Mythic Tarot - Ace Cups

rwcarter

Athene rises from a foamy sea, waves breaking around her legs. In her left hand she balances an extremely large cup, while her right hand is held to her chest.

Aphrodite
  • the Foam-Born, goddess of love in its most noble and its most degraded aspects
  • born from the foam caused by Uranus’ testicles after they’d been cut off by Cronos and cast into the sea (in Olympian genealogy, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione)
  • the essence of feminine beauty, she could also be jealous, spiteful, vain, deceitful, treacherous, lazy and vindictive
  • she spread life-giving joy but also filled human (and divine) hearts with the frenzy of passion, causing people to betray their fathers, abandon their homes or be overcome with incestuous or bestial passions
  • she presided over the sanctity of marriage
  • a force of nature
  • represents an upsurge of raw feeling in the form of an urge towards relationship, which must precede any actual encounter with another because if one is not ready for the relationship, then the other won’t appear
  • the unwitting instigator of the relationship between her son Eros and the mortal Psyche

Random Thoughts
  • the waves crashing around Aphrodite can be seen as overwhelming emotions or emotional upheaval
  • since Aphrodite is unmoved by the waves, she could be seen as being stoic
  • she essentially caused the waves by her birth, so there’s the indication of someone stirring the waters, as it were
  • the oversized cup could indicate that there are a lot of emotions (whether known or undifferentiated) in the situation and these emotions are currently contained
The keyword/phrase I came up with in my workbook on 26 Oct 91 was "new relationship through the efforts of others."

Rodney
 

Miria Northwind

Aphrodite Ace of cups

I love this card. I was kind of surprised by your assessment of it, Rodney! I see her not as stoic but full of love and grace. Her face is serene, and she holds her hand over her heart as if feeling great joy. The cup is huge but it's not heavy, she is bearing it with a lightness of being. My keyword for this card is "My Cup Runneth Over".