THE
KNIGHT OF CUPS
Tarot
de St. Croix - by Lisa de St. Croix
Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood
How are you flowing with your feelings lately? Our feelings,
our emotions, are very much like water. They can surge like a wild river
forcing us to hang on for dear life to the rickety raft we call our sanity or
gently bob along the sparkling surface, calmly and peacefully, on a lovely inner
tube experience. They can cascade us over the edge like a roaring waterfall,
get backed up like a stagnant pond, go deep underground and then resurface as an
erupting geyser or gently bubble up as sweet, artesian springs. They are always
in motion and ever changing.
In the Tarot the cards of the Knight of each suit
represents us moving more into the mastery of the qualities of that suit. In Cups it is all about our emotions,
feelings, love for others and love for ourselves. This can be a dreamy state, a
journey through the dark and troubled waters, or a heart-guided passage of
spiritual awareness. Whatever it is, it
will change. You can count on that. The Knight has not yet achieved mastery but
is definitely on a journey far and wide to discover it. There will be many
detours, mistakes, and triumphs along the way as the search continues.
I love this Knight of Cups card. Our gallant knight is
kneeling before an incoming flow of water pouring out of a cup that emerges from
a dreamy looking and undefined background of the world beyond him. He is kneeling, indicating to me that he is
both honoring his emotions and also perhaps a little knocked down by them. He
is allowing that which is flowing to him - not fighting or arguing or
classifying. From this state of receiving the flow, he is accepting the next
wave of mastery. We so often just do not honor our emotions. We tend to
discount them, make a full-blown production out of them, blame them or project
them on someone else, or drown them in a variety of addictions to numb out any
trace of them. We can easily do this to others as well: “Gosh, aren’t you over that
relationship yet? Just let it go!?” or, “Gee,
there is no need to get so emotional about this!” or “Wow – it’s no big deal -
stop being such a drama queen!” We are
fully aware of how these kinds of heartless comments hurt us - even if we are
aware people say them to avoid engaging in their own feelings – but why then do
we continue to do it to ourselves?
We are not meant to suppress our feelings, to discount,
avoid or even master them. We are meant to – well – FEEL them. They can be our
greatest teacher, our higher awareness calling out to us to pay attention and
notice what is important, to understand life is not all about being rational,
linear, or provable. We feel what we
feel. And we know what we come to know.
Ultimately, we learn that all the images represented
in the Tarot are an aspect of our own selves. We are the Knight. We are the
vessel. We are the flow. The Knight of Cups is often referred to as The Grail
Knight who is on a quest to find the Holy Grail. The watery realm of our
emotions takes a life-time of navigation and is indeed a sacred quest. We come
to learn that the Holy Grail has been within us all the time. We just needed to
find it and have the courage to drink from it to be transcended by it.
Today I encourage you to drink deeply from the cup,
the vessel of your emotions. Take them in, swirly them around as if tasting
wine to savor its subtle or robust nature. If you need a good cry then put on a
sad movie and go for it. If you need to
tell someone you love them, don’t wait any longer – let them know. Is your
anger at yourself or someone else? Try seeking forgiveness in either case. Lonely? Happy? Feeling antsy or bored? Follow
the clues and seek the source of your feelings.
Maybe they don’t even belong to you!
Whatever course the Knight of Cups leads you through,
know you are indeed the Holy Grail – a being of eternal love and light just
feeling your way as you flow through the emotional realm of mastery.
…..Kathryn Ravenwood
12/4/2019