Tarot Of The Day July 25, 2018 - Day 32: The Raven’s Prophecy Deck - 5 of Cups

Tarot Of The Day July 25, 2018 - Day 32: The Raven’s Prophecy Deck - 5 of Cups

I am posting a daily tarot course in a group I am a member of on Facebook ('A Kaleidoscope of Magical Perceptions' is the name of the group, please feel free to request membership - it is full of fun people and really great posts about all manner of topics) and I thought I would cross post the information here to this blog as well. Once the initial sessions of the course have passed, it will start over using a different tarot deck. The text of the thirty-second session follows.

The Rider-Waite 5 of Cups depicts a black-robed standing figure, before whom are three overturned goblets, their contents spilling over the ground, while behind him stand two intact goblets. Beyond them a river flows, and a bridge crosses the river. On the opposite side of the river on a hill is a building. The figure appears to be entirely focused on the spilt goblets, and much like the Ace of Cups being offered to the despondent fellow in the previous card, he is ignoring the two behind him. Where the previous card seemed to imply an obsession with  what was lost, this one is the depression that comes after the loss, as if the cards are entering the stages of grief.

The Rider-Waite booklet offers the following words for the 5 of Cups: “It is a card of loss, but something remains; three have been taken, but two are left. It is a card of inheritance, transmission, and patrimony. It maybe a card of marriage, but not without bitterness or frustration. (upright) News, alliances, affinity, ancestry, return, false projects (reversed.)

Maggie Stiefvater chose to show the five as two mourning ravens, with three raven feathers hanging like leaves in the branches - all seen through a mist or fog. She writes, “All of the Fives symbolize adversity peculiar to their suit, so of course the Five of Cups is about the loss of a relationship. Sometimes this can be sudden and unexpected, such as a friend moving away or the death of a loved one. But more often this card hurts because you saw the parting of ways coming and couldn’t or wouldn’t stop it. Now you’re stuck in an endless loop of wondering how you could have made it better or wishing that they would have seen the error of their ways.   ...The biggest message of this cup is not the loss, however. It’s not a warning, like the Four of Cups, to change your ways. Instead, the Five of Cups appears when you’re trapped in regret. All of your thoughts are preoccupied with what you’ve lost.”

Maggie offers the following keywords for the 5 of Cups - loss, solitude, sadness, and grief.

Tomorrow - 6 of Cups

***TOTD will cover the entire 78 card Raven’s Prophecy Deck alongside the Rider-Waite deck for comparison. In order to not completely burn out,  on Saturday I will break the lessons up by doing a practicum lesson. Practicum lessons will take the form of a layout or spread that I will walk you through the steps of interpretation for. After the first round of sessions ends, we will start over with a short break for a poll to be done to see what deck everyone wants to see next round. ***