Ace of Cups

Ace of Cups - Waite & Smith

I am not a big Waite deck fan but I want to present different Golden Dawn based decks and this particular card has really interesting design.

Ace of Cups is the manifestation of Kether in Briah, the Creative World. It is the "Root of the Powers of Water". And angelic hand is holding a cup, from which the Primal Waters pour in a fountain-like manner into the Great Sea. It represents the myth of Creation - the Spirit of God (ve Ruah Elohim - Elohim being a plural of a feminine Eloah) over the face of waters.

Four streams of water represent four Worlds (Aces, although already rooted in particular World are Kether - source of everything) and so do the 26 water drops - the number of יהוה - YHVH.

The dove is a symbol of Venus as the Great Mother. This symbol was incidently adopted by Dion Fortune's Society of Inner Light.

There has been some speculation regarding the letter W on the cup. It is most commonly believed to be Waite's signature. However it can signify Water or West (the direction of the element of water). In original Golden Dawn card there is a red Lotus on the surface of the water suggesting origin of consciousness in Fire (Ace of Cups represents among others the unfolding of Divine Consciousness) and W resembles a Hebrew letter Shin which is a symbol of the emement of fire.

However, when seen from above (e.g. from dove's perspective) it becomes M. Now M can stand for Mem (another Hebrew letter which both symbolises and literally means water), or Mary - remember Da Vinci Code? Ace of Cups is also the Holy Grail. In classic Golden Dawn cards there is a letter Heh (ה) above the cup, which is the second letter of tetragrammaton YHVY representing Briah, Primal Water and Cosmic Mother (there is our M again).

A short quote from Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers regarding mysterious M:

The Ace of Cups is of Egyptian origin, which can be more easily seen in the Spanish Tarot. The figure, like an M placed over the Cup is all that remains of the Egyptian twin Serpents which originally decorated the cup below it. The M in this instance is not inverted (which is the old method of association) but placed above the Cup and it represents the Waters of Creation in the first chapter of Genesis. The old inverted M symbol shows the impurity of quintessence has been contaminated by matter, but placed above the Cup it is a symbol of power which receives and modifies.

The keyword for this card is inspiration.

And here is what "Book T" says about Ace of Cups:

THE ROOT OF THE POWERS OF THE WATERS

A WHITE Radiant Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and supporting on the palm thereof a cup, resembling that of the Stolistes. From it rises a fountain of clear and glistening water: and sprays falling on all sides into clear calm water below, in which grow Lotuses and Water- lilies. The great Letter of the Supernal Mother is traced in the spray of the Fountain. It symbolizes Fertility - productiveness, beauty, pleasure, happiness, etc.

Ace of Wands

Ace of Wands  ©  C. & S.T. Cicero

Aces behave different to other Minor Arcana. They are not assigned to any decanates so no planetary energy is manifested through them.

Aces are attributed to Kether and therefore they represent the highest vibration of energy in its purest form, energy of unlimited potential although not yet manifested. They are the Primum Mobile and the source of everything and therefore they bear the title of the "Roots of the Powers". Their property is that of a seed which, barely visible, contains all the information and power to manifest itself as a complex and magnificent being.

Ace of Wands represents the influence of Kether on the level of pure Spirit. It is called the "Root of the Powers of Fire". The card shows a masculine angelic hand holding a root flaming with fire - three flames on each of the side branches and four on the middle one. Each flame consists of four colours - each colour representing one of the Qabalistic Worlds and each flame representing a Sephira on the Tree of Life, while twenty two leaping Yod-shaped flames represent paths between Sephiroth. The root has sigils of Four Worlds inscribed on it.

Ace of Wands represents therefore not only the source of Fire but all Minor Arcana - the True and Pure Source of All. The keyword for this Tarot card is ignition - not a fire yet but the first spark that creates flames, explosion and motion.

Red Clouds relate to element of Fire in the suit of Wands and brilliant white - colour of Kether in the World of Atziluth - is set as the background.

Here is the excerpt from the "Book T" relating to Ace of Wands:

THE ROOT OF THE POWERS OF FIRE

A WHITE Radiating Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and grasping a heavy club, which has three branches in the colours, and with the sigils, of the scales. The Right-and Left-hand branches end respectively in three Flames, and the Centre one in four Flames: thus yielding Ten: the Number of the Sephiroth. Two-and-twenty leaping Flames, or Yodh, surround it, answering to the Paths; of these, three fall below the Right branch for Aleph, Men, and Shin, seven above the Central branch for the double letters; and between it and that of the Right twelve: six above and six below about the Left-hand branch. The whole is a great and flaming Torch. It symbolizes Force - strength, rush, vigour, energy, and it governs, according to its nature, various works and questions.

It implies Natural, as opposed to Invoked, Force.