Pagan and not-so-Pagan discussion thread

[gitise]

I never really "believed" in magical stuff like ghosts or future telling or zodiac ext. But out of curiosity/boredom I had a weird tarot experience(with a friend that is in to that stuff) in that it was dead accurate. My question was the ever-corny "will anyone ever love me?" It was the seven card spread one and basically I got:

past-the emperor
present-the wheel of fortune
future-knight of cups
surrounding energies-the fool
the resistance-death
biggest fear/greatest wish-the lovers
the answer-princess of cups

I kind of got someone of them, but some of them confused me. But thought it was weirdly uncanny and maybe the pagans on the board could help me out with their thoughts. Like what is the princess of cups?!

[Arag]

past-the emperor
present-the wheel of fortune
future-knight of cups
surrounding energies-the fool
the resistance-death
biggest fear/greatest wish-the lovers
the answer-princess of cups

The past - The Emperor
The emperor symbolizes power and the will to make things happen. It warns us that the power we have might blind us to the consequences of our doing. It asks to do but in a responsible way.

The present - The Wheel of Fortune
This card symbolizes change, the constant flow of fate. It asks to accept what's there and to use the chances that come with the changing times. It reminds us that we are responsible for our own fate.

The future - Knight of Cups (a knight in the cups perhaps?)
The knight of cups represents friendliness and a harmony between knowledge and intuition, but also too much idealism. In your case it might symbolize a person, in this case it might be an intelligent man, someone who is a romantic person.

Surrounding energies - the Arag, erm...Fool
The fool symbolizes freedom, from bounds, from expectations. It means that in your search for love you are truly free, but you'll also need to free yourself from your fears and and false expectations.

The Resistance - The Old Dragon/The one at the end of the road
He reminds us that everything we know will pas away one way or the other. He is a sign of the end, but every end is also a new beginning. Do not fear, because a change will happen, something new will happen to you but you must lose yourself from clinging to the past/the old.

Greatest wish - The Lovers
You wish to become one, to find someone. There's nothing more to it.
But to achieve this you must be free from false ideas and never abandon your true self.

The Answer - Queen of Cups
The card symbolizes an emotional security, it also is a sign of love. You might need to deal with questions of love in the future, trust your feelings when it comes to them.

[pixie]

I agree with Arag's interpretation.

I would add that you should be able to integrate the qualities of the queen of cups (there's not a princess in the decks I use, so I don't know her qualities) into your life in the future, eventually enabling you to find love.
I always think of the queen of cups as someone who's warm, giving and loving.

[Phytophilia]

I agree with both Arag and Pixie.

Originally Posted by gitise

Like what is the princess of cups?!

Pixie's mention of not knowing the meaning of the Princess in the specific deck that you are using is a valid point... it could be helpful for you to take a look specifically at the interpretation used by the deck's creator. Occasionally they are pretty different from the norm.

In the decks I've seen with "Princesses" in them, those cards tend to correspond to what the "Pages" are in other decks, which suggest a new, young energy of the type found in the suit (cups, and so then loving, caring energy).

The only thing I might add is that in one of the books I really like, the Page of Cups (which might roughly correspond with your Princess of Cups) suggests the first stirrings of loving, caring feelings, which may appear as a type of caring for oneself first, with the implication that with gentle encouragement and nurturing this caring will mature and grow into the type of love and emotional security that both Pixie and Arag have already described.

So, yeah, in the end I'm just echoing the previous two posts.

[Arag]

The three stooges have spoken, howgh!

[Phytophilia]

Originally Posted by Arag

The three stooges have spoken, howgh!

[gitise]

Originally Posted by Arag

The three stooges have spoken, howgh!

Well thank you three stooges!

[duck]

Originally Posted by gitise

past-the emperor
present-the wheel of fortune
future-knight of cups
surrounding energies-the fool
the resistance-death
biggest fear/greatest wish-the lovers
the answer-princess of cups

Let's see . . . .

You've always been such a good little boy and followed all the rules (emperor), and always thought that everything would just come to you because of that's just how things go (wheel).

Now you're getting aggravated (knight) and are longing for emotional fulfillment (cups) . . . .

So, hrmph.

What it says is stop worrying about what people think and don't be afraid to act when you don't know the outcome (fool), and that the man is born when the little boy dies (death).

the lovers means that you think that by joining with someone else you'll become more than what you are -- it doesn't seem compatible with the above, does it? Hmmm. Something will give, can't tell what. You will have to decide.

Princess of Cups: Princess means earth, cups means water. A person who is focused on emotions, and characterized by . . . . 'fruition' . . . . fecundity . . . . attainment

ok?

It says somebody will love you when being yourself and expressing your emotions becomes more important to you than following the rules and wanting people to think you're a 'good/decent/proper' person is.

Mostly.

[duck]

Originally Posted by pixie

there's not a princess in the decks I use, so I don't know her qualities

I think Crowley started that prince/princess instead of Knight/Knave (or jack or page). I know he's the earliest writer I ever saw use those terms. The thoth deck had a big influence on everything that came after, for good or ill. I get the impression that he mostly just did it because he liked the symmetry of it better.

He didn't interpret them any differently than the old OTO readings: King is airy -- logic and decisions, Queen is watery -- emotions and values, Prince/Knight is firey -- ambition and action, Princess/Knave is earthy -- possessions and belonging.

So King of cups is the airy part of water; someone who thinks about emotions. Princess of cups is the earthy part of water; someone who experiences emotions . . . . yada, yada, yada, cowabunga, amen.

If anybody still cares about the OTO.

[pixie]

Originally Posted by duck

I think Crowley started that prince/princess instead of Knight/Knave (or jack or page). I know he's the earliest writer I ever saw use those terms. The thoth deck had a big influence on everything that came after, for good or ill. I get the impression that he mostly just did it because he liked the symmetry of it better.

He didn't interpret them any differently than the old OTO readings: King is airy -- logic and decisions, Queen is watery -- emotions and values, Prince/Knight is firey -- ambition and action, Princess/Knave is earthy -- possessions and belonging.

So King of cups is the airy part of water; someone who thinks about emotions. Princess of cups is the earthy part of water; someone who experiences emotions . . . . yada, yada, yada, cowabunga, amen.

If anybody still cares about the OTO.

I haven't had a Thoth deck, though I've read about it - I had a Golden Dawn set, that was a tad similar, but that thing just gave me the creeps. It just had "bad vibes", for lack of a better term. It seemed as though the interpretations were more negative than the others. Some people respond to it better though, I guess. A friend took his Thoth deck and buried it out in the woods, the thing bothered him so much.
Lol...call us over-sensitive but yeah, it just took us that way.

Having gone though many types, I stick with a Rider-Waite that's been re-colored in pastels - it works best in this case. My beau has an Aquarian deck that works for him, though I can't manage it well. I have an old fashioned "Gypsy" set that you arrange in a square, and that thing terrifies most people but doesn't bother me at all. Go figure.