Illustrations from the Albano Waite Tarot@deck reproduced by permission of US Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. Copyright c 1990 by US Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT. Further reproduction prohibited.
This post completes study of the personality types via the Tarot. The Cup face cards are profiled. The Feeling personality. Psychologist Carl Jung defined the four personality types using the four suits of the Tarot. These types are, Feeling (cups), Thinking (swords), Intuitive (wands) and Sensate (pentacles). Each personality type has four levels of consciousness: page, knight, queen and king.
Kabbalah
The Yoga of the West tradition says that each level of personality travels each path on the Tree of Life simultaneously. The Tree of Life is said to be four-dimensional, each path has four levels of consciousness, levels of personality in each human all reflecting the Light to produce what Jung named our “collective unconscious.” Every individual has a unique consciousness dominated by different aspects of personality type at any given time. Jungian theory is that we are mostly unconscious of the different aspects of our selves. Jung theorized that we are all born with one aspect as our conscious type. (determined by our birth sign) A secondary type will also be within our conscious recognition but less than the first. A third is barely realized consciously and a forth largely unconscious may or may not be recognized in our lifetime. A person who does realize wholeness is fully conscious of his/her full personality strengths and weaknesses in every type.
My overall read on the Feeling personality is someone who can ride emotions, go with the flow, and find joy in what is. Feeling personalities unconditionally accept that life is imperfect. They perceive feelings outside of themselves and know how to stay grounded in centered consciousness. The Feeling personality’s attributes are revealed in the Tarot’s face cards as follows.
The Knight of Cups is the Knight of ideal feelings. He rides a blue horse. Blue is the color of wisdom. His helmet is winged; he sets the highest standard for his expectations and self in life. His armor is emblazoned with the fish we see repeated in this suit. The Knight has absorbed the unexpected wonders of life, the joy that this fish symbolizes into his armor! This Knight faces rugged cliffs and rivers to be crossed with his head high. His horse is prancing with an arched neck and the cup he holds is one in which ideals are the motivating force of action. This Knight is THE romantic Knight in shining armor. Wholeness for this romantic figure is to share joy filled perfection: perfection that can only be realized through unconditional acceptance of imperfection.
The Page of Cups, is the child that lives in wonder at the unknown and unexpected. There is a fish in his cup, and there is no disgust or fear, instead, there is a sense of joy and intrigue. This card is anchored in pure joyous feeling. Wholeness for the Page of Wands is to be able to maintain an attitude of joy and intrigue regardless of circumstance.
The Queen of Feelings sits upon a throne perched on a golden shore, a sanctuary. Water, a sea, (the symbol for feelings) swirls around her feet and it is impossible to tell where the water ends and her robe begins. The beautiful cup she holds is closed with handles shaped like angels. This indicates that the thoughts of the Queen originate from the unconscious, from the depths of her own soul. The throne upon which she sits is decorated with images of sea-nymphs, fish, and scallop shells. The sea and fish are additional symbols of the unconscious mind. This Queen is the master of divine inspiration. This Queen is a seer. Note the look of intense concentration almost anger in her expression as she stares at the cup in her right hand. The wonder of the muses and creative work that comes from the place this cup represents can never be explained. This cup conceals the final secret, not to be grasped by the ordinary mind, never to be revealed to the everyday consciousness: the force that is that from which all things come. Wholeness for the Queen of Cups requires the ability to see with eyes beyond her own and still return to everyday consciousness with the polished gold that forms the solid grounded reality her throne sits upon.
The King of Cups is a master of the waves of emotion. This Master, holds feelings, the cup in his right hand, the hand that brings life into form. This tells us he has control over his emotions at all times, he surfs the waves. This King does not repress his emotions and unconscious impulses but has learned to accept and deal with them in a balanced manner. He goes with the flow. His left hand bears a light and rests on top of an armrest that reflects a pillar like the ones found on the High Priestess card. These pillars symbolize the polar opposites of severity and mercy. Here the pillar of severity is covered by the King’s robe. This King covers the worst of emotions with mastery; he sheds light on the rightness of riding out turbulent emotions. In the background, we see a ship in full sail and a leaping fish, both signs of abundance having the King’s back. The fish is also the symbol of spirit and creativity and around his neck there is another fish that represents the balance of the unconscious with the conscious. Wholeness for the King of Cups is to be a judgment free eye in the storm that is awareness of what is conscious vs. unconscious.
Watch for feeling aspects of personality today, in yourself and in others. All of us, male and female, have the capacity to realize all four aspects of personality. All of us have the capacity to realize wholeness. We are all both male and female and we all are capable of realizing every dimension of every personality.
Please note:
People also consult the Tarot as an oracle. Caution is advised. An oracle opens the door to spiritual deception as easily as spiritual truth. To read more about Yoga of the West go to http://bit.ly/9BiovO
Choosing Honor 