Universal Fantasy - Six of Chalices

This portrayal of the 6 of Chalices in the Universal Fantasy is a little unusual for me.

The traditional meaning of the 6 of Chalices is "Nostalgia," looking back into the past. Childhood memories. I'm not sure how this truly applies in this card, unless...

The ground level means the past. You have lush new flowers on the ground, that wilt when you bring it up to your level. Or is the figure actually just watering these plants, and instead of lifting them is lowering them so they can drink with their bretherin who have maintained their youth and vigor? Maybe it's a quintessential Fountain of Youth for plants.

When I first saw the card, I thought of "harvest." Then I got a different view from the card's traditional meaning. Does the city in the background mean anything or is it just decoration?

Hey, DG! Good to see you. Thanks for starting another UF thread!

I think this fits in with the more traditional meaning of this card quite nicely. I see a moment in time, an idyllic memory of companionship and innocence, watched over by a quiet by powerful creature, held up from the murk and cold of the water on its strong body. The creature looks almost asleep, snoozing quietly in the sunlight and soft breeze that I can just about feel when I look at this card. The city tells us that the "real" world is far off, that in this moment we are encapsulated in a memory and the feeling and perspective contained therein.

As to the cups coming up from the water via the rope, no idea. Blank. Why aren't there flowers in the ones on the critter's back? Interesting, and I look forward to hearing others' interpretations of this image.

\m/ Kat

It looks to me like they are pulling the cup back out of the water. Perhaps they are taking the cup with flowers out of the water and replacing them with the cups without flowers. Maybe the flowers need to be underwater to bloom.

One review mentioned "memory retrieval" as part of this card. Maybe it's about the good memories, and going back through your memories to find them.

Forgive me if those weren't the exact words, it has been a while since I read that review.

Fishing for the Past?

Odd that the couple would be riding the Snail-like creature rather than sitting on the bank like the 6 of Pentacles. Why the need for a mount? Perhaps it represents an obstacle or obstruction. The couple have no way to accurately cast their cups into the lake, the best they can do is lower them on a line. That's an awful lot of work to draw water.

Another oddity is that the water seems shallow. Where is the greenery coming from that has filled the cups? Did they bring it with them as other posters suggest? What is so special about this water source that they should journey so far with their greenery (organic life/sustenance?) to water it?

The cityscape in the background redes to me like they have left organized life behind. They are in full sight of the city and who could miss a creature like the one they are riding? This leaves them vulnerable.

DreamGhost said:

Or is the figure actually just watering these plants, and instead of lifting them is lowering them so they can drink with their bretherin who have maintained their youth and vigor? Maybe it's a quintessential Fountain of Youth for plants.

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Rede Seeker said:

Another oddity is that the water seems shallow. Where is the greenery coming from that has filled the cups? Did they bring it with them as other posters suggest? What is so special about this water source that they should journey so far with their greenery (organic life/sustenance?) to water it?

Click to expand...

I love the ideas that this turns over in my mind, guys. It's like this card calls to mind a well of memory, perhaps our own, perhaps including the memories of others, both contemporary and gone before. I am so thankful to both of you for making this click in my head, as it's really making sense to me now. I think it's about connection to the current of memory, emotion, life and love that runs between all of us. The plants are a symbol for our own personal growth. The two people are replenishing their personal richness in the waters of ancestral memory, of common, shared perception. Thank you. I love it.

\m/ Kat

What amazing ideas, thank you everyone! I really like this:

thorhammer said:

I think it's about connection to the current of memory, emotion, life and love that runs between all of us. The plants are a symbol for our own personal growth.

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I always thought these were children/teenagers from the village, gone fishing in the river. Brother and sister, or a budding romance. It makes me think of going on a holiday for some reason. The boy is doing the fishing, the girl watches over the cups. So the masculine/feminine principle at work, action and preservation.

They use the cups to fish stuff out of the river to eat, or make pultrices and and medicines. But sometimes they discover other stuff too, be it treasure or rubbish. They have found anything from jewellery (lotr anyone? ), to old boots. So it has connotations of innocence, enjoyment and healing. Also, bringing stuff out in the open, retrieving memories, be it good or bad, like someone said.

They've only just started, so the other cups are not full yet. Perhaps they're doing it for many families back home, one cup for each. So I think of sharing too, not in a six of pentacles kind of way, but in a family or community bond kind of way.

What about their mount? It does seem a bit of an awkward choice, doesn't it? I would be easier if they were lower? It does seem like a benevolent beast though, wise and tolerant of their antics. Perhaps there's dangerous stuff lurking in that water and the distance is necessary? It does give a darker 'undercurrent' to the otherwise idyllic scene. So all may not be as it seems, beware of what you may discover when you go digging deep, or when you go fishing where it's none of your business to be.

So this could be the younger generation

...recovering the wisdom of their Ancestors? The shallowness of the pool could be a metaphor for the 'city dweller's neglect of their heritage. We only see a part of the pool, it could have a deeper end but it seems placid.

Rede Seeker said:

...recovering the wisdom of their Ancestors? The shallowness of the pool could be a metaphor for the 'city dweller's neglect of their heritage. We only see a part of the pool, it could have a deeper end but it seems placid.

Click to expand...

The pool looks to me like a "window" lake, which form in depressions in well-drained soil where the depression goes below the water table, hence the water "daylights" out. I see the pool as being a window into the current of memory, of eternal replenishment.

\m/ Kat

This does feel like a very sleepy, slow card, as if all
the action they are taking is not rushed but peaceful.
The mount doesn't look like the fastest creature either!

This is such a peculiar card and I wish we had more
detail on the story of what is going on here. To me
it looks like they have grown plants in the cups but
for the flowers to bloom, they have to be soaked in
this special water, which they have travelled away
from the city just to get to it...

As for the meaning, I can't think of anything that hasn't
already been said by others. I do feel like it's saying to
stop and think about the past and the times of emotional
happiness and fulfillment. Maybe this card is more as a
"memory" that we are watching, rather than a current event?