Weekly Tarot

September 29-October 5, 2025
Six of Cups

By words, by voices, a lost way —
And here above the chimney stack
The unknown constellations sway —
And by what way shall I go back?
Archibald MacLeish

Back for the third time this year as we approach next week’s Harvest Moon, this contradictory, fascinating card comes calling again. Last time, it was especially interesting to read in my “Luminous Sparks” (known by muggles as “Comments”) my readers’ thoughts about whether this card is fundamentally ominous or sweet. I guess a lot depends on the beholder, right?

In any case, say hello again to the Six of Cups.

The Cups are the cards of the element of Water and rule emotion, intuition, dreams, and love. The Sixes offer balance and harmony, especially after the upsets of the Fives. The resolution of those conflicts comes from an exchange and sharing, bringing stability and understanding.

This card invites consideration of the bigger Six in the Tarot – The Lovers. Is this, then, a younger version – an exchange between innocent children (emphasized by the white lilies of purity) that will later be fulfilled in adulthood?

As I have discussed in past posts, once you look closely, you’ll discover a strange distortion in this card.

Is the figure in the left foreground an adult, an older child, or a dwarf? And is the right-hand figure a young girl, or is she a tiny, little old lady?

This is compounded by the out-of-proportion perspective. Compared to the Cups in other cards of the suit, why are these cups so much bigger in relation to the people? Why is the cup sitting behind the boy exactly the same size as the ones in the foreground? If the rules of perspective are engaged, it should look smaller.

And who is the figure with the spear in the left background that is walking away?

Furthermore, it is hard to miss the X-shaped cross, also known as a saltire or the crux decussata, that is found on the plinth behind the cup-bearer. Although known in modern times as St. Andrew’s cross, and famously featured as the national flag of Scotland, its early use in heraldry was not intended as representing a Christian cross symbol. The association with Saint Andrew is a development of the 15th to 16th centuries. In any case, it is a symbol that has come to mean sacrifice and faithfulness.

Conventional interpretations of this card emphasize its sweetness, the joy we may receive from re-visiting fond memories, or perhaps a visit from a childhood friend. It has even been called the “Hallmark greeting card of the Tarot.” I would not argue with that.

But in a scene that looks so ordinary and sweet, there is something, not exactly threatening, but certainly slightly off-kilter. All is not how it seems at first glance.

There is a deliberate mysteriousness in this card, similar to how nostalgia can be a distortion of the way things really were. For starters, who is the giver, and who is the recipient here?

Speaking of Strangeness…

This week that leads up to next Monday’s Harvest Moon, our brilliant astrologer friend Elisabeth Grace reminds us of the powerful influence of Jupiter’s visit in Cancer:

Jupiter in Cancer puts home, homeland, family, nourishing, childhood, motherhood on a pedestal, for better or worse.

And within this context, perhaps the question is again posed – is this a message depicting a gentle nostalgia, or is it pointing towards something more ominous? After all, exalting homeland and apple pie to extremes can lead to the cruel, state-sanctioned othering that is endangering so many lives.

Meantime, wise woman Lorna Bevan adds another dimension to this week’s forecast, noting:

I think we are all feeling overshadowed by this great cloud of endings, living in the twilight zone of our old lives going or gone dark — from the micro personal level rippling out and back to the meta macro global levels.

Relentless transformer Pluto is dipping below the southern bounds of the solar path until 23 November. When Pluto exceeds this limit to the South, it doesn’t just act like Pluto—it acts like Pluto unrestrained, a lawless, unscrupulous monster. This is the Lord of the Underworld gone rogue….

Witness it playing out in manufactured wars, spy plane incursions, in heightened threats, in agreements, boundaries, limits and established laws being swept aside without checks, balances or payback. 

Saturn, Venus and Mercury are activating the deep space karmic points of the Galactic Centre, the Nodes of Fate and the Great Attractor, accelerating the fallout from the Virgo solar eclipse.

If we are longing for some half-forgotten good old days, we’d do well to remember that they, as Will Rogers famously said, “ain’t what they used to be and probably never was.”

Instead, Lorna advises:

As your old communication wavelengths go haywire, it may feel overwhelming. Focus like a laser on what feels true and on what really matters:

• trust your Big NO implicitly and use it
• refuse to engage with anyone who feels toxic
• refuse to buy from them or contract with them
• refuse to listen to their stories and spells aka propaganda
• refuse to swallow poison
• refuse to be run-over, derailed or broken by their energy.

Perhaps, then, the Six of Cups is offered for us to, yes, hearken back to the simpler days of our past. But instead of trying to re-create them, we can use them as a lens of what is wholesome and good. We must not lose focus on what is true and real.

An Offering of Kindness

The human heart has a tricky way of seeing what it wants to. Memories and expectations can become distorted, either by the actual passage of time, or by the filter of our imagination’s longing.

Sadly, those emotions, innocent in and of themselves, are being cynically weaponized by those in power in order to further a darker purpose. But that is not the whole truth of this Tarot visitor. Perhaps we are just being cautioned to pay attention to how deep our yearnings go and to beware of those who would exploit our tender vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, what happens when we connect with friends or family we have not seen in a long time? Sometimes those familiar places and faces have changed, but, as the unforgettable Tarot author Eden Gray wrote, this card may offer, “happiness and enjoyment that come from the past.”

So let us choose to consider this an offering of peace, affection, and sharing.

Be on the lookout for an opportunity to give an unselfish token of love to someone who has been important in your past. What little acts of kindness may you find yourself able to offer? This could be an excellent time to refresh your spirit with happy memories, and reconnect with good people from days gone by.

Perhaps a long-lost lover may unexpectedly come visiting; there may be a reconnection with happy memories; something valuable you thought you might have lost turning up unexpectedly, or an important experience with a child or children in your life occurs. Please feel free to post about it here.

After all, there is nothing wrong with softening our gaze and overlooking the passage of time, when seeing our dear ones through the eyes of love.

Perhaps that, in answer to MacLeish’s question, is the truest path back.

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