Welcome to Tarot Thursdays! This week we will be exploring the Knight of Cups and how it can be used as a prompt or brainstorming in our writing.

Tarot is an interesting thing. It’s based upon symbolism and metaphors through imagery. With these images the subconscious mind is tapped into through the story provided. Not everyone gets the same thing from a piece of art. Each piece will influence each person in a slightly different way.

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Introduction of the Card

The Knight of Cups is card number 47 in the deck, the twelfth card of the Cups Suit, and the second card of Cups’ Court in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

Let’s take a look at the following examples of Knight of Cups below.

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Card Examples

Notice the similarities between them and take note of their differences. Do any of these move you more than the others? Take your time and allow these cards to tell you their story.

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My Analysis of These Cards

This is pretty straightforward. They all look like knights in these cards and water is featured in each of the images to represent emotion as well. Each of these knights look ready to protect something.

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Themes of the Card

Each card has a set of keywords associated with it that serve as themes for its image. These keywords will vary somewhat depending on who you ask.

According to the Learning the Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

• ROMANTIC
• IMAGINATIVE
• SENSITIVE
• REFINED
• INTROSPECTIVE

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

According to the Biddy Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

• ROMANCE
• CHARM
• “KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR”
• IMAGINATION

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

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What this Card Means to Me

Knights typically represent the teenager, or rather as I prefer the term: emerging adult, since not everyone matures beyond the teen years. In this phase of life the individual is exploring their place in the world in various aspects of the self, trying to decide where they fit.

It’s not a linear process. Sometimes we figure it out and then a major life event occurs and we have to figure it out all over again. We get married. We have a child. Someone dies. We get divorced. We lose a job. We get a job or get promoted. Any one of these things could trigger this process, so it doesn’t always mean a lack of maturity. It does mean a time of growth and development. Something within us is emerging and tying to find a place in our lives. In our teens years it is the most challenging because it’s the first time we’re doing it, so we become easily overwhelmed where it’s an unfamiliar process. After that, we just need to remind ourselves that we’ve done it before and we can do it again. We’re going to be okay.

Here with the Knight of Cups, we are emerging with our emotions and our hearts. What do we care about? What are passionate about? What do we love? What are we willing to die on that hill for and what are we going to walk away from? What’s worth fighting for? What’s worthy of protecting? These are the things that makes us tick inside. And when we understand this, our lives begin to fall in place. This is true for our characters too. When we understand what their passions are and what they are willing to fight for, then the story begins to almost write itself.

The key phrase I choose for this card is: DEFENDER OF THE HEART.

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Music Playlist

In this spirit of all this, these are the songs I have picked out for this card.

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The Writing Exercise

This exercise is a free write. Permit yourself to write whatever comes to mind based upon the theme of this card. Choose a keyword or key phrase and run with it to see what you come up with.

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I would love it if you linked or pinged back what you wrote so I could see where you went with this.

Happy writing!

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Mythic Tarot by Liz Greene (Author), Juliet Sharman-Burke (Author), Tricia Newell (Illustrator) © 1989
Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson (Author), Peter Pracownik (Author) © 1996
Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo (Author), R. De Angelis (Illustrator), A. E. Waite (Designer) © 2001
Tarot of Dreams by Ciro Marchetti (Author), Lee Bursten (Author) © 2015