Seven of Cups: Images of Reflection
Seven of Cups from the Waite-Smith Tarot
In ‘The Pictorial Key to the Tarot’, Arthur Waite (one of the 1909 creators of the Waite-Smith Tarot, along with Pamela Colman Smith), sums up his famous Seven of Cups design with the following term: ‘strange chalices of vision’.
These cups, floating in a cloud before a bemused, shadowy human, contain all kinds of bizarre items spilling from them, including a dragon, a castle and a floating, smiling head. In my early days of reading the cards, I used to feel overwhelmed by this image, as I struggled to understand what the different objects or creatures were supposed to ‘mean’. It strikes me now that that this perhaps wasn’t the most helpful way of approaching this card.
A.E Waite goes on to use the term ‘images of reflection’ as a key phrase for using this card in divination. These objects and creatures themselves are often honed in upon by my Tarot Therapy clients, taking on very personal meanings for them, but their meanings, as always, depend on the person’s own interpretations and what they are seeking to explore.
The dreamy, strange images in these floating cups point towards the watery depths of our unconscious mind: symbols and treasures waiting to be found that can teach us about what is going on down there, in our worlds of shadows, if we are willing to pay attention.
So let’s try it out, right now. A little watery visualisation. There is no need for you to leave your sofa, your bed, or wherever you are, or to set up your room in a fancy way with nice candles and incense (although you can if you like). Below, are a few simple prompts for you to explore the deep, vast pool at the bottom of your mind.
First, take some nice deep breaths. Do it as you read this.
Go on!
Connect with your body, notice how it feels against the surfaces you rest upon, whether you are sitting/standing/lying. Spare a moment to acknowledge the amount of water in your body, in your blood.
In a moment, you are going to close your eyes for a minute or two to enter a short visual world that exists in the depths of your mind. So please take a mental note of these few simple steps written out below, so that you don’t need to open your eyes and look back at the page during the visualisation.
1. First, you will walk through a light woods that feels enchanting and safe, exploring how it smells, sounds, and feels to the touch.
2. You will come to a clearing, and approach a body of still water. It could be a pond, a lake, a gentle flowing river, or whatever feels right.
3. You will look into the water, but instead of seeing your own reflection, you will see random objects floating up from the depths. When you see ones that you dislike, ignore them and let them dissolve. When you get a vision of something that you like – for whatever reason – take it with you and walk back towards the light woodlands again.
4. Become aware of your body and breathe in your physical space again, and open your eyes.
Above: Seven of Cups from Tarot of the Cat People by Karen Kuykendall
Make a note of your object and then do a bit of free-writing or creative work with it. You can scribble it down now, in an email to yourself on your phone, or on a bit of scrap paper. You could write a tiny story in which the object features as a mascot or magical object. You can sketch it or write a tiny haiku poem about it, sing about it, whatever you like!
If you prefer, you can skip that above part and simply make a few notes on the question, _What is the significance of this object in my life right now?_ Explore what this object means for you. It could be irrelevant or deeply significant. Either way, you get to know your mind’s workings today a little bit better.
When I first did this exercise, a frog came to me. I thought about transformation (how these amazing creatures change from a tadpole into a frog), but I also remembered a pond where I grew up as a child: there seems to be a longing for home in me when I thought about frogs. I needed to look at this, spend a bit of time with it. What about you? What is coming up for you?
Above: Seven of Cups from Orenda Tarot
This object has something to teach you. Our imaginations and our unconscious minds hold vast stores of healing treasures for us to explore, to help us to learn about ourselves. Perhaps you are tapping into other, unseen worlds when you delve into that place, that still watery world where you found your object. If that feels right for you within your belief system, then trust it. But either way, there is deep learning here for you. The mind is a magician. Grab your ‘strange chalice of vision’, your ‘image of reflection’, and explore it.
That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions and my courses embracing Tarot and Nature if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.
Smiles from Scotland,
Stephen
