KING OF CUPS

THE KING OF CUPS’ ACTIONS
WISE
Gives good advice
Has a deep grasp of human nature
Teaches through loving attention
Knows what others need for growth
Sees right to the heart of the matter
Understands many levels of experience
CALM

Maintains his or her composure
Has a quieting influence on others
Is emotionally stable and secure
Keeps his or her head in a crisis
Never seems nervous or tense

DIPLOMATIC

Can balance the needs of many people
Keeps everyone working together happily
Can diffuse a tense situation
Achieves goals through subtle influence
Says just the right word at the right time

CARING

Responds to emotional needs
Is a natural healer and therapist
Takes action to help those in need
Feels compassion for the less fortunate
Does volunteer and charity work

TOLERANT

Has open and broad-minded views
Accepts the limitations of others
Is comfortable with all types of people
Allows others their freedom
Is patient in trying circumstances

Joan Bunning

The personality of the King of Cups is a combination of the positive water energy of the Cups suit and the active, outward focus of a King. He is wise and understanding, with a deep knowledge of the world that comes from the heart. He is a teacher and way-shower who guides his students with loving attention. He cares about others sincerely and always responds to their needs with compassion. He heals with a gentle touch and a quiet word. He is calm and relaxed in all situations, seeming to know intuitively what is called for at any moment. Others turn to him for advice because they know he will listen attentively. There is always a peacefulness around him that others respond to. He is tolerant of all points of view and shows patience in the most trying circumstances. He gives others freedom to grow and develop in their own ways without asking anything in return.

In readings, the King of Cups asks you to take the kinds of actions he might take. For example: responding calmly in a crisis, using diplomacy rather than force, reaching out to help, or accepting a different point of view. This King can also represent a man or woman who acts as he does, or an atmosphere of caring, tolerance and understanding. In a reading, he tells you that his special energy has meaning for you at this time. Let yourself be inspired by this King in whatever form he appears in your life. route because he has the energy and assurance to take risks and win. The King of Wands has the courage of his convictions and always believes in himself.

In readings, the King of Wands asks you to take the kinds of actions he might take. For example: creating a masterpiece, leading the way, taking a risk, or making a splash. This King can also represent a man or woman who is acting as he does, or an atmosphere of excitement, daring and drama. In a reading, he tells you that his special energy has meaning for you at this time. Let yourself be inspired by this King in whatever form he appears in your life.

Alesiter Crowley

Knight of Cups

The Lord of the Waves and the Waters:
the King of the Hosts of the Sea

Fire of Water

Rain, Springs, etc. – swift passionate attack

Graceful, poetic, Venusian, indolent, but enthusiastic if roused. Ill dignified, he is sensual, idle and untruthful.

The Book of Thoth

The Knight of Cups represents the fiery part of Water, the swift passionate attack of rain and springs; more intimately, Water’s power of solution. He rules the Heavens from the 21st degree of Aquarius to the 20th degree of Pisces. He is clothed in black armour furnished with bright wings which, together with the leaping attitude of his white charger, indicates that he represents the most active aspect of Water. In his right hand he bears a cup from which issues a crab, the cardinal sign of Water, for aggressiveness. His totem is the peacock, for one of the stigmata of water in its most active form is brilliance. There is here also some reference to the phenomena of fluorescence.

The characteristics of the person signified by this card are nevertheless mostly passive, in accordance with the Zodiacal attribution. He is graceful, dilettante, with the qualities of Venus, or a weak Jupiter. He is amiable in a passive way. He is quick to respond to attraction, and easily becomes enthusiastic under such stimulus; but he is not very enduring. He is exceedingly sensitive to external influence, but with no material depth in his character.

When the card is ill dignified, he is sensual, idle and untruthful. Yet with all this he possesses an innocence and purity which are the essence of his nature. But he is, on the whole, so superficial that it is hard to reach this depth. “His name is writ in water.”

In the Yi King, the fiery part of Water is represented by the 54th Hexagram, Kwei Mei. The commentary is singularly obscure, and somewhat sinister. It deals with the difficulties of rightly mating such opposites as fire and water (compare the Queen of Wands; but in that case Water is the calming and modulating influence, while here it is Fire which creates trouble.) Swiftness and violence ill suit a character naturally placid; it is rare indeed to meet with a person who has succeeded in harmonizing these conflicting elements. He tends to mismanage all his affairs; and unless sheer good fortune attend him, his whole career will be an unbroken record of failure and disaster. Often his mental “civil war” ends in schizophrenia or melancholy madness. The abuse of stimulants and narcotics may precipitate the catastrophe.

A.E. Waite

King of Cups

He holds a short sceptre in his left hand and a great cup in his right; his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding and on the other a dolphin is leaping. The implicit is that the Sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards. Divinatory Meanings: Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent; also equity, art and science, including those who profess science, law and art; creative intelligence. Reversed: Dishonest, double-dealing man; roguery, exaction, injustice, vice, scandal, pillage, considerable loss.