ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDY GROUP - 5 Cups

rwcarter

A man sits dejected on the ground, ringed by five cups on their sides. The cups form a semi-circle around him. The circle is a symbol of totality, wholeness, completion and fulfillment. Halved, it becomes a symbol of nothingness, aloneness, incompleteness and longing.

As all the cups around him are empty, the suggestion is that he is emotionally drained.

His back is toward the couple as they walk away from him toward the river. This is most likely because he can't face the truth of losing the woman and watching her leave with another man.

A child watches as the couple leaves. Children represent innocence, beginnings, potential, future possibilities and hope. In this particular case, the child also represents a responsibility since the man, no matter how heartbroken he may be, still has another life that is dependent upon him and his actions. He can't wallow in self-pity cause he has a child to take care of. The child is a reflection of shattered innocence, endings and hopelessness.

The child may not actually be a physical child, but a representation of the man's spirit. He can't bear to watch her walk out of his life, but his spirit has to watch her leave.

I see the despondent man as being pretty young. And I'm guessing that the man who is leaving with his woman is older and/or of a different class than he is. Consequently, this may be the young man's first love, in which case the child may also represent the innocence of a first love. Youths think their first love will last forever, and when it doesn't, they're crushed and act as if their world has ended and they can't go on. Of course they are able to. And although he can't see it right now, it's probably better that she left him now.

Across the river is a path that climbs through the bank and disappears behind the trees. The path indicates the direction the couple is taking, which is a different direction than the man will be able to follow.

The lushness of the area on the other side of the river is in stark contrast to the desolateness of the area in which the young man finds himself. This desolation reflects how the man feels.

Rodney