Cult of Tarot Forum

I had a great reading here recently and it made me obsess a bit over the 8 of cups.

I'd be curious to hear from you how YOU see the 8 of cups, especially in decks that you love or find interesting.

The 8 of cups that I looked at yesterday was from the Old English Tarot. Here is what came to me:

Three cups each are arranged in a row. In the middle are two and in the place where a third cup might be stands a man playing an oboe-like instrument. At his feet is a little military drum. It makes me think of marching music, and also of the Pied Piper. He is facing left, which I often associate with the past. It occurs to me that this is not about MY past but THE past. A while ago, I started writing a novella that plays in the early Renaissance; maybe it has something to do with that? That it might be a good idea to work some more on that piece? That I need to walk away from other things and focus on this? There's also something about the arrangement of the cups that tugs at me; I'm not sure what it is. Something about the symmetry of the three cups each to the left and right, and some sort of question/disturbance by the two in the middle. Here is the card

Here's one that I had, copy-pasta'd from insta:

Let's talk a bit about the 8 of Cups. Or - not talk - but feel.

Take a moment. Close your eyes. Find your pulse, the movement of blood through your veins. Be with your pulse for a moment, and the steady beat.

Notice your breath - drawing into fullness before releasing into emptiness. Take a breath in, and hold it. But, you can't hold onto that fullness forever.

Even in the quietest moment of stillness, your body is always flowing, always moving. You couldn't stop moving through life and survive anymore than you could live if your blood stopped its flow.

And as much as we all want to strive for abundance, to have it all - we'll all encounter loss in our life. Like our lungs empty, so must we.

Your whole existence is movement, is a flow of gaining and losing. Don't fight against it, fight against the nature of reality. Keep moving and appreciate the clarity of emptiness as much as you do the comfort of abundance.

Live. Lose. Love,

Libra wrote: ↑11 Mar 2019, 19:07 Screenshot_20190311-120612_Instagram.jpg


Here's one that I had, copy-pasta'd from insta:

Let's talk a bit about the 8 of Cups. Or - not talk - but feel.

Take a moment. Close your eyes. Find your pulse, the movement of blood through your veins. Be with your pulse for a moment, and the steady beat.

Notice your breath - drawing into fullness before releasing into emptiness. Take a breath in, and hold it. But, you can't hold onto that fullness forever.

Even in the quietest moment of stillness, your body is always flowing, always moving. You couldn't stop moving through life and survive anymore than you could live if your blood stopped its flow.

And as much as we all want to strive for abundance, to have it all - we'll all encounter loss in our life. Like our lungs empty, so must we.

Your whole existence is movement, is a flow of gaining and losing. Don't fight against it, fight against the nature of reality. Keep moving and appreciate the clarity of emptiness as much as you do the comfort of abundance.

Live. Lose. Love,

What a great interpretation. And an interesting visual take on the 8 of cups. What deck is it?

Oh wow, how interesting, I actually pulled out the eight of cups last night for my nightly card draw. o.O
How odd that we were both pondering it on the same day.

I actually pulled it out reversed and for a second thought it looked like she was skyrocketing into outer space. xD



Maybe because I did pull it reversed, but I very much got a feel that this time it was a call to action, to decide what I want from many options, grab onto it, and leap for the stars with it. :3

This is 8 of cups from Golden Botticelli Tarot.

The man is looking so serious of studying something, seems like related to the small mugs and cups infront of him, and 1 in his hand. He looks slightly stress.

What i felt from this card, more to self stress and doubts. If we can take things lightly, not so personally, i believe life can be less stress, more free and happy.

Therefore we need to be confident on ourselves. Not to have doubts all the time. Live happily and be satisfy with our possessions.

Jaq, that deck is the Tarot of the Hidden Realm deck! It's a lovely deck, and every card is a close up like this, with more of the energy of a card than a set scene like most RWS decks!

Oh another one that I have from way back when - I love hollowing two cards, so here's that happening!

So, I mentioned in an Insta post earlier that the 8 of Cups felt like a prequel or origin story for The Hermit. It’s The Hermit, back in the real world, having made some great material achievements, yet finding it all so spiritually lacking that he chose to walk away. He’s collected so much, yet he finds that his cups are empty. As he walks away, there is a sense of sadness, melancholy. It’s got the vibe of a song I found years ago - “It Matters to Me” by Sans Seraph. You can almost hear the guy in the red coat sing “We almost had it all” under his breathe as he walks away. Yet, even with that sadness, this card carries hope. It’s the hope that comes with finally choosing yourself. It’s breaking that cycle of putting yourself out there, only to come back empty handed again and again. There’s so much strength in this card, in allowing yourself to try something radically different and leaving a broken situation. You don’t know where you’re going, but you do know 2 things - that the path will be difficult, and that it will be worth it all in the end.

And then, you’ve got The Hermit. He’s older and more grizzled - his clothes even have faded to grey. And yet, he feels so much more content and whole. Look at his posture, he stands as straight as his staff instead of leaning his weight into it. He is alone, and comfortable with that, yet also open to visitors to his little realm. He’s got a candle lit on his window, so to speak. The character in the 8 of Cups had been disapointed by people so much that it was preferable to leave it all behind, while The Hermit welcomes them to him, albeit from the top of a difficult mountain to climb. With the difference in age, posture and locale between the two characters, it’s easy to see a story of exploration, soul searching and growth between them. The Hermit has an air of wisdom and self-sufficiency that really only comes from years of exploring the world around you, while relying on nothing but yourself. I think it’s that self-reliance that changed his perspectives on people - he feels more understanding and not as easy to disappoint. He has become wise enough to not feel the faults of others as a personal failing to him. He just takes things as they are.

litefoot13 wrote: ↑12 Mar 2019, 05:29 Oh wow, how interesting, I actually pulled out the eight of cups last night for my nightly card draw. o.O
How odd that we were both pondering it on the same day.

I actually pulled it out reversed and for a second thought it looked like she was skyrocketing into outer space. xD



Maybe because I did pull it reversed, but I very much got a feel that this time it was a call to action, to decide what I want from many options, grab onto it, and leap for the stars with it. :3

Mm, this is lovely! I'm getting vibes of not worrying about what isn't truly important, starting true to your path, let everything else drop away. I love this deck!

Oh, these are all so very interesting! And the Golden Botticelli and Libra's illustration so different from the other ones.

Leap for the stars with it! I love it!

And the Hermit following the 8 of cups - that makes so much sense! It opened a whole new dimension to me.

A deck I use often if I want a full image deck is the Breugel Tarot. The Eight of Cups in this I interpret as "A secret benefactor at work". In the card shown, the secret benefactor is in the background dropping a heart into a vessel.

It is less about someone giving money, gifts or food etc or to be seen as the benefactor. For the benefactor is is doing a good deed for the sake of it ie a quiet humanitarian attitude and letting people know kindness is out there. For the the receiver it is about having faith in the human race despite what ills might have befallen them to that point.

In my reading of this it is usually one of 2 meanings. The first for the client to reveal they have a secret task, to be a secret benefactor or comment on existing benefaction activity. The second is to say to the client, they are receiving the gift of a secret benefactor and it is important to know there is no shame in receiving that benefit, but some time remember to pay it forward to someone else.

CaraHamilton, your deck is nice. The interpretations is allowing us to see things in different aspects.

CaraHamilton wrote: ↑13 Mar 2019, 23:07 A deck I use often if I want a full image deck is the Breugel Tarot. The Eight of Cups in this I interpret as "A secret benefactor at work". In the card shown, the secret benefactor is in the background dropping a heart into a vessel.

It is less about someone giving money, gifts or food etc or to be seen as the benefactor. For the benefactor is is doing a good deed for the sake of it ie a quiet humanitarian attitude and letting people know kindness is out there. For the the receiver it is about having faith in the human race despite what ills might have befallen them to that point.

In my reading of this it is usually one of 2 meanings. The first for the client to reveal they have a secret task, to be a secret benefactor or comment on existing benefaction activity. The second is to say to the client, they are receiving the gift of a secret benefactor and it is important to know there is no shame in receiving that benefit, but some time remember to pay it forward to someone else.

This is interesting, Cara. I had an intuition today that in order to more closely connect with my - let's call them invisible friends, I need to let go of the negative feelings I have towards my (deceased) mother. That she wants to be in my cheering squad, but in order for that to really work, I need to do this letting go. She wants to be my benefactor!

I just pulled another one. It's interesting how the 8 of cups in the Thoth has yet a different message. "Indolence," that card is called. It has a heavy feel to it, portraying the lethargy that, I guess, it is meant to show. It feels a bit depressive. Wallowing in negative feelings. And yet, the flowing water could be connected to the leaving and the moon that is depicted in RWS and RWS-inspired decks.