Queen of Cups' Cup

caridwen

Have you noticed that the Queen of Cups has two angels on either side of her cup? They are looking up with their palms pressed together as though praying. I always thought they were pincers but they are actually angels. Anyone else noticed and what does this mean?
 

job

I noticed the angels, but at first I thought they were two moons.

To me there is a difference in how the device is drawn and the rest of the picture. The object is drawn with a finer pen, is rendered with great detail and more importantly is more 'realistic' than anything else.

If you look at the long tradition of Japanese art and even in Manga you will see that when the artist wants to depict something as strange/unusual/dangerous they would depict it in a more realistic manner. So too here.
The Queen is holding something that quite possibly does not belong in her World, and as such requires great concerntration to comprehend it.

The background is interesting too. Its almost like she's going to place the device down on the edge of the cliff! Such a 'trick of perspective' is not unusal in art.

This card also reminds me of an image of "The Temple of the Rosy Cross" by Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens.

g'night! :)
 

tink27

caridwen said:
Have you noticed that the Queen of Cups has two angels on either side of her cup? They are looking up with their palms pressed together as though praying. I always thought they were pincers but they are actually angels. Anyone else noticed and what does this mean?

Hi caridwen,

I found an interesting thread on the Queen's cup

www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=14919

Phoenix_Down said:
-The cup she holds is unique within the suit of cups. No other card variates on the design of the cup so strongly; the cups in the 6 are described sometimes as oversized, and the king holds a scepter that is very cup-like in addition to the regular cup.

-The cup is lidded. It actually looks more like an urn than a cup.

-The cup is very elaborate when compared with the more simple cups on the other cards. On the two arms of the card you could almost say it was bladed.

-Rather than holding it between the stem and the bowl, like all the cups are held when they are being held (save the Ace,) she holds it with both hands. I get the impression that if she were to try to hold it one-handed from below (like the ace), it would fall.

-Her facial expression seems sad in the universal waite, or even angry in the original Rider-Waite.

-She sits before the ocean, but her concentration is fixed on the cup she holds.

The angels you mention are around the 3rd page, I think!?

tink
 

Fulgour

Queen to Queen ~ Cup to Cup
 

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BodhiSeed

Could it possibly be that her cup is an urn holding the ashes of someone she loved (which might explain the look on her face)?

Bodhran
 

Fulgour

job said:
IThis card also reminds me of an image of "The Temple of the Rosy Cross" by Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens.
"The Temple of the Rosy Cross" (1618)
Theophilus Schweighardt Constantiens

click on: to view

"In describing this strange figure... Schweighardt reminds truth seekers that the Temple and its mystical brethren are ever near unto the wise man, who discovers them only by perceiving inwardly the mysteries of the spirit. The Temple is on wheels to signify that it can go to any place, and it is suspended from Heaven by a rope, because it is moved by the Will of God. The rose is over one window, and the cross is over the other."

Manly Palmer Hall
Codex Rosae Crucis (1938)

*

I'm pretty sure this Cup was a wedding gift from The Queen's
brother and sister-in-law, and she's trying to think of the right
place to put it. I'd suggest back in the box and then the closet.

Queen of Cups, RWS style - Aeclectic Tarot Forum
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=38484
 

job

Fulgour said:
I'm pretty sure this Cup was a wedding gift from The Queen's
brother and sister-in-law, and she's trying to think of the right
place to put it. I'd suggest back in the box and then the closet.

Have we travelled too far? Will Pandora go willingly back in?

Hmmm.... but by placing it on the cliff it can perform most splendidly as a guide to those who seek 'evidence of things unseen' while avoiding the hazardous rocks below.
A beacon to the weary traveller if you like.

aka... a lighthouse (of a sort).

g'night! :)