3 of Cups Archives - Transformation3

Weekly Card The Captivating Fool

June 4, 2015 June 4, 2015

150604 0 The Fool Bellydancers — Tarot of the Bellydancers

We’ve all met 0 The Fool in our lives. And we’ve all been 0 The Fool at least once or twice. (One of my favourite expressions is, “Mama didn’t raise no small fool”.) And, with a little less embarrassment, we’ve met 0 The Fool here a couple of times.

So let’s finesse 0 The Fool with 3 different images.

First, from Tarot of the Bellydancers (yes, really!) we have this smiling beauty offering us a pure white lotus with the promise of a dance. The lotus – and her little dog – are pure, unsullied by the journey. Is this dancer at the start or end of her dance? Is the red bag waiting for gifts or full of the gifts from her performance? 0 The Fool is sometimes placed at the beginning of the cycle of the Majors and sometimes at the end. Does the unopened lotus necessarily mean this 0 The Fool can’t be at the end of the cycle?

The leaping 0 The Fool from the Yoga Tarot has a monkey face, the reflection of his chattering monkey mind. And the outside world is no help, with another monkey pulling at him. Here we have an unrefined 0 The Fool, pulled here and there by the multitude of distractions in life and in his mind. Any banana will do to entice him on his journey.

150604 0 The Fool Renaissance Williams — Brian Williams’ Renaissance Tarot

0 The Fool from Brian Williams’ Renaissance Tarot is a more serious contender. This Jester is dressed for court and ready to entertain the aristocracy. He alone can criticize the ruling class with impunity. With his staff of grapes, he brings Dionysian wildness with him. The skull of mortality tops the staff, acknowledging that the journey of life has an end. Live life while ye may . . . .

What if V The Heirophant meets our mysterious bellydancer 0 The Fool? Will the meeting be the same as with the monkeymind 0 The Fool? Or the Renaissance Jester 0 The Fool?

How about the rational King of Swords? How will the Sky Kitty get on with the bellydancer and her dog? With the monkey? Anyone else hearing a whole lot of yowling and scratched noses, so far? The Jester may have more of a place in the court of the King of Swords.

Or put the various aspects of 0 The Fool through a 3 of Cups experience. How do they colour the situation?

You can see that comparisons of multiple images can bring to light various points on the spectrum of a card’s energy. Do you relate more to one of the 0 The Fools that we’ve seen so far than to the others? How do you think of 0 The Fool? What can you add to provide depth to the character?

Get out there and dare to be a Big Fool this week!

Weekly Card Celebrating the 3 of Cups

May 14, 2015 May 14, 2015

Wow! We’re getting the Tarot version of 2×4 between the eyes (anybody else have that dent there from calls to pay attention?). It’s been less than a month since we last saw the 3 of Cups.

So what does it mean when we repeatedly see the same message in the cards?

One possibility is that we’re being shown places where we’re stuck in a rut. I have to say, 3 of Cups isn’t such a bad rut to be in. Of course, we can get caught in celebrating heart connections (the dancing women in the Gilded Tarot) when we have practical things to do. Or we can be overly emotional (those overflowing cups in the Haindl image) when what’s called for are rational decisions. Or we’re putting our creative ventures on public display (Yoga Tarot) right when there’s a big media storm to blow our projects away.

150514 3 of Cups Haindl — The Haindl Tarot

Another is that we’re in a long-term process. We’re not in the habit of being highly sociable or expressive and creative or of letting our emotions flow. It can take time to un-make an habitual hermit or logical Spock or repressed artist.

And a third is that, although we’ve got 3 of Cups in our repertoire, we’re focusing elsewhere. It’s the “hey, over here!” attention call.

How many times have you put aside social connections because you’ve just got too much to do? Or decided that now is not the time to celebrate; your problems are way too big and pressing? Or shelved creativity in favour of the sure thing to please the boss? And we all know that emotional stifling is the order of almost any day in the life . . . .

Here the message is, despite the apparent strong demands in other directions, the useful action or useful focus is to choose creativity, to choose time with your heartfelt friendships, to choose joy.

So which is it for you: long-term process, an unrecognized rut, or a repeated call to re-focus? And, since life is a many-layered thing (why am I thinking “cake”?), it could be all the above.

Celebrate the loves in your life!

Weekly Card 3 of Cups

April 16, 2015 April 16, 2015

150409 3 of Cups Crystal — Crystal Tarot

What a beautiful card for a spring day (at least, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere – those of you in the South can lift a cup to spring days yet to come)!

3 of Cups is a social, cheerful card saying, Celebrate! And find your best friends to celebrate with you.

You’ll remember, from Tarot . . . It’s Easier Than You Think, that 3s are expression and expansion, and Cups are emotions, relationships and creativity.

So how can you express your emotions? How can you expand your relationships? Your creativity?

Looking to the Crystal Tarot image, we’ve got the three Cups (or Chalices) enclosing an egg, symbol of fertility and creativity. This one is many layered and includes a design that makes me think of the beautiful pysanky from the Ukrainian Easter tradition. Floating above the stable triangle is the fluttering butterfly of transformation. We’ve no shortage of blooming flowers here, with lots of heart-based green and turquoise from the higher heart – that place where expression comes from the heart.

150416 3 of Cups RWS — Rider Waite Smith Tarot

For Tarot 2: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore, let’s introduce 3 of Cups experiences to a couple of Court Cards. Start with the Knight of Cups. We’ve got the airy Knight stirring up the watery Cups in a situation of the same element. Remember, he keeps moving. As long as things are expansive, is he likely to stay? When we look at the stability of the 3, how is he likely to react? What happens when we’ve got too much water and it’s all being stirred up?

Bring the practical Page of Pentacles in. How do earth and water get along? Pretty neutral, aren’t they? But how long is this Page likely to stick around if the party just keeps going, particularly if it’s celebration for celebration’s sake? The Page may not have much impact on the situation, but the situation may not have much impact on the Page either.

If you were a Court Card, who would you be? And which Courts might best represent some of your friends? Now, which ones do you want to invite to the party?

Are you running out of patience and ready to be out creating and socializing? Have at it!

Celebrate!

You can sign up for Tarot 2: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore with the Berkeley County Adult Ed Program. The fun happens Friday, 1st May, from 6 to 8pm.