Six of Cups

Six cups on lotus stems are arranged in a hexagon and overflow steadily; the sea is calm and the light is golden.

Tiphareth, Beauty, in Briah, the world of creation. Beauty, the centre of the Tree and the Son of the Name: self-conscious mind, the heart, the place where the light of the Crown is reflected in a balanced form. Tiphareth is the Sun. The Sixes are Tiphareth in the four worlds and are the most harmonious cards of each suit; the Princes belong here.

Tiphareth in the world of Water: feeling at the balanced centre of the Tree. The Sun in the second decan of Scorpio lights the depths and makes them fruitful.

The Sun in the second decan of Scorpio (10°–20°, about Nov 2–12). The Sun is the centre, the heart, vitality, identity and the light by which everything else is seen. On the Tree it is Tiphareth; among the trumps it is the Sun, the two children dancing in the light of the New Aeon.

Scorpio is fixed Water: the scorpion, the serpent and the eagle, putrefaction and regeneration, the depths. Mars rules it. It is the kerubic sign of Water (as the eagle), and its trump is Death. The trump of Scorpio is Death.

This decan is ruled by the Prince of Cups, whose arc runs from 21° Libra to 20° Scorpio. The two Shem angels of the decan are Sealiah and Ariel.

Self-conscious mind: the hexagram, balance regained at a higher level, the heart. Tiphareth, Beauty. The Sixes are the most harmonious cards of each suit; the Lovers is trump VI.

Feeling in harmony with the whole; the value fulfilled without excess. 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 Pleasure) is shared by both traditions.

The Sun at its best gives confidence, generosity, leadership, warmth, integrity. At its worst: egotism, need for validation, tyranny, burnout, a fragile ego hiding behind performance.

Scorpio (“I desire”) brings depth, loyalty, intensity, psychological insight, resilience, emotional power. Its shadow is jealousy, obsession, vengefulness, control, secrecy, destructiveness.

Together: Sun has no essential dignity or debility in Scorpio. 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 Nov 2–12, so it is the decan card of anyone born then; their court card is the Prince of Cups. Find a birthday.