How to be your own best friend; a Two of Cups tarot spread.

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Jun 4

At the Tarot for Creatives Year-Ahead reading, we pulled the Two of Cups for the month of June 2023. So I was looking to explore how the energy of this card might be working in my life and yours this month. I put together the tarot spread that follows to help us all to explore that question. But first, let’s take a minute to consider what the Two of Cups is all about.

The Two of Cups tarot card is often associated with partnerships, but it can also symbolize unity between two separate parts of oneself. Most versions of this card show two figures holding cups, which represent emotions, and standing facing each other. Unless clearly referring to a relationship between two people, this can represent the balance and harmony of two different aspects of oneself, such as the integration of the conscious and unconscious mind or the union of opposing qualities like logic and intuition. In this context, the Two of Cups can be read as urging you to cultivate a sense of balance and partnership within yourself, to acknowledge the importance of all aspects of your identity so that you do not find that you are sabotaging your own efforts.

*Tree Spirit Tarot* by Laural Virtues Wauters © 2019 by Seven Earthly Virtues LLC.

While I read my cards in the context of self unity, the spread itself does not specify. So when you lay out your own cards, you get to decide what the message is for you at this time. Remember, if you don’t have any tarot cards on hand, you can also use these questions as journal prompts. Or, read through my sample reading to see if any of the answers I received may work for you, too.

Begin this reading by shuffling your cards and then finding the Two of Cups card in your deck along with the two cards preceding it and the two cards following it. Lay the Two of Cups in the center to hold the space for your reading. Lay the two preceding cards to the left and on top. Lay the two following cards to the right and on the bottom. (If that’s confusing, just lay the Two of Cups in the center and then shuffle the rest of the deck and place four cards as pictured.) Remember, the Two of Cups is not a throw-away card here. Think about it holding space the way a yoga or meditation teacher (or any other teacher) holds space for the practice or learning. Even if you are reading from a familiar deck, take a look at this card and see if you can find something new in it that relates to this specific moment in time and the question that you are asking.

TWO OF CUPS: Laural Virtues Wauters, the creator of this deck writes “When the spirit of quince appears a doorway to love and successful relationships is opening.” Further, she shares at different times and places the quince has been seen as a suitable gift to celebrate a wedding or a birth, representing love, life, and fertility. Thus our intention is set by placing this card in celebration of the good that is to come from the new partnership that will be proposed by this reading. We can anticipate this partnership will give rise to a new project, personal growth, or relationship that would not be possible were “thing one” and “thing two” not working in conjunction with one another but competing with one another instead.

THING ONE THAT NEEDS TO BE PARTNERED WITH THING TWO: Laural Virtues Wauters writes “When persimmon appears in our life we are being asked to make necessary choices to achieve our goals. This is a time of action in order to make our dreams a reality.” Fruit Trees take the place of Cups in this deck, and the Seven of Cups is traditionally associated with a variety of choices--many or all of which will ultimately become distractions. This image brings to mind my tendency to always take too many apples home whenever I go apple picking. The same can be said of my intuition--I have a tendency to pick up too much information. Something I love about tarot is that it can help to cut through the noise in order to focus on the matter at hand. Tarot is less a crutch to my intuition and more a tool of discernment.

THING TWO THAT NEEDS TO BE PARTNERED WITH THING ONE: Laural Virtues Wauters writes “By being authentic with ourselves and others we can stand in a place of strength and integrity that will help us achieve our goals.” This is an interesting rewording found on her website of the printed edition I have that warns of comparing yourself to others. Evergreens take the place of Wands in this deck and the Eight of Wands is traditionally associated with a burst of focused energy. I like the idea of “rising above” that Laural adds to this. As a professional tarot reader, I don’t feel drawn to compete with others. I spend a lot of time and effort making tarot accessible. That said, I often overlook other people’s intentions to compete and can misread advice that is coming with that intention attached to it.

THE ROOT OF WHY PARTNERSHIP IS NEEDED BETWEEN THESE: So, from the Seven of Cups and the Eight of Wands, I now know the partnership we are forging here is between my own intuitive abilities and outer influences that compete with that. The Four of Evergreens, traditionally known as the Four of Wands, tells I am being called to forge this partnership for the purpose of building community. Because the Four of Wands is coming up at the root, I am also being pointed to look at where building community has been a challenge for me in the past. Indeed, I have found it challenging to both honor my own intuitions and to honor the needs of a community group at the same time. A line from To Kill a Mockingbird is a bit of a mantra for me for this reason: “It's not necessary to tell all you know..”

ADVICE FOR CREATING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THESE: Laural Virtues Wauters writes “Willow indicates a time when our subconscious fears and dreams may be resurfacing, creating anxiety about our future. Willow reminds us that our weakness is also our strength..” Again, this encouragement to weep is something I have never associated with the Moon card in the tarot--but I like it. Traditionally the Moon can indicate moving through some confusion and weeping can be a good salve for that. While intuitions are high, so too are illusions, and tears can help to clear one’s eyesight. I am getting that the advice here is to mourn some of the difficult times that have passed, but also to know that it is okay to move forward without knowing fully what will happen. This is relevant to some business changes I’ve been making.

Amongst other things, this reading brings to mind the Tarot Meditations I have recently started posting on YouTube. Posting public video of myself is still very scary for me! In fact just about the only block I have maintained in making myself available for tarot readings is delivering them in the form of pre-recorded video. But someone recently pointed out that it is only once we start that we can become better. I certainly haven’t gotten any better on camera by not video recording myself. And so I started. With that said, feel free to check out my YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@tarotandmeditations/.

Did you relate to this reading? If so--or if you try out the spread for yourself--please leave a comment and tell me about it!

xo
kim