Thou art God.
May you drink deep.
May you never thirst.
from Valentine Michael Smith’s water-sharing ritual
from Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
This week that features a New Moon partnered with other big astrological news, we have another visit from the Two of Cups, which just came calling back in June.
This is a gentle card that shows tender attraction between two people. If we consider the Ace as being the beginning of the suit’s potential, the Two is the first manifestation of emotional connection.
Tarot artist and scholar Robert Place notes that in the Marseilles tradition decks (predecessors of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck), there is always “a flowering stem in the center between the two cups.” Near the top, two tendrils branch to either side and terminate in dolphin heads, which turn inward and lick the flower.
“The Waite-Smith card,” he continues, “reinterprets this symbol as the snake-entwined caduceus of Hermes, terminating in a winged lion head. The winged lion is like an anthropomorphized Egyptian solar disk. Together with the caduceus, it has ties to the lion-headed God of the Mithraic mysteries, a winged human figure with the head of a lion and a snake spiraling around its body. It represents divine power.”
It is interesting to note that this is another of Pamela Colman Smith’s “stage” cards, in which the horizon is a straight line, making it look more like a scene on a stage than a natural outdoor setting. Not surprising, since the first sparks of young love are the source of the oldest stories in the world.
This card can indicate that we have feelings for those with whom we share an undercurrent of attraction, but which, for any number of reasons, we will never act upon. It can be the card of the Anam Cara: the soul friend in our life.
Typically, though, the appearance of the Two of Cups represents actual lovers who have found each other. Note that they do not appear to be needy, desperate, damaged, or unfulfilled. Their exchange is balanced and already fully whole, and thus, they give one another peaceful cups of love and friendship.
In this deck, whose artwork comes from a less enlightened time, we see the binary choices of man/woman, active/passive, and yin/yang. The woman stands quietly as the young man steps forward, reaching out to touch her. What will that caress ignite?
In the background, there is a house with a red roof that is almost identical to the house that appears in the Ten of Cups, the culmination of the suit. The happy ending is already foreshadowed here.
This card also echoes The Lovers card, where instead of the solar lion, the couple is blessed by the angel between them. Two hearts meet through the grace of The Beloved.
New Moon, Uranus Retro, and Mercury and Venus, Oh My!
As mentioned, there is lots of change in the cosmos this week. Thursday brings not only the Virgo New Moon; we’ll also see Mercury changing signs, moving into Libra, Venus digging into the depths of Scorpio, and Uranus stationing retrograde.
Yes. All in the same twenty-four hours!
Our astute astrology expert, Elisabeth Grace, tells us that the central protagonist is the Virgo New Moon. She explains that –
The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is “a swimming race,” which astrologer Blain Bovee suggests is “an image of a contest of dizzying speed in a foreign element…both immersed and buoyed at the same time.” Any image depicting “speed” matches my expectations of the pace we’ll be running at over the next few months—at least.
Meanwhile, astrologer Bill Herbst offers a more intimate interpretation of this symbol, i.e., one that applies to our personal relationships. In his most excellent book Oracle of Love—all about the Sabian Symbols—he sees the “swimming race” as an alert to how relationships suffer when they degenerate into competitions. The swimming race is a race through water, which symbolizes the emotions. It is because human beings are so vulnerable and fearful of being harmed, argues Herbst, that even love relationships turn into sporting matches where winners win through dominance and control.
“Emotions are not to be processed; they are to be felt. Try slowing down. Try relaxing in the water. Try just feeling for a change.”
Clearly our couple is portraying cooperation, not competition. Their harmonious flow can lead to fulfillment at every level. Could this represent a promise or a truce of some kind being offered? If so, it is thoroughly benevolent.
And Herbst’s suggestion to slow down and spend time near water inspired me to hearken back to my long-ago youth, when Heinlein’s Stranger (quoted above) was treated like operating instructions for navigating life. To a degree, within some of the same circles I am associated with, it still is. In it, the central figure, Valentine Michael Smith, teaches humans the value of sharing Water, which is the gift of Life and Love.
On Thursday at 4:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Venus enters Scorpio. Venus in Scorpio is not kidding around and is deeply passionate. While I would not suggest passion is being portrayed here, I do think that the Scorpionic desire for seriousness and depth is completely appropriate. These two have locked eyes, and the fervent-appearing red lion is blessing them.
Then at 12:20 PM EDT, Mercury moves into the sign of Libra. With Mercury specializing in communication, could there be an exchange of ideas, all offered with kind intent? Or, again, are there words of agreement and concord on the horizon? We can certainly hope so.
And if that wasn’t enough, also coming on Thursday the 10th, rebel planet Uranus, which has been slowing to a standstill, turns retrograde in Gemini. This, too, is a Big Deal. This slow-moving giant planet will stay in Gemini for several more years. Besides a brief ingress last summer, the last time it was in the sign of Gemini was from 1941 to 1949. A critically important period, wouldn’t you agree?
So please don’t miss Elisabeth’s full assessment of this pivotal week.
Coalitions, Cooperation, and Collaboration
What alliances are being formed this week? With the ongoing geopolitical upheavals we are witnessing, especially within the vulnerable NATO alliance as well as in Germany, Ukraine, and the Middle East, there are essential questions regarding America’s true friendships. Like who, exactly, does America offer honest, steadfast loyalty to, rather than its capriciously transactional “deals?”
For us as individuals, this week flesh and spirit are invited to find harmonious expression together. Whether you are feeling the stirrings of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere or early Springtime in the lands below the equator, you may be feeling the tender awakening of loving connections.
Could this be the beginning of an influential coalition? If so, it should be based on mutual respect and understanding. What partnerships do you have that are heart-centered and on equal footing? Is there someone, perhaps in your business or other dealings, that you might like to know better? This may be a great opportunity for your acquaintanceship to blossom into true friendship.
If you are already partnered, how might you strengthen your commitment, friendship, and intimacy? What loving cup do you both long to exchange this week? What pledge might you make to one another?
In all cases, this card offers a blessing to your relationships—new, old, and yet to be.
Just remember that if we seek relationships only to remedy our need or loneliness, we offer only an empty cup. But when our cup is full, we are truly ready to share with another.
What is in the Cup that you seek? What is in the Cup that you offer?
May it be blessed, and so may all to whom you offer yourself. And may you never thirst.
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Harmonious relationships sounds really lovely. May it be so for everyone <3
Indeed, may it be so. Thanks, Jacqueline.
💚
Hmn, on 2nd glance the lady is not so passive – she is extending her cup further out from her torso than the man is, as if to meet his extended hand. Perhaps she does have as much agency in their meeting as he does. She knows what she wants, and has made up her mind, as has he. Although the card looks rather still, perhaps something is getting ready to happen? Elizabeth mentioned Uranus being on the brink of triggering an exposure of secrets. Epstein? Election interference? The reason(s) why the Orange Felon had 3 MRI’s and a CT scan in the space of 13 months? Something else? Inquiring hearts and minds want and need to know. Perhaps I am reading too much into these omens, allowing my hopes to color my intuition too much? Please, tell me what you think.
I have always thought that the woman has full agency in this depiction. In fact, they look to me as if she is waiting for him to reach fully out and come to her. Hers is the laurel crown of victory (fully arrived), his is the crown of the red roses of passion (seeking and yearning).
And as I look at her this morning with fresh eyes, she looks very much to me like a Priestess, with the man as the seeker. Perhaps their exchange, blessed by the lion, is just as much spiritual as it is emotional.
Not too sure about the political framing you are suggesting, dear Niamh. Although I would lean towards more maybe than maybe not… But I would REALLY love to hear other viewpoints. Y’all chime in, please!
I think it is an interesting combination of the card and the astrology. Much of what goes on in the political sphere (or most of it?) has to do with various players agreeing to support each other to get what each of them wants. Part of that can include keeping quiet about things one or the other or both want swept under the rug. If we look at the exchange of cups between the Felon and his many sycophants as being a version of a very negative (to the rest of us) collaboration but a collaboration nonetheless, then the astrology may indicate that this collaboration might break down in some way. Something to hope for, anyway.
Definitely something I am hoping for. Well said!
To be hideously mundane, I just remembered something – according to a piece in the WaPo dated Sept. 8, the Orange Guy recently gave Natalie H. a gift of $45,000. In my mind’s eye, I’m replacing 1 cup with a portable printer, and the other cup with a wad of cash. Am I being too mean? Or letting my imagination/intuition run away with me? What do you think?
I think that is hilarious and Andy Borowitz-worthy brilliant! 👏🏼
Other thoughts?
Wonderful to see this beautiful card! I appreciate your emphasis on the cup that we offer, Beth. It’s too easy to look back and realize that we took more than we gave; focusing on the people in our lives in the here & now and making sure that the cup we are offering is full to the brim is the best thing we can do not just for the people we love but for ourselves.
I also appreciate Niamh’s excellent insight into the shadow side of this card. It’s far more pleasant to focus on the loving exchange, but there are many collaborations that are for ill as well. It’s another question we should ask ourselves, whether our partnerships & exchanges are hurting someone else outside of the two parties directly involved.
Oh, gosh! I am so glad you shared that. Yes! This is a very powerful point, and it has helped me see what Niamh is saying much better.
Thank you so much! 💚
it’s interesting to see this card at this moment…venus in scorpio can indicate a traditionally feminine approach is operative–or needed–in matters of life and death, or at least ‘deep waters’…we see a need for us all to become ‘water-keepers’, as data centres and the extractive mindsets that produce them threaten water supplies all over at a critical time of warming temperatures. the young couple in this card may be exchanging vows of engagement, but really it can indicate any kind of mutual pledge. and of course, the sun is in virgo now; a time when we take stock of our relationships and life habits to see what needs a new start or refreshed approach, in pursuit of greater authenticity and expanded knowledge. it’s also part of the extended harvest-tide which runs from lammas to samhain; we celebrate what has worked, and release what is done. dominator culture is dying, and trying to kill everything else in its death throes…partnership culture is trying to be born. a happier ending is still possible, if we all do our part.
i love tarot and the poetry of astrology, i really do.
Me too! And what a beautiful snapshot of how they work together… In fact, the Two of Cups could be seen as that exact kind of partnership: Tarot & astrology in mutual support and exchange.
Thanks for your wonderful insights here. Yes and yes and yes! 💚