Two of Cups

Two cups overflow from a lotus on a calm sea; two dolphins twine around the stem and their streams cross. The card is an image of exchange.

Chokmah, Wisdom, in Briah, the world of creation. Wisdom, the Supernal Father, the first movement out of the point: a line, a direction, the Yod of the Name. The Twos are Chokmah in each of the four worlds, the element at its purest and most dynamic, and the Knights belong here as the fiery fathers of their suits.

Chokmah in the world of Water: the element at its purest, feeling as a direction toward another. Venus in the first decan of Cancer gives the water its warmth and its attraction.

Venus in the first decan of Cancer (0°–10°, about Jun 21–Jul 1). Venus is attraction, harmony, love, art and fertility. On the Tree it is Netzach, Victory; among the trumps it is the Empress, the door through which all forms are born.

Cancer is cardinal Water: the crab and its shell, the home, the first flood of summer at the solstice. The Moon rules it and Jupiter is exalted here. Its trump is the Chariot. The trump of Cancer is The Chariot.

This decan is ruled by the Queen of Cups, whose arc runs from 21° Gemini to 20° Cancer. The two Shem angels of the decan are Leuviah and Pahaliah.

The Line: the first extension, direction, the reflecting Other. Chokmah, Wisdom. The Twos show each element at its purest and most dynamic; the Priestess is trump II.

Feeling as relation: the discovery that a value is shared. The Cups are usually read as the feeling function in Jung's typology, an interpretive convention rather than a text of Jung's.

Rider-Waite calls the suit Cups (also Chalices). Its small cards carry scenes; the Thoth small cards carry the suit emblems arranged geometrically, with the keyword printed at the bottom and the colours of their Sephirah and decan. The Golden Dawn title (Lord of Love) is shared by both traditions.

Venus at its best gives grace, charm, artistry, loyalty, peace-making. At its worst: vanity, laziness, people-pleasing, jealousy, indulgence, love used as a bargaining chip.

Cancer (“I feel”) brings nurturing, loyalty, emotional depth, intuition, memory, protectiveness. Its shadow is moodiness, clinginess, defensiveness, manipulation through guilt, living in the past.

Together: Venus has no essential dignity or debility in Cancer. Dignity explains part of the title and the Sephirah explains the rest: a planet at home in its sign can still sit in a hard sphere, and a weak planet can be carried by a strong one.

The Sun crosses this decan around Jun 21–Jul 1, so it is the decan card of anyone born then; their court card is the Queen of Cups. Find a birthday.