Abrac
I ran across something of interest in Waite's The Secret Tradition in Alchemy, 1926. It's in a footnote in chapter 22. The reference is to an image found in Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th & 17th Centuries, 1785. This seems like a good candidate as one of Waite's primary influences for the Ace of Cups.
http://s19.postimg.org/x1dbh0tj7/Cross_Chalice.jpg
The footnote reads:
That Waite singles out this diagram as the most important of the whole collection says a lot about its influence on him. It also reveals a lot about the meaning this symbol probably held for him.
http://s19.postimg.org/x1dbh0tj7/Cross_Chalice.jpg
The footnote reads:
"It is to be regretted that the measures of my critical purpose do not permit the consideration of a diagram and connected letterpress on p. 51 of the Secret Symbols. A Cross surmounted by a Crown is superposed on two solid triangles, the inscriptions on which are (1) Faith, Hope, Charity; (2) Way, Truth, Life. It is written also, in the words of the Psalmist, that "the Stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner". Beneath the Cross is a Chalice, from which emerges a Sacred Host. The doctrine is that of Tauler: (1) "The true communion is the substantial, potent, omnipotent presence of Christ"; and (2) "If we are penetrated and full of the spirit of Christ, then is Christ present within us, and we are in Christ." It is the Rosicrucian doctrine of the Eucharist in its clearest formulation. It is said otherwise (1) that the Spirit of God is the nutriment of the human soul, and (2) that the Body of Christ is an universal spiritual substance or principle which fills those who can receive it. The Law is Nature and flesh but the Gospel is grace and spirit. Herein is the contrast between Adam and Christ. It is the most important diagram in the whole collection and has no adventitious elements. It is said elsewhere of Christ that He feeds flesh with his own substance and transforms it into a new being—another of the Eucharistic references which recur so frequently in the records of the Rosy Cross."
That Waite singles out this diagram as the most important of the whole collection says a lot about its influence on him. It also reveals a lot about the meaning this symbol probably held for him.