Return to Tarot - The Six of Cups

Every Tarot deck has it's own nuanced meaning.  This is how the Six of Cups looks in the Rider-Waite deck.  By just looking at it, you get a good feel for what the card is about.  Not every card speaks so clearly, but this one does.

So what do you see?  Two children.  One, an older boy is giving flowers to the young girl.  The flowers are white, the color of purity and innocence and shaped like a star, referring back to the Major Arcana card, The Star, the card of hopes and dreams.  There is a sense of nostalgia to this card and innocence.  It can be a card of children or a card of childhood.  It is always a card of simple goodness and encourages us to be our best - kind, generous and forgiving.

Now like any card, the Six of Cups has a darker side.  The innocence of this card can reflect a state of denial or blinding ourselves to the worst of a situation.  It can also mean we are being deceived.

So what does it mean?  Well, this is where interpretation comes in.  I'm encouraging you to begin to have conversations with your cards.  They will not always speak clearly or tell you what you should do.  For example, there are a few people in my life that do not honor me as I would like them too.  My question was about them. They are silent for long periods and make contact only when it serves them.  So when I ask, "What do I do?" and the six of cups comes up I have to sit with the card and begin to consider my course.  Am I being deceived or trusting them too childishly?  Maybe once but I am clear now and understand better how our relationship flows.  Do I forgive them and continue as before?  Probably not.  Once your eyes are open, can you ever not see what you have seen?  I can forgive but let them go.  I can forgive and ask more of them and hope they rise to the occasion.  I can wait and see what unfolds, seeing clearly and trying to remain detached from the outcome.  I'm choosing, based on this card, to do all three.
To be honest, I no longer want relationships without mutual respect.  I want to honor and be honored.  And I suspect with this new attitude, relationships that no longer serve will fall away.  Not without struggle of course, I am, after all, only human.

As you can see, in one way, this answer was crystal clear, but in another, wasn't.  For me at least, tarot is like that, a wonderful friend with sharp and loving insight, if I will only listen.