Minor — Cups

Queen of Cups

On a throne born from the ocean — mermaids, shells, marine forms — the Queen of Cups holds a lidded, closed cup in one hand and a trident in the other. On her lap, the Book lies open. Around her, the ocean breaks against the rocks. She is sovereign of the depths: guardian of what is not shown.

Symbolic reading

With the Queen, the Book opens — that is her function in every suit — and a fine ray of light connects it to the trident: intuition applied to knowledge, knowledge become power to act. Her cup, the only one in the whole suit closed with a lid, bears a fish engraved on its side: the mystery of the unconscious remains guarded — the sovereign of emotions is not the one who shows everything, but the one who knows what must remain deep. The trident asserts the other side: there is nothing passive in this receptivity — it is a marine sceptre, a guardian authority. And the turbulent ocean around the throne tells the truth of her reign: she does not govern extinguished emotions, but powerful emotions — calmed without being subdued.

Reversed reading

Guardianship goes awry: a lid sealed over what needed to emerge, an overflow of what should have remained guarded — or intuition diverted into power over others.

• intuition
• depth
• guardianship
• sovereignty
• mystery
• compassion