Lord of abandoned success.

Attributed to this card is Saturn in Pisces. The Angels of the Decan: Vabaliah and Yeshivah.

Here, Hod is in Briah, the Mental World. Hod represents the concrete mind; However, with Saturn in Pisces. Saturn, whose metal is Lead, and Pisces the 8 of Cups being a Water sign doesn't balance Saturn's energy well. With Saturn in a water sign, a certain amount of introspection, manifests as disinterest with material conditions. The effect, is discontent or a decline in interest in anything. Therefore, one's tendency is to abandon success, before it gets a chance to manifest.

The interpretation of the 8 of Cups, is based on the fact that Pisces, is calm and stagnant water that is completely deadened by the heavy influences of Saturn. We know Water, is the Element of Emotional consciousness, so what is going on within one is a deadening of interest, a complete lack of wonder. In fact Crowley said it best:

This card represents a party for which all preparations have been made, but the host has forgotten to invite the guests; or the caterers have not delivered the good cheer. There is a difference, though, that it is in some way or other the host's own fault.[The book of Thoth, pg., 184]

Indolence, being a type of laziness is well shown as the lotuses of enlightenment droop, for lack of sun or rain (mental/emotional impute). The Sea of mind has become little stagnant pools, in poisoned soil. All the cups are old and broken, symbolizing "an old and worn out" way of thinking. The Sun of Spirit, is a pallid yellowish light barely shining through the leaden clouds of indigo mental darkness. Therefore, the 8 of cups implies that the mind and emotions are on autopilot; thought process is not conducive to expanding and liberating the Life of the person. The blood in the body is moving like molasses. This person needs stimulation! Therefore, when this card is thrown, it suggests to the querent it is time to stand up, and look above the swamp of your own emotional quagmire, and support yourself in-motion rather than seek empathetic support of the past pain, real or imagined, that has stalled you mind and stifled your motion forward.

Not my favorite card, but this dullness of mind, is often necessary to warn us that it is time to evaluate our feelings and begin a new direction in Self-Identity. I AM... is everyone's first name, for all of identity starts in the declaration of Self-I AM. Hence, I AM the Will, I AM the Way, I AM the wealth and Health, I Am the day! Is a good way to start blowing away the imagined doldrums.

The vision quest in the wasteland.

The Tarot Illuminati-8 of Cups, still is using the traditional tarot card theme. It depicts a tired and worn person, struggling forward into a waste land, with no foreseeable goal. 8 neatly stacked empty cups, 4 on one side and 3 on the other is also part of this theme. Showing a neatly organized past, that has no substance. The same theme is on the most familiar Western Traditional Tarot of Rider-Waite-Smith, 8 of Cups. However, the Illuminati Card is far more eloquent in both meaning and art. Here one is on the Path of the Moon, a path of subconscious emotions, self-reflection and illusion. Here one seeks illumination on stranger shores and oasis of deserts. Therefore one notices that they are barren inside, and finds that barrenness has secrets that they must journey through to find enlightenment. Hence, loneliness is pulling one towards a vision quest to find True Self. On this path, one isn't so much abandoning their life, they are restarting it; taking a different path for the past one had only a dead end. It is time to walk within the changing cycles of the Moon, discovering their not before seen secrets that hide in the shadows cast by emotions.

Rider-Waite-Smith- 8 of Cups.

When the 8 of Cups or 8 is thrown during a reading the querent may be experiencing:

• Exhaustion, being overly tired, drain and dull emotionally.
• There is an unconscious change taking place, on a deep inner level of feeling.
• There is a warning here to Pay attention to yourself...stop and examine your perspectives, this is the end of something and the beginning of something new!
• The emotional state of stagnation and stillness. This could go on for 8 weeks or 8 months, depending on the querent's actions.
• There is a need to focus and consolidate your emotions in an inspired way.
• Searching for spiritual truth. 
• Letting go of the past and moving on. 

If ill defined by the surrounding cards:

• Depression.
• Suicide.
• Self-pity.

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