THE KNIGHT OF CUPS

Esoteric Title: Lord of the Waves and Waters
Elemental Attributions: Air (hot, moist) of Water (cold, wet)

   Your ally stares at his cup as his white horse tries to move forward. Unlike the Page, who is on a stage, and the King and Queen, who are enthroned, the Knight rides a horse, suggesting action, adventure, and exploration. Your ally has wings on his helmet, like the God Mercury, suggesting the swiftness of the messages communicated from the inner planes to conscious awareness. He is holding his horse in check, as though waiting quietly to receive those inner communications. His cape has an unusual, bold design, suggesting that he uses his imagination, but, even though your ally is introspective, his cup is conventional and ordinary (unlike the Queen's), suggesting that he has not yet been powerfully affected by the cosmic forces in a significant way or has not yet learned how to channel them. The water is flowing through an arid region, and a few trees and bushes are growing, suggesting that the inner forces of emotion and imagination are taking hold in his world, but your ally, who, as a Knight, is operating in the element of Air, is using the intellect to distance himself from the forces, represented by the the river. (Compare the Queen, whose throne is next to the ocean and the King, whose throne is in the ocean.) He seems on the verge of a creative breakthrough, however. He has established the conditions necessary for original creativity. Any moment, he might give his horse free reign and allow his imagination to fly.

Reversed: lack of vision or adventurousness; unable to use visionary or intuitive abilities