The Cups of Scorpio
Scorpio, being the “fixed” water sign, is all about depth. In Tarot, Scorpio is represented by the Death Card. Death means irreversible transformation. In the deep waters of Scorpio, we find strange creatures that can not live on dry land, in the clear light of day. Ship wrecks there are as well. All the unknown, bizarre aspects of ourselves, all the lost and forgotten dreams and aspirations await us in the cold stillness of Scorpio’s depths. But we must “die” to reach these depths.
In spiritual cultures as disparate as Christianity and Psychedelic Journeying, death stands for the forfeiture of our notion of self. To suffer the loss of all we thought ourselves to be, to look into our deepest shadow and find a place for all that we have rejected and forgotten, and to reemerge with this treasure is what the Death Card represents.
Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the roman equivalent of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. In Tarot he is represented by The Judgment Card. This card is about shedding everything that does not serve – that does not express our true nature and will. In the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition the card depicts an angel (probably Gabriel) arousing the dead with his trumpet. This reflects the Christian notion that everyone who has ever lived will one day be “judged” for what and who they have been. In some modern decks, Judgment is represented by a phoenix rising from the fire that immolates him. As disparate as these images may seem, they both represent the idea that only what is truly noble and of the spirit shall survive death. It is Pluto/Hades who knows the topography of the underworld. In the deep waters of Scorpio we need the guidance of the Lord of the Underworld to help us discern what is worthy to bring to the surface, what is worth knowing but leaving to its rest and what is worth forgetting. We must awaken what is best in us, allowing only this to move forward and be born again.
Decan 1
5 of Cups
0-10 degrees Scorpio
Decan Ruler Mars
(The Tower)
The first decan of Scorpio is represented by the 5 of Cups. We see a tall man brooding over three spilled cups. Behind him are two more which he either can not or will not see. The Decan is ruled by Mars which in Tarot is represented by The Tower Card.
The Tower Card Represents profound loss. It differs from The Death Card in that while the latter represents radical transformation of self while the rest of the world continues unperturbed, The Tower represents the world we knew having fallen to pieces leaving US intact but utterly without reference or refuge. The figure in the 5 of Cups is the victim of such a loss. He is not dead, but the world he knew is gone. Mars wants to take decisive and aggressive action but can not. Although it is the traditional ruler of Scorpio (Replaced with Pluto after its discovery in 1930), fiery Mars can do little more than impotently fume in this Watery sign.
The person depicted in the 5 of Cups has lost much, so much that his sadness and bitterness keeps him from assessing what remains. Like Fiery Mars in Watery Scorpio he fumes in vane. If he would but turn around, he would see that more than one cup still awaits him. There is a bridge across the stream that seems to cut him off from the life on the other side. He is at an impasse. If he can do nothing but look behind him, let him look deeper. Before the loss his cups were full. Let him find again the source that filled them.
Decan 2
6 of Cups
10-20 degrees Scorpio
Decan Ruler The Sun
(The Sun)
In the 6 of Cups we see two Children. One offers the other a cup from which grows a single white flower. The card is associated with nostalgia for more innocent times. It can suggest getting back to our roots, rediscovering the original source of joy. Most of us can remember the first time we were seized with such joy and wonder that we wanted to turn to someone and say “Are YOU seeing this too?!?
The courtyard in which this tableaux is set seems bathed in golden sunlight. The Sun is the ruler of the second decan of Scorpio and is represented there by the Sun Card. This card represents the arrival of the new day. The Naked Child upon a white horse enters the scene with banners flying. He is surrounded by sunflowers which in Tarot represent the bright creative force of nature. The relationship between the Sun Card and the 6 of Cups beautifully expresses the hermetic principal of correspondence – as above, so below. Each Sunrise is a rebirth. Each new morning returns us to innocence and asks us to find anew the flower of our joy.
It is as though we have a second youth. But this one, like the first, will not last for ever. Eventually we must choose a path. Many paths may open before us. How will we choose the right one?
Decan 3
7 of Cups
20-30 degrees Scorpio
Decan Ruler Venus
(The Empress)
The 7 of Cups is a card of intoxication. After returning to the source of joy in the last card, we are overcome by the same joy here. The journey through The Waters of Scorpio begins with a feeling of being out of options. At first we want to fight against the violent loss brought about by Mars and The Tower. Through insight or simple exhaustion we find the wisdom to abandon vane struggle. This brings about the new day. We find once again our lost passion and purpose and the world appears to us as it does in youth. But youth is beset with peril as much as it is blessed with possibility. In the Five of Cups, our mistakes and losses lay behind us, here they lay ahead.
Venus, the Ruler of this decan, sheds her light upon the bardo like scene of the 7 of Cups. She is represented by The Empress. But rather than opulence, she brings decadence. This is not the stately order and beauty of the cathedral or sacred grove, it is the garish seduction of the brothel, the casino or opium den. All that glitters here is but fairy gold. Still we must make a choice. The only way out of this fever dream is through.
The Cups presented to us in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck represent the options open to us but do not tell us what we should choose. A review of the contents of these cups can tell us something about ourselves:
On the bottom right we see a cup with what appears to be a dragon. In The Western tradition, the dragon represents power without principle. He hoards virgins and piles of gold although he has no use for either. This is the most primitive form of acquisitiveness – wanting for the sake of having.
Moving left we see a cup containing a laurel wreath. This is a wreath of victory and represents fame and renown. Look at the cup rather than its’ contents however and we see the face of death. All victory and fame is, in the long run, vanity. One day, what ever we have given to the world or taken from it, we shall all be forgotten.
Next we see a cup of jewels. This represents luxury and wealth. But this cup is no cornucopia. These gems sparkle but you can’t eat them. In the long run, even a king would sell his crown for bread if he is starving.
Next we see a cup containing a high tower on a rock. Such a tower offers security but also isolation. We are faced with the question of the difference between a fortress and a prison. Often security is purchased at the expense of loneliness and paranoia.
Things become more mysterious in the upper row.
To the left we see a cup with a beautiful head. The color suggests that we are looking either at a head carved from stone or a spectral head. Beauty is either fleeting like cloud or enduring but lifeless. Youth is like this. Life is lost in the living of it or turned into lifeless puppetry by refusing time its due.
On the right we see a cup with a snake. This represents “medicine”. It might bring wisdom (the serpent is an ancient symbol of wisdom) or death. Perhaps the knowledge of death is the ultimate wisdom. It strips us of illusion but also hope. It is truthful but ugly.
Finally, in the middle and slightly above everything else, we see a cup with a robed figure who radiates light. It represents the desire for “sainthood” or spiritual elevation. Is this the cup we should want? If so, is it the cup we DO want?
Every one of these cups offer us something attractive, yet every one is a trap with the possible exception of the last. Yet spiritual elevation, sainthood, enlightenment is not something to want. This is why Zen teachers advise their students to forget about enlightenment and simply learn to sit. Enlightenment, if it exists at all, isn’t anything we could imagine. Anything we think it is, therefore, must be wrong and we will go wrong in its pursuit.
The Hermetic Order of the golden Dawn gave this card the name “Lord of Illusory Success”. We imagine that if we find the right career or lover, have money or fame or even the right spiritual path, we will be free of anxiety and pain. This is an error not because all is vanity (although it might well be), but because a good life is not the life without troubles, it is the one that makes the troubles worth while. Any of these cups might be the right one for us, but all of them will lead us back to the situation we saw in the 5 of Cups, that is, to bitterness and loss, if we imagine it will turn our lives into a happily-ever-after fairy tale. The only thing unwholesome or even unholy in any of these cups is our delusion about their contents. The contents of the cup will not complete us, it is our job to complete them. To choose and live a path with heart.