Tarot of Prague Cafe Club--3 of Cups

Ruby7

As far as I can see this one has not been discussed yet, so lucky first draw for me!

Three women joining together for a celebration. The women appear to be standing on a cloud. One woman has her cup raised while the other two cups are resting on the cloud. A dove is flying past the cloud at the bottom of the card (approaching the two cups). There are angels above the women and one angel is filling the raised cup. The other angels are holding garlands of flowers. The woman with the raised cup has one hand on her hip and the other arm raising the cup, she looks strong and defiant. The other two women have their arms stretched out to the side in a graceful, calming gesture. Why do they not raise their glasses also? Are they telling their friend to relax? Why does only one woman drink from the angel's vessel?

I wrote the above before looking at the book. Now I have looked at the book and see that the women are standing on water not a cloud. From the book, " Beneath their feet a dove flies over swirling water. This represents both the "watery" and emotional qualities of the Cups suit, and also the peace and harmony that is at the heart of the card."

Key words: Celebration . Co-operation and teamwork. Community. Mutual Support.
 

baba-prague

Oh, not much has happened on this one, but I think rather than jumping in (er hem, after four days...) I might wait and instead go and find one or two of the original images that we used for the picture. I'm interested to see how others see this card.
 

Satori

What do I love about this card?

Looking at this card as a modern woman I find some very interesting elements that pop out at me. Now this begs the question of whether or not we should read these images as moderns or somehow try to be thinking in the period, as has been suggested for the Marseilles deck. All I can say is that I am a modern woman. I'm reading for modern people, so I'll take a stab at this from my own perspective.

These are great figures. Strong women. I mean the bodies are fleshed out, not anemic. So I love the card already! :) Here's where I get tripped up: the golden belt. It hints at restraint to me. It whispers of a broken chastity belt, so there is the freedom that this implies, but also the touch of restraint is there.

I love that the cup is being filled by "spirit". To me this indicates that these women are in communion with each other and the heavens, as well as comfortable with sexuality. And also, they show us how easy it is to be in communion with the divine...get naked and lift your arm to the heavens and your cup will be filled....all kidding aside, when we turn our attention to the divine we receive and this image is so simple yet powerful for showing this. So as for abundance, this is the card :Ask and you shall receive.

There is avery comfy feel to the card, you hardly think of the ladies as naked they are so comfortable being so which is why the sexuality issue seems moot, but.....

(The way the scarves, the wraps, flowing robes are treated in the deck I often think of fashion, of couture.) Is that how you spell it? This is a high fashion deck to me. Here the robes are caressing the women, the fabric is lush and sensual. There is so much life and movement in the draping of the cloth that it adds the emotional component not created by the expressions on the faces. The faces are sort of neutral, but the swish of the silks, well, it is playful, and airy. I want to feel the fabric, is it silk? I feel the passion of the women being exposed or exhibited by the red silk, and I must say, they look rather Sapphic to me.

I could see this card as indicating a sexual relationship between women...except that they stand in the cool blue water. Now water is a highly sexual symbol, but here, the blue waves seem to cool off whatever tension is being hinted at with the red silk. And since the cups ride the waves so comfortably we see that the water is another outer manifestation of what is being communicated between the women.

I see the external components of the card as telling us about the inner life of the three women.

The element that I just find so adorable is the chicken bodysurfing the wave. Well now I read it is a dove...Ummmm....could it mean they are just getting hungry? ;)