The Two of Cups stands for wisdom and ideation on the creative level of human expression. Two of Cups upright: philosophizing. Two of Cups reversed: indoctrination.
The Ace of Cups receives inspiration from the higher self, which ignites a creative intention in us, for example, the intention of becoming a digital nomad. The Two of Cups turns this creative intention into a creative idea, for example, the idea of launching an online business selling digital art and NFTs.
In a way, the power of the Two of Cups clarifies a creative intention. That’s why ageless wisdom assigned the epithet illuminating intelligence to this card.
Since we are on the level of the cups, a creative idea has the form of an (abstract) image.
When we conceive a creative idea, we usually perceive the wisdom behind it, too. For instance, wisdom reveals cosmic significance. In this case, the higher purpose of the online digital art business, i.e. to sell something meaningful rather than just getting rich quickly. Creative wisdom also reveals the principles that apply to the creative pursuit, for example, whether an online art business is future-proof.
If the Two of Wands turns up auspicious in a Tarot reading, it indicates that the querent and her creative idea are in harmony.
If it turns up inauspicious, it may indicate a tension between the two, for example, the querent may feel inadequate or anxious, or her ego may not like to pursue the creative idea.
An inauspicious Two of Wands may also indicate that the querent is prone to negativity and may formulate an unconstructive idea. For instance, a politician may feel the need to improve her country’s safety. Instead of investing in safety measures — the constructive idea — she may resort to spying on other countries and attacking them at the first signs of aggression. Which is the unconstructive idea.
Two of Cups Symbolism
In the images of the 2’s, the two wands, cups, swords, and pents represent the first and second sphere on the Tree of Life.
This symbolism gives rise to the idea of creative intention looking at itself, like in a mirror, reflecting upon itself, and philosophizing over its creative idea.
This establishes a dualism between the creator and her emerging creative pursuit.
Mind a creative idea is abstract and intentional and does not take circumstances into consideration. The Three of Cups will provide the context for the creative idea.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Two of Cups
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life.
On the Tree of Life, the Two of Cups represents Chokmah of Netzach, i.e., wisdom and ideation on the creative-feely level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produces either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
Here are the five core meanings of the Two of Cups:
- Power of consciousness: Creative ideation
- Constructive use: Philosophizing
- Destructive use: (Self)Indoctrination
- Favorable internal experience: Captivation (by a creative idea)
- Adverse internal experience: Obsession, fixed idea
Philosophizing means reflecting on the wisdom of a creative idea.
We indoctrinate ourselves when we don’t reflect on wisdom but instead, stick to our opinions on what is right and wrong.
Reflective Questions
If the Two of Cups appears in your spread, you may want to ask yourself the following reflective questions:
- Can you recall moments in your life when you had a creative idea? How did that feel?
- Which creative ideas did you pursue and how far did you get?
- Have you felt harmony or tension between you and your creative idea? If yes, can you tell why?
- How do you distinguish between constructive and unconstructive creative ideas?
- Do you consider your relationships as creative pursuits? If not, what about looking at relationships from this angle? After looking at them from this perspective, do you want to change anything?
Two of Cups Summary
The Two of Cups symbolizes creative ideas and the love relationship between a creator and her creation. This love is the rock upon which we create our lives.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings dominate at present because Astrology is a divination tool and favors fortune-telling. But these meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life are mixed up with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective, holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical, and hence, easier to memorize.
What do Various Tarotists Say about the Meaning of the Two of Cups?
Let’s explore what different tarotists wrote about the Two of Cups.
Usually, tarotists consider the astrological significance of Tarot cards. The Two of Cups represents the first decanate of Cancer, ruled by the Moon. Cancer is the most motherly zodiac.
This is interesting because the sphere of ideation and wisdom is a male sphere. Hence. the Two of Cups is a cocktail of strong male and female forces, which can clash or produce a creative firework.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Two of Cups
For the Two of Cups, Paul Foster Case offered the keyword response to the environment.
Here, Paul refers to the upward direction on the Tree of Life: the response to experiences. Our responses to experiences rise on the Tree of Life, first through the Bodily Tree, then the Intellectual Tree, and then the Creative Tree, whereby every sphere on the Tree of Life responds to the experience in its unique way. Hence, every Sephirah responds to the environment, not just the Two of Cups. Also, the Two of Cups signifies a lofty response — the extraction of creative wisdom from experiences.
Paul lists the following auspicious meanings: reciprocity, reflection, gain and benefit through parents, favors from the opposite sex, and changes of residence.
Reciprocity and reflection refer to philosophizing on creative ideas.
Gain and benefit through parents, favors from the opposite sex, and changes of residence go back to the 4th house ruled by Cancer. This house governs house, home, real estate, domestic life, and parents.
These are Paul’s inauspicious meanings: reverses and losses through parents or the opposite sex, unfortunate changes of residence, fluctuations of mood, and unwise decisions.
We already covered the first two meanings. Fluctuations of mood and unwise decisions pertain to negative Cancer characteristics, in particular, the influence of the restless Moon. But mind the influence of the Moon is cyclic and rhythmic and can be calculated. This differs, for instance. from the inauspicious bipolar tendencies of Gemini natives.
The meaning of favors or losses from the opposite sex seems off since they are matters of the Lovers/Relationship card. Maybe Paul arrived at this meaning by interpreting the two cups as signifying two lovers.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Two of Cups
Arthur Edward Waite gives a mixed bag of meanings: love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, concord, sympathy, the interrelation of the sexes, wealth and honor, and desires that are not in Nature but by which Nature is sanctified.
Love is too general since all cup cards express love (in various shades), and passion is more fitting for the Seven of Cups, the sphere of desire on the creative-feely level.
Friendship is a fitting meaning, but it refers to high friendship, i.e., the friendship of kindred spirits.
Affinity, union, and concord are too general, too. On this level, we are dealing with the affinity, union, and concord of the creator and her creation.
Sympathy and the interrelation of the sexes seem off, since these are matters of the Lover/Relationship card and Gemini.
Wealth refers to the 4th house, i.e., real-estate wealth. Honor is off, too. Maybe Arthur meant social recognition through wealth.
The meaning of desires that are not in Nature but by which Nature is sanctified is a technical description of creative ideas. We enrich nature with creative ideas and the creative pursuits that follow. All art falls into the category of enriching nature. Unfortunately, we are currently more in the business of defiling nature. The world could use some Two of Cups vibes.
Arthur wrote that the Two of Cups is auspicious for business, love affairs, and pleasure. This is correct but too specific. Creative ideas are auspicious for all creative pursuits, not just businesses, love affairs, and pastime.
What Etteilla Said About the Meaning of the Two of Cups
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist, offers the meanings of love and desire.
As mentioned, these meanings are too general since they fit to all cup cards.
What Papus Said About the Meaning of the Two of Cups
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, offers the meanings of opposition and unimportant obstacles raised by one of the lovers.
Likely, Papus inferred the meaning of opposition from the card’s symbolism. This is correct, but too general and one-sided. We’re looking at the dualism of the creator and her creation, Also, Papus omitted the auspicious meaning of harmony.
The meaning of unimportant obstacles raised by one of the lovers concurs with Paul’s idea of losses from the opposite sex, but it feels off since this is a matter of the Lovers/Relationship card.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meaning of the Two of Cups
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, claims that an auspicious Two of Cups signifies love, attachment, friendship, sincerity, and affection.
Again, these meanings are valid but too general, since they do not reveal the respective faculty of consciousness.
Gregor offers the following inauspicious meanings: crossed desires, obstacles, opposition, and hindrance. This is too general as well.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meaning of the Two of Cups
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th century, celebrated Parisian fortune teller, said that the Two of Cups signifies a marriage and marriage fidelity.
Remember that she offered the meanings of ardent love and eternal fidelity for the Ace of Wands? Here, she adds the connotation of marriage, which is off. Marriage is a matter of the 7th house, governed by Libra.
Having said that, one could argue that marriage is a domestic matter (the 4th house of Cancer).
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use a faculty of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to Learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you came to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
#Two of Cups #Two of Cups meaning #Two of Cups Tarot interpretation #Two of Cups upright #Two of Cups reversed #Two of Cups symbolism #Two of Cups spiritual significance #Two of Cups in Tarot spreads #Two of Cups energy and inspiration #Chokmah