What’s this Ms Shadowscapes, you think I need to learn more about the Court Cards? I haven’t spent enough time on them lately and you feel I need a little more? Ah, ok, if you think so!!! Today, once again, I drew a Court Card in my daily draw :P. The Knight of Cups to be precise. When I turned him over I was a little frustrated, but then I thought that it was quite appropriate after my night last night. I went out for drinks with a few mates from work and towards the end of the night we were talking about me and my romanticised view of the world. I have to admit, I am a romantic, and often fall into looking at the world through a romantic lens. They were trying to say that perhaps I would be better off if I tried to look at my situation more logically and realise that my idolised wants may be making it harder to find exactly what will make me happy. I didn’t really know what to say to this, for I can’t really do anything about my heart or its power over my thoughts, it’s just so natural for me. I’m a lover. I love love, I live for it! Just like the Knight of Cups.  It’s funny because when I first started out studying Tarot I did a few little questionnaires to find which court card best represented me at this stage in my life, and every single one of them came up with around 70% Knight of Cups (with a touch of the Knight of Wands and Queen of Cups). And to be completely truthful I understand why.

The Knight of Cups is the classical ‘Knight in Shining Armour’ off on a quest of love and light, seated upon his white horse of purity and hope. He is absolutely compelled to follow his heart above all else, for good or for ill, looking to his emotions to provide a map for his direction in life. He is someone who follows his heart rather than his head and draws upon his intuition and inner direction rather than thought to make his decisions. He is a romantic and sensitive soul who idealises love and responds so very deeply to life, appreciating beauty in all its forms and understanding both the pain and happiness of others. This can have its downfalls though, as he can be temperamental and over emotional, prone to mood swings, jealousy and melodrama when his feelings and dreams aren’t centred. Also if his emotions aren’t set in action and real life they can often get the better of him and turn into melancholy or depression.

He is also seen as an imaginative dreamer and a visionary in realms of love, emotion and art. What is important to note here however is the difference between imagination and fancy. In Rachel Pollack’s “Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom” she says that imagination may lead us to “an awareness of underlying spiritual truth” whereas fancy produces only “fantasies that may excite, but ultimately lack real meaning”. This is definitely a trap that the Knight of Cups can fall into. He could sit for hours upon hours daydreaming about when his prince will come and sweep him off his feet. Or when he will finally get that chance to storm that castle and save his princess from the evil queen.

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