Scion
Vincent said:The divinatory meaning for the Knight of Cups is given as; Arrival, approach--sometimes that of a messenger... which does have a kind of grim similarity with Death.
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It's interesting to note the parallel between the Christian Knight, (in Durer's engraving), ignoring Death and the Devil as he travels on the road, doing God's work, and Death, (in Waite's card), ignoring royalty, priesthood, women and children as he also goes about God's business. Vincent
Have noticed this similarity in the past, and commented on it when they pop up together in readings.
The combination always makes me think of a quote from Strauss' Salome: "The secret of love is greater than the secret of death." This can be read two ways: either that love is more powerful that Death or that Love's power is more hidden than Death's.
...There's also something about both being messengers that are ineluctable and actively passive. Their similarities might be a reminder to avoid the cookie cutter readings of death/bad, emotions/good. They are almost sides of a coin; the arrival of love can be as ferocious and terrible as death and death can be as gentle and transformative as love.