Ostara & The Court of Cups

In the Wiccan religion, many of us associate directions and elements and even tarot suits with certain times of the year. Ostara is a holiday of spring and life and joy. Its direction is East. Its element is Air. There is a sense of youth and fun and birth happening at Ostara.

In Tarot the suit of Cups points to the West. It’s about water. The time of year is Autumn. Here we have a season associated with aging and quiet introspection and death. It is the polar opposite of the rites of Spring. So what do the two have in common?

Consider that Cups are about emotions, relationships, the way we interconnect on a psychic level with someone. Ostara is a terrific time to express the joy we have found with one another. Deepening an emotional bond would be a lovely ritual for Ostara. Think of it as bringing back some of that young love to your partnership.

The court cards of the suit of Cups all carry messages of Ostara. When you look at the Page of Cups, you are given several fairly standard, or traditional, symbols. There’s the young man or woman holding a cup. Often a fish leaps from the water or is it heading back into the water? The Page of Cups carries a message to you. Often this message is that a love letter is on the way. Why not turn the Page of Cups around? Write a love letter to someone.

Let the energy of Ostara reignite your mental connection as well as your emotional one. Try making a list or three of why you love someone close to you. Be really daring and write it about yourself. Often we are the ones left behind most. Think about it. It’s true. We forget to love ourselves. Be the Page of Cups in your own life this Ostara. Write a love letter to the most important person in the world. You!

Next move into the Knight’s realm. Here we have most often a very definite male on a horse. He may not be guiding the horse because his eyes are focused on something. What is that? It’s the Holy Grail some Tarot scholars would tell you. Me? I’m no scholar, but I love the idea of this gentle Knight. He’s mounted his hourse and he’s on his way to seek his Holy Grail.

The question is what is his Holy Grail? If we are going to continue with the theme of Ostara, let’s make his quest the Holy Grail of the Fountain of Youth. Move towards things that make you feel younger. When is the last time you played a game of Monopoly? Bounced a ball to pick up jacks? How often do you let yourself play? Don’t get stuck in being a grownup. Dye some eggs and hide them from yourself. If you’re my age, a good nap and you’ll have a lot of fun trying to remember where you put the darn things. Age has its priveleges and that memory loss can come in handy sometimes.

Of course after the Knight we have the lovely psychic Queen of Cups. The Queen is the nurturer of the court cards. She brings strong feminine energy to an already strongly feminine suit. Be careful when meeting this intuitive Queen that you don’t share all of your secrets immediately. Her energy is that of the mother confessor who will listen to all your woes.

Ostara is a very feminine holiday with all of its trappings of fertility and rabbits and seeds. Pick something in your life that requires growth. Apply the Queen of Cups to this and nurture your project into life. Careful that you don’t smother it though. Ostara is a perfect time to start seeds for your garden. Don’t plant them outside just yet though. Keep them safe indoors. And keep your project quietly yours as well. The outside world doesn’t need to see it until the roots are deep and the stems are tall.

Finally we have the King of Cups who is often associated with Scorpio. I call him the secretive man. His cup is held close to his chest for he guards more than just his secrets. This is the man who is the end of the suit. He is the completion of the emotions and of the journey into the west. In a way, he is the furthest from the idea of Ostara, isn’t he?

Until you realize this. Ostara, remember, celebrates birth and youth and joy. How much joy can you hold for while you carry around the sorrows that you have? If you are to make room for joy, you must let go of some of those sorrows. And it isn’t easy to do that unless you know that the person you are sharing with will hold your private hurts as sacred things?

This Ostara why not take the King of Cups out? Set him in front of you as you tell him those things you don’t want anyone else to know. Those times a friend inadvertently hurt your feelings. You didn’t want to disrupt the friendship for something so small but it still wounded you. Unburden to him. He will put it all in his cup that he holds so close to his chest.

As you celebrate spring, however you celebrate it, I hope that you can weave the court cards of the suit of Cups into it. Each of the cards can help you along your journey. It’s up to you to choose how you make that trip.