There's a man carrying a spear!

earthshine

I only recently noticed a man wearing a dark purple shirt with grey pants carrying a long spear walking towards a turret or tower in the Six of Cups card. I feel he must balance somehow the energies of the two children, but I don't know how exactly. He looks ominous. What does he intend to do with that spear? Where is he going to, and where did he come from? What does he signify to you? Thank you.
 

EmpyreanKnight

The man in the RWS 6 of Cups may stand for many things, none of them particularly forbidding, at least to me.

The 6 of Cups is the card of nostalgia and of happy memories, usually (but not limited to) reminisces of the happy events in one's childhood, as can be seen in the sunny image of the boy giving a cup full of flowers to another kid. Personally, the man turning towards the tower represents the querent turning back from the present in order to relive a happy past. Usually we do this when we are despondent about the present (as can be seen in the man's drab clothes), or when we wish to escape our present reality and all its attendant hurts or sorrows. We have been busy with our battles (as symbolized by the spear the man carries), and now we wish to rest somewhere as a welcome albeit temporary respite from all the sturm und drang. It is often these wonderful and sunny memories of the past we cling to as an oasis, as a well from which we can draw the fortitude to once more face the storms of the present and the uncertainties of the future. In a way then, the tower the man walks to is a symbol of strength and protection, since it is from within these walls he takes shelter in where these treasured memories are stored, allowing the man to recuperate before heading out into the fray once again.
 

earthshine

Oh thank you! That clarifies the clouds in my head. Thank you for sharing your interpretation.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A7-30GC using Tapatalk
 

EmpyreanKnight

You're welcome, readerico. :)
 

Zephyros

The Six of Cups is attributed to Sun in Scorpio and that could mean several things. On on hand the idea of nostalgia is apt, but the card can refer to pleasure in its form. The Sixes are the apex of their suit, the best and most balanced place the element can be. So, I would guess it refers to simple pleasures, or pleasure without baggage.

Now, Scorpio is the sign of the Death card which could be why the spear is there. Nostalgia for times that are no more? Fleeting pleasure that is inevitably marred by real life? The Thoth and RWS shar some similarities, so I like to quote the Book of Thoth from time to time because it goes into greater detail than the PKT:

This card shows the influence of the number Six, Tiphareth, in the suit of Water. This influence is fortified by that of the Sun, who also represents the Six. The whole image is that of the influence of the Sun on Water. His fierce, but balanced power operates that type of putrefaction-he is in the Sign of Scorpio-which is the basis of all fertility, all life.

Pleasure, in the title of this card, must be understood in its highest sense: it implies well-being, harmony of natural forces without effort or strain, ease, satisfaction. Foreign to the idea of the card is the gratification of natural or artificial desires. Yet it does represent emphatically the fulfilment of the sexual Will, as shown by the ruling Sephira, planet, element, and sign.

In the Yi King, Sol in Scorpio is represented by the 20th Hexagram, Kwan, which is also “Big Earth”, being the Earth Trigram with doubled lines. Kwan means “manifesting”, but also “contemplating”.
 

Zephyros

True, it seems more like a staff or scepter.
 

Barleywine

Given the nature of the scene - carefree children in a protected garden - I always took the man in the background as some kind of guard or ptotector. It doesn't look like a spear in his hand to me either, more like a staff of some kind; I used to think it's a herald's staff with his badge of office on top, but it's quite a bit too long according to historical records. The man isn't dressed like a domestic, so I assume he's some kind of attendant or warden to the children.
 

smw

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