Self-love’s Ace of Cups

Egret lands, folds outstretched wings

Heart rests between flights.

My poetry movie collaborator Robyn Beattie joins me now for Tarot Tuesdays as we play with pairing Tarot Haiku and photos. Last week I posted our first writing prompt for the Ace of Cups.

All week long I thought about love and self-love, what the Ace of Cups means in the context of this rush-rush world we live in, so full of constant distractions and lurings to be more, do more, anything but notice the square of Earth beneath our feet and the present moment.

Walking the Husky, I watched an egret sail into view, land beside the bay, and fold his outstretched wings onto his back. The feathered beauty of that moment was so peaceful; I thought about how we extend love to our lovers, children, friends. But self-love: Might it also feel like that sweet soft folding of one’s wings onto one’s back for a moment of rest between flights?

Out of a series of photographs Robyn sent me, I chose the downy white wings to go with the Haiku; but I also love this photo she took of a heart trivet I remember seeing throughout my childhood in my father’s house. With little heart nested in big heart, this feels like a beautiful transitional image as we move from the Ace of Cups week into our Two of Cups week which invites us to look at pairs, fertile borders, or even oppositions if taking a contrarian stance.

Are you up for a Tarot Haiku Challenge, or Tarot Photo Challenge or both? Join us with your own interpretations or take the straight-up weekly writing prompt to work on a project of your own; writing prompts are posted (you guessed it–on Tuesdays) at Tarot Tuesday’s Facebook page.

Today’s Tarot Tuesday Prompt: Two of Cups

What is the nature of the “Yes!”, the pledge, new project, or attraction the two figures celebrate in this card? Put the figures in the card in conversation. Or try a bit of interspecies dialogue between dolphin pair and mermaid pair.

Or, if, as in the Daughters of the Moon deck, emotions swirl and spilled cups whirl, what is the story or poem suggested by the imagery? To whom do the cups belong? How did they get there? Describe the voyage to retrieve the cups. 

Feel free to respond in comments here or to join the conversation at Tarot Tuesday’s Facebook page to share your word or image response.

Photo of Two of Cups: Aquarian Deck by David Palladini, Inner Child Deck by Isha and Mark Lerner (artwork Christopher Guilfoil), and Daughters of the Moon by Ffiona Morgan (14 illustrators and 5 painters credited with formation of the deck’s artwork).

Tarot Writing Class Starts Next Week

Wheel of Archetypal Selves: The Many Faces of Love starts next Monday, February 15; we have a rich circle forming and  still a few spots left if you wish to join us. Course description here.