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Above all things, know thyself.

The Princess of the Waters; Lotus of the Palace of the Floods; Princess and Empress of the Nymphs or Undines. Throne of the Ace of Cups. 

The Thoth Tarot Princess of Cups represents mastery of emotional objectivity achieved by working through manipulation, jealousy, possessiveness, and seduction.

Mundanely, the image of the Thoth- turtle (Tortoise) in the seashell symbolizes the capacity to offer emotional loyalty, while shedding the drama of others and loyalty to others by being objective and non-possessive. In Hindu mythology, the Turtle/Tortoise was also the image given to the force of motion, which caused Earth to travel through space, while being held up by four elephants standing on the back of this Atlas like turtle. Hence, in Hindu mythology the world and Universe is thought to rest on the backs of four elephants who stand on the shell of a turtle (4 directions/4 Elements). In Hinduism, Akupara is a tortoise who carries the world on his back, upholding the Earth and the sea.

Also, one of the Avatars of Vishnu is the giant turtle, Kurma. The Universe was represented as a Serpent. In other words, the Turtle represents the foundation of Life-Force for the Earth which may seem slow in evolutionary terms but is persistent and undaunted.

I AM the Will and the Way, I AM Wealth, I AM Health, I AM Wellbeing, I own the Day!

In the world of personalities, the Princess of Cups represents a dreamy youngster, who enjoys fairy tales with a vivid imagination. In other words, this one can also represent your inner child where the seed of creativity longs to be acknowledged. On the Thoth Card, she is an emotional personality reweaver --weaving new perspectives out of her dreamy vibrations.

In the Thoth Tarot, the Princess of Cups is represented as a Dancing figure robed in a flowing- crystal edged garment, all of which indicates her flowing and crystallizing abilities. Also, the crystals on the Thoth Princess's gown indicate a clear ability to look at things as they are instead of what she wants to see. Thus, we can determine that she is an active rather than passive force from the Great Mother.

Her active determination is in the imagery of the Swan taking wing. The Swan is the symbol of AUM (of oriental philosophy) that is the vibratory harmonic of Universal Creation. The Swan coming out of her head represents emotional security and the ability to communicate her feelings, desires, and concerns in realistic and meaningful ways (the dolphinfish emphasizes this ability as it represents the Sun God- Apollo. (Not to be confused with the Dolphin mammal).

The Dolphinfish that is disporting in a foamy- sea, symbolizes the power of creation known as the

Royal Fish, which is also known as the Alchemical first matter. Also, to the Greeks the Dolphin fish, represented Apollo, the Sun god, her consort.

The free-floating lotus blossom shows her trusting heart. She is devoid of a possessive and controlling heart. She very curious and see's many possibilities.

This card has been said to represent the European Elaine the Virgin Moon-goddess of Arthurian legend, who was the keeper of the Grail (Graäl) in the Grail temple, where she wove the tapestries of life, death, and fate. Therefore, in Tarot, she is seen as the dream weaver of a new emotional self-perspective, as all self-perspective is a dream. She is also the "Dispenser of Joy" and a source of hidden knowledge, bestower of mystical insight and the gift of wisdom.

The Ace of Cups, whom she personalizes, is the root of the powers of Water, shown as a scallop shaped cup cradled in the right arm of the Princess of Cups. It is the Great Grail (Graäl), the Wisdom/Womb of the Great Mother. Therefore, the Princesses are the Personification of the Grail in the Element they represent. This is Water, in its most arcane form, Life-Fluid, (Dew of the mother) symbolically/ritually represented as Water, Blood or Wine. The Lotus is her Eastern sacred flower and symbol.

The Great Mother, Binah (Egyptian Hathor/Isis/ Maat), the Sphere of Understanding, and the Trinity Goddess, is often symbolized as the Dark Sea and in the Thoth Deck Ace of Cups, she is shown as the Sea, the Cup, and the Lotus: The Lotus (two in one) being the fertile expression of the Great Mother.

The Ace of Cups shows a ray of light descending from above, representing the Holy Spirit/Whole Self and beneath the Grail we have the Moon. The Waves of Life-Fluid are shown as a web of fluid energy of which the tapestry of Creation (Matrix) is woven from.

To many Native Nations, this would symbolize the Work of the Great Spider Woman. In Western Hermetic Tarot, the Princess of Cups represents the Earthly part of Water (Life-Fluid/blood plasma) and the faculty of crystallization and/or alchemical coagulation. The Princess of Cups represents the Grail's power of manifestation, she is the power of water that gives substance to idea, to support life and to form the basis for chemical combination that is often called solution in alchemy.

The Princess of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks, all give a Character to the Root Power they are associated with, the Princesses /Pages are called the Thrones of the Great Mother, as they represent Mother's rule on Earth. Root powers are without will and therefore neutral and without focus. 

The Princesses /Pages are the Intelligently Focused Energy of a Root Power (Elements) and are thus aware and personalized intelligences with conscious characteristics. These Great Daughters of the Great Mother have their own peccadillos, and it behooves the practitioner of magic(magick) to know them. For instance:

1. The Princess of Cups has an infinitely gracious character that is voluptuous, sweet, gentle, and kind, romance, and the perpetual dream of rapture are her very nature. 
2. Unlike the Volcanic nature of the Princess of Wands who is the very act of combustion.
3. The Princess of swords is a sharp wit which can cut 2 ways and is a mood-fighter, Valkyrie. and/or Shield Maiden. 
4. The Princess of Disks is Persephone, the power of renewal, springtime growth, and earthly Fecundity.

To the shallow thinker, the Princess/Page of Cup's dreamy rapture, may seem indolent and selfish, the fact that she goes about her work silently and effortlessly dispels such interpretations.

These Princesses not only represent a personality core, but they are also an Elemental Intelligence of Earth, and can be communicated with; as for example the Undines, Sylphs, Dryads, Salamanders; However, their dreamy nature is in direct union with a Force beyond the practitioner’s control and like Narcissus* the unwary consciousness can be dragged into a watery-Astral dimension.

Tried and true rituals of magic (k) are recommended so that these forces can be contained before there is overwhelming flow. In the Case of the Princess of Cups, the practitioner’s personality could be overwhelmed by the extreme dreamy rapture of her nature and become unable to operate in the day-to-day world as manmade reality is blurred and obscured as if looking through watery depths. One might want to study the myth of Narcissus to understand the immensely powerful dreamy nature of this Princess of the Undines.

*In short, Narcissus, was a hunter in Greek mythology, son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. He was an incredibly beautiful young man, and many fell in love with him; However, he only showed those who were enraptured- disdain and contempt. One day, while he was hunting in the woods, the Oread nymph Echo spotted him and immediately fell for him, smitten by his beauty. When Narcissus sensed that someone was following him, Echo eventually revealed herself and tried to hug him. However, he pushed her off and told her not to disturb him. Echo, in despair, from unrequited love, roamed around the woods for the rest of her life, and wilted away until all it remained of her was an echo sound.

To make a long story short, the Greek goddess of retribution and revenge, Nemesis, learned what had happened and decided to punish Narcissus for his behavior. She led him to a pool; there, the man saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with it. Although he did not realize in the beginning that it was just a reflection. However, when he finally discovered his lover as a reflection in the pool, he fell into despair that his love, now unrequited, could not materialize and thereby committed suicide.

There are some interpretations of this myth, which say he was pulled into the reflecting pool by the Undines that resided in it and drowned him. Either way, he was rendered kaput as a human, and is now a beautiful flower.

Many of us don't realize that the Archetypes of the basic 16 types of personalities, as represented in the Court Cards and seen in our world, are also often Elemental Forces. Because of the indoctrinated thinking of "Divide and Conquer" we have forgotten that our human bodies, are Elemental Beings as is the Earth!  

Originally, we began as a Spiral Entity (Spirit) of the Celestial I AM solar identity and not of the Elements but the Celestial creator and inheritor of them. Therefore, contrary to popular thinking, we are not seeking to become more Spiritual/Celestial, for that would be like a fish in the Ocean looking for water! We are the "aware consciousness" of Self, while the Great Ocean of Binah and/or the Universal Collective Unconscious, is the Sleeping and/or Dreaming Self. 

Since Spirit is All that is, a Spiral-Energy and being infinite and eternal a spiritual entity seeking Spirit-is a ridiculous concept. We are succeeding in becoming a united Life Force by absorbing the "beast mind" (subconscious) of planetary fear-based survival thought with our love of image-based cosmic thought. We are Souls/Solar Selves of the Universal Collective Unconscious and We are attempting the Whole Union of Master (Spirit/Mind) and Masterpiece (Form) which is often called "As above, so below". We are the Union of the Above-Kether- whose God name is Eheieh-"I will be!" and the condensed material forms of Self that are the "Me" which creates "I AM Being" which is the coagulation and/or fulfillment of the original will of Eheieh (I Will Be).

We are a copy of the Divine Creative Trinity- Spirit-Mind-Body and/or I AM ME and/or the interface of Spirit-"I", with the Mind-"AM" and the Body-"Me".! Hence, the New Age concept of Enlightenment as ethereal "eternal happiness" is a misconception as only the material self can feel happiness; we are I AM (Force of existence) who builds a Me (Manifested Awareness) making the information sensual ----but not obviously experienced until the body manifests information as sensual in-form-action of Spiritual Will!

Happiness comes from the harmony and/or synchronicity of the Trinity of Whole Self. This Trinity is a sonata of frequency and vibration that is the music of the invisible and visible worlds from which the entire world of existence dances to. The god's name and identity of I AM is the name of the orchestral conductor. I AM the Conductor of My own Sonata.

The journey towards our "remembering" (enlightenment) is not always happy but often strife ridden, a hero's/heroine's journey. To avoid strife, the “Me” needs to shake off the shackles of indoctrination and dogma for it must operate only by the Will of the “I AM”, that seeks Self-Knowledge/Self- Awareness through the process of Self-Thought and/or Self-information that is experienced through a sensual device and/or made manifest as “Me”; This is how thought/idea/information can be examined/experienced sensually and thereby become Knowledge! Isn't that what "Sensors" are for, up close examination and the expansion of knowledge? The body is a "Sense of Spiritual Presence" as the fish is a Sense of Ocean. You are the goal and fulfillment of the Divine Creative's Will-to-Be in the form of "I AM Being".

Therefore, as a fellow I AM, I did not come to seek spirituality (I Am Spirit), I have come to seek a sense of presence so that I can examined my Celestial Self-Information, i.e., creativity (imagination) for errors that may impeded the Great Work of "As above so Below!" I am a Western Hermetic Qabalist (Receiver), an Intimate Spiritual Being/Celestial Energy Intelligence who knows that the material body gives me intimacy with Self-Awareness, which produces the greater " knowing of myself. Therefore, the body aids me in the purpose that I AM; the purpose of us all is TO BE Divine Self! I experience knowledge through being, therefore become wise from experience. and therefore, became a Tantric as well. Tantra Yoga means to "Expand and Liberate through Communion" Hence, the Qabalistic Axiom of "Above all things, know thyself" does not exclude the body!

The Princess of Cups, who gives dreams, intuition, and illusion the necessary manifestation, is not all dreams, either. As earth of water, she can ground vaporous and romantic ideas into manifestation and provide a fixed and fertile medium where the water-nourished life of Self-examination can flourish. Princesses do not rule degrees of the zodiacal year. Hence, there are no examples of zodiac born celebrities who are/were Princess personalities.

The androgynous medieval Page image of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck best represents the Lost Soul Tarot Page of Cups. No secrets of ancient wisdom reveled here, but there is a suggestion of the Alchemist's "first matter" of Creation which is the image of a very long based cup. This also suggests life emerging from water or the dark sea/ocean of the Great Mother.

The great cup suggests the Womb of all Creation and the scrying of water and ancient mystical science known as hydromancy. Here also is the Great Mother Creatrix, looking into an enclosure of space and seeing her own reflection. Imagination viewing itself as You!

The ancient practice of scrying with a bowl of water, also known as hydromancy, is a form of divination used to gain insight, access hidden knowledge, or foretell the future. This practice is found in many cultures, including ancient Greece, Egypt, and throughout the Middle East.

Here’s an overview of how it was traditionally used:

1. The Bowl

A scrying bowl was often made of a reflective material such as silver, bronze, or even polished stone. In some cases, a simple earthenware bowl was used. The bowl was typically shallow to allow easy viewing of the water’s surface. Black bowls were especially favored because they minimized external reflections, allowing the practitioner to focus on visions or imagery within the water.

2. The Water

The water could be plain or infused with sacred elements. In some traditions, spring water or water from sacred rivers was preferred because it was thought to carry spiritual energy. Herbs, oils, or gemstones were sometimes added to the water to enhance its potency, or it could be blessed by invoking deities or spirits.

3. The Scrying Process

• Preparation: The practitioner would often prepare themselves through meditation, fasting, or ritual purification to enter a heightened state of consciousness. Incense, candles, and sacred chants or prayers were commonly used to create a spiritual atmosphere.
• Gazing: The diviner would then sit or stand before the bowl, gazing softly into the surface of the water. The key was not to stare intensely but to relax the gaze and allow visions or symbols to appear in the water’s reflections or depths.
• Interpretation: What was seen could vary greatly—shapes, colors, symbols, or even more vivid visions of people or events. The diviner would interpret these visions according to their intuition or cultural and symbolic traditions. The meaning of the visions was usually personal to the diviner or the querent (the person seeking the divination).

4. Symbolism of Water

Water has long been associated with the subconscious, emotions, and intuition. It’s a reflective and fluid element, making it a natural medium for scrying. In many esoteric systems, including Western Hermeticism and Qabalah, water corresponds to the element of Yesod, the Sephirah of the Moon, illusion, and dreams. This reinforces the connection between water scrying and accessing deeper, intuitive insights.

5. Cultural Variations

• Greek Hydromancy: In ancient Greece, hydromancy was associated with the Oracles, who would often gaze into sacred water sources, such as springs or bowls, to receive divine messages.
• Egyptian Scrying: Ancient Egyptians also practiced water divination, sometimes using a large basin of water for sacred rituals, where the diviner would see symbols or messages conveyed by the gods.
• Islamic and Arabic Traditions: Islamic and medieval Arabic traditions saw the development of complex hydromantic systems where practitioners would recite prayers or invoke angels before gazing into water.

In essence, scrying with a bowl of water is a powerful technique to connect with the unseen realms, allowing the practitioner to tap into the subtle currents of the unconscious, spiritual dimensions, or cosmic forces.

The Lost Soul Tarot-Page doesn't seem to be a traditional androgynous figure here. Rather it is more like a Princess of Cups. The look of the Page of Cups as faceless dark encased in white clothing, speaks of mystery and how light encloses space to make form.

As the querent she represents the person who is young at heart, sensitive, idealistic, and has dreamy aspirations.

When Princess of Cups or Page of Cups card is thrown during a Divination for a woman, it implies that:

• She is objective, and realistic of heart.
• Emotionally loving and realistic rather than attached and clinging.
• Has a peaceful strength of character.
• She is an insatiable romantic.
• Highly imaginative.
• Time to listen to the child within.

When thrown for a man

• Often, the Princess/Page of Cups/Potions represents his inner feminine nature (anima) that is committed to offering emotional longevity, empathy, intuition, while being loyal in realistic non-possessive ways.
• Time to let the inner child out of repression.

The Princess/Page 

• May represent both genders, and a person in their life who is one's own age or younger and who may be teaching one lessons about emotionally letting go and about the uses of creative imagination.

When the Princes/ Page f Cups is thrown during a reading the querent is often experiencing:

• Emotional detachment that is free of jealousy.
• Being rapturous and gentle, kind, and tender.
• A personality full of romance, dreams, and loving vision but also a dispenser of hidden insight and wisdom (see-Elaine the Moon Goddess).
• Esthetics.
• Fantasy.
• Intuition.
• Modality
• Poetic charm.
• Gentleness.
• Sensibility.

Ill defined, the Princess/Page of Cups implies:

• Flightiness, shallowness, and inability to accept reality.
• Misuse of love.
• Deception.
• Seductive spells.
• Bubbles in the air.
• Loss of self-assurance.

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