The Wild Unknown Tarot - VI Cups

Sulis

Once again, a wonderful image to convey the essence of this card.

Against a shaded background is a tree. It looks like an evergreen, fir tree with a strong, pointed shape. The area below the ground is also visible and that's not shaded, it's white. Against the white background are the tree's roots, bigger and further reaching than the tree above ground and with beautiful rainbow colours.
Down each side of the card, equally spaced so two at the top, two at ground level and two underground are six black goblets.

Six is a balanced number, numerically, it's related to the Major Arcana card, The Lovers VI and so is about choices to get back onto an even keel after the upset of the fives, relationships with others, balance, harmony and comfort. It's 2 x 3 so there's a creative element to the sixes.. Six is a good place to be, it's not got the stagnation that we see with the 4, it's a place where you could stay for a long time but eventually you'll have to go deeper with the 7 and challenge yourself a bit.

Cups are about emotions, feelings, dreams and the subconscious.

So the VI Cups is about making choices to regain emotional balance and harmony, sharing emotionally with someone else on an equal level, so a good relationship, one that's balanced with a good energy flow.

The 6 of Cups in the RWS deck shows 2 children sharing and so it's often given the interpretation of things from the past, nostalgia etc.. I have to say that that's not an interpretation that I've ever got from the card. The image on the RWS deck and those based on it says innocence and sharing to me and I don't really get a sense of the past either from the image or from the number and element.

This card has a tall tree with beautiful roots, bigger than the part of the tree that we can see above the ground.
The cups on either side are in a balanced pattern so that meaning comes through.
So is this card talking about rooting or grounding yourself emotionally? I can see the past in this card more than in the RWS version in the 'going back to your roots' meaning.
I can also see that there may be more under the surface than is apparent so feelings that haven't surfaced yet but will.

Can anyone see anything else here?
 

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Sulis

A few more thoughts about this card

I think that the best way for me to relate to the images in this deck is to sit and really examine them with no pre-conceived ideas about what the card 'should' mean.

Yesterday I sat down with this card since it's one that I have been having a bit of trouble with:

So we have a tree and it's root system and with just that statement I had a bit of a revelation:

Trees are ecoysystems within themselves, they are alive and they also support life and the root system is how they get their nourishment. The roots are how water and nutrients get to the tree and without the roots, nutrients and water the tree will die.
In the suit of Cups the 'nutrients' and 'water' are emotions, feelings, love etc...
So the roots reach out and get what the tree needs from the balanced cups on either side of the card - the tree in this case needs emotions, feelings, love to survive...

There's an exchange of energies with the 6s, a sharing and that's also true with a tree and it's root system... There is a flow between tree, roots and surroundings to get the tree what it needs.

And that was the answer to my question - I needed to make choices that nourished me emotionally, I needed to love myself and be good to myself in the situation that I was asking about, I needed to make myself feel good and make choices accordingly..

I feel as if I've got a much better handle on this card now.
 

crystalwings

The back of this card is split in two a slightly smaller portion at the bottom with no background lines, giving a more spiritual view and containing a cup either side in the corners. The top portion contains horizontal lines, which are peaceful and at rest, in the top portion as it meets the bottom portion are two more cups one either side, an additional two cups are seen at the top of the card in the corners.
I know very little about the variety of trees out there :( spiritually they bury their roots deep in the earth, and stretch their branches high into the sky, so are seen as a connection between heaven and earth, an ideal place to sit and ground yourself. “Hugging a tree” comes from the concept that we become at one with nature, using its energy to release and ground our negative energies. In the spiritual light can be seen the roots to our existence, much like a “family tree”, as the roots branching off they reach back into our ancestry and our memories, all that makes us who we are today. Above the light, the tree is seen with its many branches, representing how our lives interweave in the world today, our living connections, our children etc… As the tree produces its leafage, and then drops them on the ground, we produce the moments that become our memories as they nourish the earth.
 

Ildrinn

I think that the best way for me to relate to the images in this deck is to sit and really examine them with no pre-conceived ideas about what the card 'should' mean.

Yesterday I sat down with this card since it's one that I have been having a bit of trouble with:

So we have a tree and it's root system and with just that statement I had a bit of a revelation:

Trees are ecoysystems within themselves, they are alive and they also support life and the root system is how they get their nourishment. The roots are how water and nutrients get to the tree and without the roots, nutrients and water the tree will die.
In the suit of Cups the 'nutrients' and 'water' are emotions, feelings, love etc...
So the roots reach out and get what the tree needs from the balanced cups on either side of the card - the tree in this case needs emotions, feelings, love to survive...

There's an exchange of energies with the 6s, a sharing and that's also true with a tree and it's root system... There is a flow between tree, roots and surroundings to get the tree what it needs.

And that was the answer to my question - I needed to make choices that nourished me emotionally, I needed to love myself and be good to myself in the situation that I was asking about, I needed to make myself feel good and make choices accordingly..

I feel as if I've got a much better handle on this card now.

Thank you for this beautiful interpretation Sulis. This really resonated with me <3
 

Pixna

I see the VI Cups as reflecting fondly on memories of our past -- our colorful roots -- and happier or more carefree times. With the roots spread out, almost in disarray, they speak to me of longing to be less restricted, structured, or bound. Two of the cups are hidden below the surface of the earth. The roots are between those cups, looking wild and free, twisted and spread out. It is this hidden root system that feeds, nurtures, and supports the tree above.

The tree that sprouted from these roots looks tall, tight, tidy, conical, solid, one color, and controlled. The background of sky consists of symmetrical horizontal lines, also conveying a sense of control and rigidity. There is a sense of calmness in that sky, though. And the four cups that are in each of its corners seem to create a sense of "home" or protectiveness.

My impression is that the tree secretly desires to be more like its hidden roots (and hidden cups) -- expressive, creative, colorful, exciting, and playful, while simultaneously longing to not have to be so upstanding, conservative, respectable, and conformist. But there is a certain "face" the tree has to show to the world, and thus its private, hidden life and thoughts and emotions must remain safely tucked away.
 

Sulis

I see the VI Cups as reflecting fondly on memories of our past -- our colorful roots -- and happier or more carefree times. With the roots spread out, almost in disarray, they speak to me of longing to be less restricted, structured, or bound. Two of the cups are hidden below the surface of the earth. The roots are between those cups, looking wild and free, twisted and spread out. It is this hidden root system that feeds, nurtures, and supports the tree above.

The tree that sprouted from these roots looks tall, tight, tidy, conical, solid, one color, and controlled. The background of sky consists of symmetrical horizontal lines, also conveying a sense of control and rigidity. There is a sense of calmness in that sky, though. And the four cups that are in each of its corners seem to create a sense of "home" or protectiveness.

My impression is that the tree secretly desires to be more like its hidden roots (and hidden cups) -- expressive, creative, colorful, exciting, and playful, while simultaneously longing to not have to be so upstanding, conservative, respectable, and conformist. But there is a certain "face" the tree has to show to the world, and thus its private, hidden life and thoughts and emotions must remain safely tucked away.

Pixna thank you for this.. I love what you've said in your last paragraph about secretly wanting to be as carefree as we were in the past..
Maybe even looking back at past relationships from our youth when things seemed so much easier and less complicated... I say 'seemed' because things often look much better after the passage of time...

Love this card, love this deck... These simple images are really so complex :heart:.
 

Marirowana

About trees

There is something very special about trees.

This was a Douglas that was cut down some time ago. The normal thing to happen when a tree dies, is that it will rot and be eaten by funghi and little creatures. But instead, it started regrowing. How is this possible, when the whole tree and most of his growing energy is gone? Their own roots don't have enough capacaty to do this.

What made this possible is that the roots of this tree fused onto roots of the same species growing nearby. Dozens, hundreds or whole forests of trees can connect their root system and act like a single organism. They share everything. The reaction is similar to the way an individual tree will grow new wood over where a branch has been cut. So the pine forest treats this tree not like an individual, but as one of her own limbs and tries to heal it with time. The surrounding trees donate their sugars, their energy for healing the wound – even though they know the tree will never be able to grow back.

This image of the 6/cups reminds me of this system of sacrifice, connection and unity. The word ‘communication’ seems very important in the image. Know that you are not alone, there are like-minded people around you who will catch you when you fall. Even if you can’t see it, the connection will be there under the ground, in the subcouscious. Let this be as naturally as it was when you were a kid!

When speaking of the age of a tree, you speak of the age of the root system. Your roots make who you are, both biologically and psychologically (memories and experiences). It is not only about memories you have from the past - today is the day to create your memories of the future! This card reminds you to make them colourful and worth to remember.

Also, I see this image as a tree roots (the black lines), surrounded by it's fungi. Funti is indispensable for the trees life and health - but quit complex, if you're interested, you can read this :) Pretty interesting stuff. Look at the pics of the roots + fungi and you'll get why I see the coulours that way.
 

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Pixna

What a unique perspective on this card, Marirowana! It puts an entirely different slant on the meaning of it for me -- and in a very positive way. Many thanks for your commentary -- I greatly appreciate it! Wow!
 

flipperjane

Another way of looking at the chaotic roots and the more organized tree is that we learn from our past too - mistakes, colourful family members causing chaos, upsets, trauma - we take from it all and build on it, growing ourselves and becoming who we want to be - stable, solid, firmly rooted.