Tarot's King of Cups

Bringing the Gifts of Winter into the Warmth of Spring

Photo by Buzz Andersen on Unsplash

The New Moon in Pisces arrives on March 18th, and with it comes the close of eclipse season, which began back on February 17th.

Eclipse seasons help us clear out old patterns and cycles. They can bring clarity to what is no longer working and help show it the door. This Pisces New Moon is the final exhalation of that letting go.

On March 20th, we move from the Sun sign of Pisces to Aries. This is a major shift. It’s a new beginning on the Wheel of the Year.

We can bring Pisces’ watery poetic wisdom with us as we set our intentions at the New Moon, and then transport that energy into Aries.

It’s also the first day of Spring and the Vernal Equinox!

The equinoxes represent the balance of day and night, and for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we will have a welcome return of longer days.

What a potent time. 

And to help explore what it means to bring water into fire, I’m calling on the only tarot card that lives at that intersection- the King of Cups.

Smith Rider Waite Deck

The King of Cups

Astrologically, the King of Cups is associated with Pisces. 

We find him seated on his stone throne in the middle of the open ocean. Waves flow around him, a galleonship sails in the distance, and the fish that leaps from the sea is similar to the fish pendant that hangs at his neck. His chalice is enormous, he holds a scepter in his opposite hand, and his expression is calm, albeit a little removed.

His throne should sink, but instead it floats. This is the heart of this card — his ability to combine fire and water, his ability to defy the laws of physics.

When we enter the Court Cards, we are in a stage of mastery, which means we get to combine elements. The suit’s element, in this case water for Cups, leads the Court’s element, in this case Fire for Kings.

Fire represents our passions, and the Kings all bring fire. That is the nature of kingship. It takes the pinnacle of mastery to carry fire from place to place and to channel passion into service.

Where the King of Pentacles brings earth to fire, and the King of Swords brings fire to air, the King of Cups does something that should be impossible: he brings fire into water. 

Water represents our emotions, our creativity, and our heart-center. In the suit of Cups, we are asked to learn: What does it mean to come from a place of overflow? 

If we want to give, and in the suit of Cups we want to give, we know we can only give from the overflow. If we are to give from overflow, our receiving must be as good or better than our giving.

The King of Cups can honestly say that for him, it is in giving that he receives, because along the journey of the Cups, he has become a master of receiving.

This is what keeps his stone throne from sinking. This is also the magic and the alchemy he uses to keep his water from extinguishing his flame.

This also mirrors the balance of the equinox!

Working with the King of Cups

I think it’s fair to say that when learning the tarot, understanding the Court cards feels the most challenging. 

The dual elements, the gender, and the hierarchy can feel both helpful and limiting. Different tarot practices element the Courts differently (though the Queens are always water). Some readers will choose a specific Court card to represent some other person who influences the subject.

It’s not uncommon to hear them described as ascending ages and experience levels. Some say they can tell when something will happen based on the figure’s orientation. I’ve even heard of the different Courts representing days, weeks, months, and seasons.

In my practice, I always read the Courts as representing an aspect of the self.

Why?

Because you are only responsible for yourself. Because we see the world not as it is, but as we are. Because it is the only orientation where I believe they can help us.

It can help to understand the Court cards by first imagining them as famous archetypes or celebrities, so we can then step into that energy and embody it ourselves. You have to start somewhere.

For example, I’ve heard the Queen of Wands described as Ru Paul, or the Page of Swords as Aladdin. Both are great places to gain entry to the cards.

But when we get to the Kings, it’s easy to get stuck. Who can we imagine that has that level of mastery?

I wrote about this in the King of Pentacles. It’s really hard to see yourself as seated atop the throne of wisdom, master of your element, able to share it with the world.

And yet — that is exactly the invitation of this moment.

The King of Cups at the Threshold

Photo by Niklas Håkonsen on Unsplash

Consider what you have moved through since February 17th. Did you feel a shift in the Eclipse season? What have you learned in these final weeks of winter? How have you grown? What did you dream?

The Pisces New Moon on March 18th is your moment to honor that. Not to analyze it, not to explain it, but to feel it fully and let it become the seed of your intention.

This is the water. This is Pisces swimming with you beneath the surface to discover what your subconscious wants you to know.

Then comes the fire.

Two days later, on March 20th, the Equinox arrives and with it, Aries season. The light returns. The days begin to lengthen. The world tips toward warmth and forward motion. 

This is not the moment to leave your Pisces feelings behind — it is the moment to transport them. To carry what you discovered in the depths into the fire of your passion and your purpose.

This is the King of Cups’ great teaching:

When you open your heart, you can create from an ocean of gratitude. This opening stirs the fire of your passions. As you expand, your cup grows wider. You receive more. Others see you as the generous sovereign your spirit knows itself to be. You don’t need to leave your throne and dive down to help others. Your creativity, clarity, and light are your gifts to the world.

Set your intentions from that place. From the overflow.

The Equinox offers us a lived experience of this balance. Equal day, equal night, held in perfect suspension for just a moment before the light takes the lead. 

Stand in that moment. Feel both. The water and the fire. The dreaming and the waking. The feelings you are carrying and the passion they are ready to become.

That is the stone throne, floating.

That is you.

For the New Moon and Equinox:

Pull the King of Cups from your deck and place him somewhere visible between March 18th and March 20th.

At the New Moon, ask: What did this eclipse season clarify for me? What am I ready to carry forward?

At the Equinox, ask: How can I bring that feeling into my fire? What does it look like to give from overflow this season?

Let him hold both questions. That’s what he’s best at.

Bonus question: Who in your life — or in the public eye — embodies the King of Cups for you? Think of someone whose emotional depth and steady passion seem to coexist without one diminishing the other. Keanu Reeves and Tom Hanks come to mind for me. Who comes to mind for you?