Who's that man in RW 6 Cups?

arcange

The 6 Cups in Rider Waite is one card I can't get a hold on. My eyes are always drawn to that guy on the left walking away. It looks like he's carrying a big stick.

Little man with a big stick. LOL. I feel like the oversized elf in the red hat is giving the flower to an old lady the size of a child. The man walking away is his conscious. His cup is a ploy.

Anyone have an idea who that guy is?
 

AJ

sometimes readers see it as an adult grooming the child.
It really depends on where it comes up in a spread.

If I haven't said it already, welcome to AT!
 

DJP

Child sized old lady? I like your thought processes! :)

I see the figure as some sort of guard, signifying, along with the environment, a safe space.

Peace.
 

Apollonia

Child sized old lady? I like your thought process! :)

I see the figure as some sort of guard, signifying, along with the environment, a safe space.

Peace.
I always thought the same, a guard on patrol ensuring security for the children in the garden.
 

Barleywine

Me too! Some kind of watchman, but he seems to have something else on his mind. Maybe he's headed for the men's room? :D
 

arcange

I think you typoed a 6 for an 8?

I've never thought of a specific person but he sure is movin' on isn't he

If I haven't said it already, welcome to AT!



It's the little guy on the left in the VI cups. Thank you for the welcome. I'm finally opening my eye in this incarnation. LOL.
 

magicjack

I don't know, but I always notice another face in the little girls hair.
 

arcange

Child sized old lady? I like your thought processes! :)



I see the figure as some sort of guard, signifying, along with the environment, a safe space.



Peace.



For some reason I can't see the 3D perspective in this card. So to me the figures lined up for a mugshot are very different in size.

I can't wrap my head around this one. Ok, six is the Lovers. Is that guy in the left the spirit or would the central dude be the spirit? To me it looks like the dwarf with the phrygian cap is standing in a flower pot . Is he the spirit?

Everything about this card is strange. The child sized old lady turns her head away. It almost looks like she doesn't have a head but a really long neck that leads to the roof.
 

Rallwedd

6 of Cups Watchman of the Guard

Hello Arcange

I read that this illustration is likely based on a play with Ellen Terry ...

http://www.waitesmithtarot.com/the-6-of-cups/

It seems to explain the strange age appearance of the figures, the watchman, the flowers and the white glove, even the yellow curly hair and cap of the woman/child.

R.A.