The guy in the 6 of cups

arya ishtar said:

whoops, my bad, forgot i was on the history channel. so what does history/iconography say about our mystery man? is he on the 6 of cups on other decks, or was this a purely waite take?

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He is not in the Aquarian, Magical Forest, or Hanson-Roberts. (I have no other decks of that sort.) He is probably a guard, as Mary Greer says. The children are interacting in a protected environment.

How about the pedestal with the St. Andrew's cross shield? That is a badge used by Scottish clans which do not have a matriculated (officially registered) coat of arms. What's it doing on the Six of Cups?

The Guy in the 6 of Cups

Waite put in some Grail symbols into some cards, and kaballistically (6) this is Tiphareth, Heart-center of the tree. So, the man carries a lance or spear, featured in some Grail ceremonies. (In some Grail myths the lance drains away the pain of the wounded fisher king.) It simply enhances the meaning of healing and giving, since the Grail ceremony is essentially about the magical giving of food and beverage from the Magic of the Grail. Also note the cross, just below a flowering cup, and the cup of giving from the hand of the child. No sword included, also in some Grail ceremonies, because this is the Image of Force-of-the-Heart. And the Heart goes back to the child, closer to the world of the Spirit.

Parzival said:

Waite put in some Grail symbols into some cards, and kaballistically (6) this is Tiphareth, Heart-center of the tree. So, the man carries a lance or spear, featured in some Grail ceremonies. (In some Grail myths the lance drains away the pain of the wounded fisher king.) It simply enhances the meaning of healing and giving, since the Grail ceremony is essentially about the magical giving of food and beverage from the Magic of the Grail. Also note the cross, just below a flowering cup, and the cup of giving from the hand of the child. No sword included, also in some Grail ceremonies, because this is the Image of Force-of-the-Heart. And the Heart goes back to the child, closer to the world of the Spirit.

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Yes, it certainly could be an allusion to the bleeding lance of the Grail Procession as described by Wolfram, which usually is identified with the Lance of Longinus as well as the lance which wounded the Grail King and also healed him (as in Wagner's Parsifal), although I'm rusty on Wolfram's exact details. The use of the St. Andrew's cross instead of an upright cross (as in the Ace of Cups) still puzzles me.

ETA. Maybe the cross indicates the centrality of Sephirot 6? The paths to Tiphareth from the four neighboring Sephirah on the left and right Pillars form a St. Andrew's Cross.

The Guy in the 6 of Cups

Thanks for your open consideration about this. I think the cross moves away from the death on the cross (not at all appropriate here) to the cross as pointing to the heart- center. As you are getting at, the center is the 6 or Tiphareth of the Kabbalah tree-- and this cross looks up to Chesed and Geburah and down to Netzach and Hod as it keeps to the perfect center. Tiphareth "gives a vision of the harmony of things ...[and] relates to Christ and other Sun-gods..."( Richardson, Mystical Qabalah.) Cubes and crosses are associated with Tiphareth (Bonner, Qabalah.) But the magical Art of this whole Tarot Image is the combination of of Kabbalah, Grail, and the featured giving of one child to another.

I have no doubts now about the Grail connection of the suit of Cups. Pictorial Key to the Tarot concerning the Six: "A card of the past and of memories, looking back as--for example--on childhood; happiness, enjoyment, but coming rather from the past; things that have vanished." (As usual in PKT, Waite leaves the best for last.) As explained in Mary K. Greer's The Grail and the Minor Arcana--the Evidence, and elsewhere, the Minors tell the story of loss: the disappearance of the Grail and the loss of the Word (due to the death of Hiram Abiff) in Freemasonry. Cup, Spear (Wand), Sword, and Dish (Pentacle) are considered by Waite to be the Grail Hallows.

A card of memories, the Six depicts a happier time when the Grail was still among us. However, the origin of the Cup is not to be forgotten. The processional figure with the lance probably was intended by Waite to refer to the Spear of Longinus, which caused the wound from which flowed the (metaphorical) blood and water of redemption, which (according to legend) was caught by Joseph of Arimathea in the Sacred Chalice.

ETA. The blood shed by the Christ is considered by Christians to be the supreme gift of God to humanity, our own unselfish gift-giving (such as the cup of flowers offered by one child to the other) being a reflection of that ultimate gift. While the Grail in Wolfram's Parzival is not related to the Holy Vessel, Robert de Boron linked the Grail to the Christian myth in his Joseph d'Arimathie, and there apparently is evidence that Robert was one of Waite's sources.

"How about the pedestal with the St. Andrew's cross shield? That is a badge used by Scottish clans which do not have a matriculated (officially registered) coat of arms. What's it doing on the Six of Cups?" (<---- that was lrichard. i ganked up the quote.)


was just looking at that st andrews cross yesterday, next to the one on the 2 of wands. know he was crucified on a cross like that, but is there an esoteric meaning?

arya ishtar said:

"How about the pedestal with the St. Andrew's cross shield? That is a badge used by Scottish clans which do not have a matriculated (officially registered) coat of arms. What's it doing on the Six of Cups?" (<---- that was lrichard. i ganked up the quote.)


was just looking at that st andrews cross yesterday, next to the one on the 2 of wands. know he was crucified on a cross like that, but is there an esoteric meaning?

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Well, you asked for it. (This was brought to my attention by Parzival.) See the Tree of Life attachment. The Minors go on the corresponding Sephirah. Aces on 1, Twos on 2,..., Sixes on 6,... Note the central location of the Six of Cups. The cross (X) may refer to this centrality. Also note that Sephirot 6 together with Sephirah 4, 5, 7, and 8 form a St. Andrew's Cross. The centrality of the Six is very significant, but that's enough of this stuff, right?

i DID ask for it. lol. am not well versed in the tree of life. starting slowwwwww...