hearts are open books
I can understand

 

Dreaming
while the world goes on around me
those I could love
and do
beyond but not in
the reality we share
no one knows my true nature
yet you could you know
here with me
but NO
I AM ALONE
in waking world
with no one understanding
but you could.
See what I’ve accomplished
no not here
but there in the future
I’ll take you there
Come with me
and learn what few do
or can
you feel my understanding
Together we can…
no?
well in my dreams
you already have.
— G A Rosenberg

 

The suite of Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions. Princes deal with the transmission and the endurance of the energy, the result of the union of the King’s Force and the Queen’s generative and nurturing of the energy.The transmission of emotion is seldom done through action but through words and expression. The Prince of Cups understands takes in the emotions, understands them and feels deeply yet he shows what he wishes others to see holding the rest inside until it becomes either necessary or desirable to let them out. He is often artistic, using his emotions as yet another palette on which to draw. He is able to elicit emotions from others and sees things that others do not.
Having such a deep internal life, it is often difficult to get the Prince of Cups to take action on a practical level. He has a deep sense of the aesthetic yet seldom wants to get his hands dirty. In these and so many other ways he is a study in contrasts. This is at least partly due to the fact that he often can see and hold two or more contradictory viewpoints or attributes. Due to this, he often ends up surprising even those closest to him by doing or espousing something radically different than what he had the day before.

 

Astrological Correspondence: 21° Libra – 20° Scorpio Elemental: Air of Water – This combination of Libra’s communication skills, enjoyment of those considered friends and energy combined with Scorpio’s magnetism, secrecy and artistic flair yields an artist who loves to hide in plain site. He will work obsessively to convey ideas and visions that will leave people scratching their heads. They love people and are very romantic often giving much of themselves to those they love yet they demand as much in return and can become resentful at what they see as a lack of loyalty.

 

I Ching Correspondence -61) Kung Fu – Inner Truth

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The Hexagram for the Wind is over that of the Lake. The Wind stirs the water and affects it by getting inside, in other words by understanding. This hexagram much like it’s two open lines in the centre councils being open to all things true and to seek understanding of others by understanding one’s own relationship to the truth as it expresses inside of themselves. The hexagram also speaks about being open to finding the right approach to use with each being encountered (as opposed to settling for a one-size fits all cookie-cutter solution)so as best to express this inner truth.

 

When the Prince of Cups turns up in a reading, he may represent a person, interest or passion that while not practical sweeps you off your feet in a most romantic way. Someone may feel like the answer to all your dreams but are you sure you understand what their investment is? The force of this card may be addictive in its intensity. He may represent a lover (male or female) who has serious commitment issues as they wish to experience it all and feel it deeply. The Prince of Cups may also be suggesting that a time when it is necessary to address the balance between dreaming and taking action in our own lives. Both dreaming and acting on these dreams are important

 

Reversed the Prince of Cups often speaks of the desire to avoid responsibility. This may come as a reaction to feeling like there is too much expected or it may come out of a sense of disillusionment with the world. It may also refer to someone who is manipulative and who uses our emotions and attractions against us. This person will tend to value the effect of what he (or she) says over truth or honesty. The Reversed Prince of Cups may also mean that we feel not that there is too much expected of us but that there is too much for us at this time. The Prince reversed may also refer to a time when we are letting our emotions pull us in any given situation.

 

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Reality Games

“The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
— Thomas Henry Huxley

 

The Player on the other side determines what the game is. Sometimes it is checkers where the moves are relatively simple and I only need to think a few steps ahead. Sometimes he rolls the dice and my next play comes out to a combination of luck and telekinesis (“Are there any tele-kinetics out there in the audience. Raise my hand”) Sometimes we play Chess and strategy is required and like the quote says, he is fair , patient and unforgiving. More often than not he plays Dungeon Master and my life resembles a Dungeons and Dragon game that combines luck, skill and strategy to win out. The best thing about those times is the amount of choice available including who I get to be in the situation. If I could I’d figure out how to be a Magician Warrior Bard but then part of my nature seems to want to explore as many options as possible. Still Circumstances as well as whim determines the Player’s choice of game.
You may think that I abdicate responsibility when I speak of the choices of this player. You may even think I don’t have the courage to decide myself and so I embrace this ridiculous dichotomy. Yet its it still duality when we realize that the player on the other side is myself and every game and move designed with my evolution in mind?
Blessings, G

 

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Opal ReflectionsOpal Reflections by G A Rosenberg

 

Opal NightOpal Night by G A Rosenberg

“Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot. A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder, looking out for me…only he’s an imbecile”
— Spider Robinson

 

Most of us can relate. We have so many near misses in our lives. Times when it feels like life has taken a wrong turn only to find out that that wrong turn saved us from a far worse one if we had zigged instead of zagged. I remember fights with my parents that resulted in me moving out first from my mother’s to my father’s then from my father’s to staying with friends. Stupid fights yet looking back they happened at just the right time to stop conflicts from getting worst. Hitting my head that time and almost knocking myself out. It kept me home that night that one friend got killed and another arrested. Perhaps I needed that hit in the head. Still I have to say that sitting here in my office writing this with loved ones upstairs, I have to say my guardian idiot has done more than a bit ok. I am truly grateful.
Blessings, G

 

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Synaptic CircuitSynaptic Circuit by G A Rosenberg

 

THresholdDweller by G A Rosenberg

Tarot Post – Queen of Cups

Queen of Cups (Water of Water)

 

Queen of Cups (N)Queen of Cups (Reimagined) by G A Rosenberg

 

 

She knows how I feel
Not touched by hand nor heart she
takes away my pain

 

Receive me O Queen
I know you understand
you take my pain and my pleasure
my words and my deeds
I may never fathom you
here in your beauty
yet you have found my depths
and shown me your silvered fineness
in return

 

“I walked with her to her apartment, She invited me in. We waked to her living room. She guided my steps as she followed close behind, her hand gently motioning the way.
It seemed she could listen for hours and understand my entire being as each part was accepted and absorbed into those deep grey eyes of hers.
Even tho I felt her comprehension, I had no knowledge of what she felt about it all, only that there were dephs there I could never fathom. Gazing at her was like looking into a mirror of my soul but who knew what lay behind that silvered glass.”
— G A Rosenberg

 

The suite of Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions.Queens are the receptive and nurturing form of the energy. As Water of Water in an elemental sense they take everything in giving the feeling that it is all received, understood and appreciated in full. Somehow the Queen of Cups conveys this without showing any outward sign of being affected by it at all. She has an amazing sense of aesthetics and will surround herself with beauty and yet this is as much a sense that she carries around with her more than acting from any need. She is a dreamer of beautiful dreams and she reflects back everything we show her with a sense of love. Her depths are not easily fathomed and very few if any will get to see what’s beneath the surface. She is fair and generous towards all.
At her most negative tho, the the love and honest reflection of what we show her is lost given way to distortion and manipulation.

 

Astrological Correspondence: 21° Gemini – 20° Cancer Elemental: Water of Water – The combination of the omnidirectional interest of Gemini and the sensitive intuitive home builder of Cancer shows someone who wishes everyone to be comfortable around them even at the expense of a mask of the deepest neutrality. They love to feel that they are helping and providing for others and make wonderful tho at times dictatorial hosts / hostesses. They may have an element of moodiness tho they will seldom show it except to those with whom they feel close.

 

I Ching Correspondence: 58)Tui – Joyfulness

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The trigram of the lake is doubled over itself. While the surface appears to be yielding, there is great strength within. Twice the strength of the lower two lines of the trigram express themselves in the gentleness of the yin line. There is a lot of reflection within this hexagram and the two lakes together can act much like two mirrors facing each other to reflect itself in an infinite picture of a still lake.

 

When the Queen of Cups shows up in a reading, there may be a call to be open and receptive to who or whatever comes your way. Remember being open to someone does not mean being in agreement or even siding with them as it is to hearing them out. The card may also refer to someone in our environment who is there for us in a maternal way, generous, caring and social tho possibly quite remote. This person feels like someone who will listen and make it all better or at least who will or can understand. This card may also represent ourselves and may be telling us to be as open to what goes on beneath our surface as we are to the voices and cares of those around us.

 

When the Queen of Cups turns up reversed, it may be referring to someone who has become out of touch with the needs of others (consider the story commonly told about Marie Antoinette who when told that the Peasants had no bread was believed to reply “Let them eat cake.”) This person may have let ambition get ahead of compassion and may be manipulative and dishonest while portraying a gentle hearted generous facade.

 

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Shadow Dragons in a Crowded Head

“I finally figured out that I’m solitary by nature, but at the same time I know so many people; so many people think they own a piece of me. They shift and move under my skin, like a parade of memories that simply won’t go away. It doesn’t matter where I am, or how alone–I always have such a crowded head.”
― Charles de Lint

At times I feel like a combination of memories and people I know. Their voices and beings rolling around inside of me. They are all myself, as Walt Whitman said “I am large. I contain multitudes” and we all do. Sometimes I believe that we draw people into our lives who express all the different aspects of our being. We can even see which aspects we’ve neglected by the type of people we are currently encountering and how we feel towards them. In my experience, the people who get to me are those who exhibit aspects of myself that I have yet to reconcile. Behaviour that I’ve either balanced or haven’t needed to I can pretty much shrug off. In this way, people who irritate or infuriate me often become my most appreciated teachers as they point the way to those parts of myself I don’t want to face.
Blessings, G

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ProjectionProjection by G A Rosenberg

 

Snakes on a PlaneSnakes on a Plane by G A Rosenberg