Tarot No. 71: THREE OF CUPS

Shining together

This is my seventy-first response to a tarot card. I only have seven more entries to tackle before I’ve written through the full deck. It’s on!

QUICK HITS

Expansive Creative Connection / Burst of Optimism / Joyful Collaboration / Third Mind Factor / Core Community / Multiplication of Positivity / Inner-Circle Celebration / Profound Healing Experience / Abundance of Good Feeling / Sense of Communal Purpose / Blessing of Bright Blooms After a Storm / Merriment in the Kitchen, Joy in the Garden, Contentment in the Studio / Relief / Successful Group Show / Flowers for Everybody / A Shared Feeling of Fulfillment / The Fountain of Life / Happy Times / A Meaningful Toast to a Meaningful Accomplishment / Profound Healing / Blooming Love / Supported Elevation / Potential for Pregnancy / The Cure of Mirth & Plenty / Magnification of Pleasure / Unstoppable Girl Gang / Triple Goddess Cocktail Party /

THE IMAGE INSIDE THE IMAGE

Three creative beings receive and circulate an overflow of compassion and clarity. Three raised glasses meet with a clink.

Three bottomless wells of vibrant loving connection, obv.

THREE OF CUPS

This morning I opened the multi-disciplinary artist Cecilia Vicuna’s book Spit Temple to a random page and read the following passage:

And I had invited
this large group of people
to come and dance with me by the river
and as it turned out only three women showed up
And so once I saw
them
dancing with the threads
I started to think that they were the Fates
all over again

THE THREE OF CUPS signals a moment of recognition. Pay attention to who shows up to dance with you. Move closer to the ones whose hums harmonize with your hum. It’s a vibe. As in vibration, a subtle quality of sound. You are an instrument that is always seeking the state of resonance. It’s a feeling. As in sensual, as in sense-based. THREE OF CUPS is the emotion flooding your body when you realize that there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than in this room moving rhythmically in time with your people. It’s a warm flow, a wave in which you know and are known.

THREE OF CUPS combines the creative expansion associated with the number three and the value of emotional connection and fluidity associated with the cups. This is a great time for coordinating forces. Imagine an intimate circle in which each member contributes with equal commitment. This is a celebration of healthy interdependence. THREE OF CUPS is a boost, an elevation, a launch into productive and positive action. You operate optimally when you work within the field of your true role. Tend your patch of ground beside gardeners you can trust to tend theirs with the same level of engagement. Allow your love to be amplified by the presence of their love. THREE OF CUPS is a pleasurable gathering of focus toward the fulfillment of a shared purpose.

If this all sounds too utopian, I get it. Collaboration is challenging. It’s hard to work with others. Confusion, misunderstanding, and regret sometimes blot out the joy. Group dynamics are tricky. Meetings suck.

THREE OF CUPS is also a card that helps to repair ruptures. You disappointed a partner and a partner disappointed you. You burned a bridge behind you. You arrived at a bridge only to find it in flames. You are a human animal learning to play longer games with other human animals. Cue cycles of shame, anxiety, resentment, and despair. If you are sick with regrets, THREE OF CUPS wants you to drink its medicine and regroup. Literally. This is not a time for isolation. Connect. Get out of the house. See your friends. Listen for that hum. THREE OF CUPS rewards circulation. Recognize and receive the nurture that surrounds you. Show up believing that it’s safe to be open. You are here, where you fit.

Review THREE OF WANDS, THREE OF COINS, THREE OF SWORDS, and THE EMPRESS (III). Subtler variations on the “the third degree” include THE HANGED MAN (XII) and DEATH (XIII).

IDEAS FOR CREATIVE PRACTICE

Spend time with people who see the best in you, the ones who reflect back an image of yourself that inspires you. Prioritize delight and respect in all of your creative collaborations. Contribute your life’s energy to tending your unique corner of the culture. Honor your matrilineal lineage. Support your most supportive art friend. Find the faces that make your face smile. Dance.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What do you want to celebrate? Who do you want to be standing next to when you raise your glass?

THE READING

Seventy-one reduces to EIGHT, which links, in the original sequence of Tarot, to JUSTICE (VIII). A. E. Waite switched the position of the eighth and eleventh card in his 1909 collaboration with the artist and occultist Pamela Coleman Smith, and so in many decks the eighth card in the Major Arcana is STRENGTH. For our purposes, I’ll place them both on the table beside THREE OF CUPS.

Alessandro Jodorowsky writes, “Justice, number 8, symbolizes perfection.” Waite associates STRENGTH with success and courage. Together, these cards point toward the values of interconnectivity, agency, and equilibrium. Acknowledge your weaknesses and past mistakes with compassion. Recognize the full value of your strengths. Adjust your actions accordingly. Contribute with gratitude and enthusiasm, receive with gratitude and enthusiasm. Balance quality input with quality output. Find a fulcrum of inner stillness. Soothe your bruised ego, fearlessly lead your lion.

ANNOUNCE! MENTS!

Hello and thank you to new subscribers. I’m glad you’re here. My plan is to post a lot more frequently and I’m excited to see how this space continues to grow in the New Year.

I’m also planning to offer more workshops in the coming months, because I do love to teach. This time of year, I spend a lot of time plotting out my vision for what I want to accomplish in the next calendar cycle, so I thought I’d share my process. Creative Timing: A Workshop for Shaping Your Year will run online January 11–12, 2025. Saturday-Sunday 2-4pm Eastern, and it will be recorded for those who can’t make it during that window. We will use tarot and astrology as tools to refine, plan, and shape your vision for 2025. Workshop price includes your astrological birth chart plus four transit charts showing how the planets will be interacting with your chart at key moments in the next calendar year. $250 via e-transfer or Paypal. Message below to sign up or inquire.

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