Thirteen
Our King of Cups is Nosferatu. Ancient, antique in dress down to the dust on his jacket, he stands in a courtyard gazing with wonder through an open window at a beautiful human woman, in particular at her vulnerable throat and jugular which she seems to be offering to him. In the background is a huge, stone chalice, the ultimate "holy grail." We feel the connection here of this woman being the vampire king's "holy grail" even as she, in offering herself to his bite, is about to make the ultimate sacrifice for her "holy grail"--that being to destroy the vampire (we'll get to that!).
I do find it wonderful the way this deck does homage not only to old gothic novels and tales, scary stories and fairytales, but also old movies and, most wonderfully, German expressionist films. Such films had a look to them which is seen throughout this deck. Off-kilter buildings, sharp, threatening shadows, weaving, unbalanced landscapes. It was an artistic exploration of the dark and lunatic mind. Also, dark romanticism.
Nosferatu was one such film. It was "directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was in essence an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula." So not only is this the earliest vampire movie on film, but it's also the quintessential vampire movie. Dracula--never mind that the name's been changed to Count Orlok. In this old silent there was no pretense of making the Count even resemble a normal person. As you see him in the card, so he was in the movie. Pointed ears, sharp teeth, beak nose, heavy brows and all. Rat-like, repugnant.
Our King/Cups, therefore, is the King of Vampires, and there is no ambiguity about it, he is a monster. The oldest, the first, the source if you will. Yet in keeping with the usual meaning of the King/Cups, he is still the "romantic" King for all his monsterousness. The picture shows a key scene in the movie, a beauty and the beast moment (from Wiki): "Ellen...learns how to kill a vampire: a woman pure in heart must make him forget the rooster's first crowing....She opens her window to invite him in but faints....He drinks her blood and forgets about the dawning day. A rooster crows and Orlok disintegrates as he tries to escape."
It should be mentioned that this was also the film that established the idea that vampires were killed by sunlight. Prior to this film, stories had it that vampires could move in the day, abet sluggishly.
So the moment we see in the card is when this woman invites in the Vampire; a moment of mutual destruction as it were, for she is sacrificing herself (in the movie, all the count's victims die). The vampire, likewise, is going to forget it's dawn and turn to ash. We don't see that end, however. We see the moment before it. That darkly romantic moment where both see their "holy grail."
How does this card suggest the King/Cups to you? And how do you feel he relates to the other Kings in the deck as ruler of his suit?
I do find it wonderful the way this deck does homage not only to old gothic novels and tales, scary stories and fairytales, but also old movies and, most wonderfully, German expressionist films. Such films had a look to them which is seen throughout this deck. Off-kilter buildings, sharp, threatening shadows, weaving, unbalanced landscapes. It was an artistic exploration of the dark and lunatic mind. Also, dark romanticism.
Nosferatu was one such film. It was "directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was in essence an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula." So not only is this the earliest vampire movie on film, but it's also the quintessential vampire movie. Dracula--never mind that the name's been changed to Count Orlok. In this old silent there was no pretense of making the Count even resemble a normal person. As you see him in the card, so he was in the movie. Pointed ears, sharp teeth, beak nose, heavy brows and all. Rat-like, repugnant.
Our King/Cups, therefore, is the King of Vampires, and there is no ambiguity about it, he is a monster. The oldest, the first, the source if you will. Yet in keeping with the usual meaning of the King/Cups, he is still the "romantic" King for all his monsterousness. The picture shows a key scene in the movie, a beauty and the beast moment (from Wiki): "Ellen...learns how to kill a vampire: a woman pure in heart must make him forget the rooster's first crowing....She opens her window to invite him in but faints....He drinks her blood and forgets about the dawning day. A rooster crows and Orlok disintegrates as he tries to escape."
It should be mentioned that this was also the film that established the idea that vampires were killed by sunlight. Prior to this film, stories had it that vampires could move in the day, abet sluggishly.
So the moment we see in the card is when this woman invites in the Vampire; a moment of mutual destruction as it were, for she is sacrificing herself (in the movie, all the count's victims die). The vampire, likewise, is going to forget it's dawn and turn to ash. We don't see that end, however. We see the moment before it. That darkly romantic moment where both see their "holy grail."
How does this card suggest the King/Cups to you? And how do you feel he relates to the other Kings in the deck as ruler of his suit?