King of Cups

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to Everyday Tarot, your daily dive into the
vine wisdom of the tarot. I'm your host Camille A Saunders
Taylor tear enthusiast and your local witch next door.
And today I'm talking about the king of cops, but your seasoned
cheerleader are just starting toexplore.
This podcast offers daily insights, intuitive messages,
and practical advice drawn from the cards.

(00:20):
Each episode is designed to helpyou connect with your inner
wisdom, find clarity in your decisions, and tap into the
energy of the universe. TuneIn every day on Monday
through Friday for fresh perspectives and empowering
guidance from the Tarot as interpreted by me.
I have an event coming up this Friday, June 20th at 5:00 PM
Pacific Daylight Time. I'll be hosting a virtual tarot

(00:41):
card creation event. If things are feeling hard right
now, maybe you could benefit from an hour dedicated to
channeling your feelings into something creative.
I'll give you a list of recommended supplies when we
online and I'll walk you throughthe magical process of creating
your own cards. No terror experience is
necessary and you can sign up. You can find the sign up link in

(01:01):
my show notes or on my website. If you love the show, the best
way to support it is by listening daily, leaving a
review, and subscribing or following in your favorite
podcast app. For monthly Hangouts, Tarot
Q&A's, individual readings, and behind the scenes peaks, join
the Everyday Tarot Patreon family.
If you're local to the greater Puget Sound area, you can check

(01:22):
out my Let's Talk Tara Meet Up group for the latest event
postings. If you're interested in my free
PDF with the 2025 Five card Taraspread I created just for you at
the beginning of this year, you can get that by joining my
newsletter list. My weekly newsletter always has
the most up to date information on upcoming events,
presentations, musings and info,and photos of my day-to-day

(01:44):
life. And if you don't already know,
I'm a sex and relationship therapist seeing clients
virtually all over Washington State.
I love looking with queer, polyamorous, and witchy clients.
If you'd like to work with the therapist that doesn't judge
you, is a little bit witchy justlike you, and helps you learn
how to deal with anxiety, chronic pain or illness,
communication issues, self advocacy, and sex, you can head

(02:05):
to my website and book the free consultation now.
You can find the links for any of these offers in my show notes
or on the website mailasaurus.com/everyday Tarot,
in addition to the images of thecards I pull on each episode.
All right, so today I will be wrapping up season 9 where I've
been talking all about the suit of cups, going through each card

(02:26):
one per episode. If you haven't listened to my
other seasons yet, you can checkthose out.
In season 1, I talked to Tarot basics, seasons two and three.
I went through all the Major Arcana cards and an overview of
before Suits. In season 4 I talked to Tarot
and pop culture. In season 5 I went through 13
common terror spreads and season6-7 and eight I talked about the

(02:46):
suit of Warrens, Pentacles, and Swords.
And today I'm talking about the Suit of Cups.
If you want to hear an episode dedicated to an overview of the
Suit of Cups, you can check out episode 38.
And today I'm talking about the King of Cups.
So like I said, we're wrapping up the Suit of Cups and I'll
have actually completed having an episode about every single
card in the Tarot deck, which isvery exciting.

(03:10):
So look forward to what's comingnext season.
It will be different. So if you have a tarot deck
accessible, go ahead and shufflethrough and find your King of
Cups cards and look at what images or symbols you see.
I have a couple ones in front ofme.
There's definitely like a groundedness, a balance that I,

(03:33):
we talked about the Queen of Cups in last episode.
So there is this sort of like wise elder kind of energy to the
card in So some of the ducks I'mlooking at right now, I'm
looking at the animal wounding terror duck by Megan Weyer
London. In this card or in this deck,
the king of cups is an orca whale or a killer whale, which I

(03:55):
really love because in this duck, all of the cups cards are
depicted as different animals inthe ocean or water.
So as we probably know, like killer whales or whales or orca
whales are like top of the food chain nearly or perhaps totally
in the ocean. And so it's very fun to see that

(04:16):
as the King of Cups card. They're also very like
beautiful, graceful animals. I live in the Seattle area in
the Pacific Northwest. So we actually get worker whales
coming through the area quite often.
I have yet, well, I maybe saw one like years ago when I went
on a ferry ride. So it was just commuting, but I

(04:39):
would love to see them when theycome into the Puget Sound a lot
of the time. And it's always people are abuzz
about when the workers are around.
So it's very cool to see. And then this image we see sort
of like snow capped or snowy mountains in the background.
So, you know, maybe this is the Pacific Northwest being depicted

(05:02):
here. We see sort of like this skyline
or maybe a tree line that's likedark and that's sort of before
the mountains. And then we see an orca whale
like almost fully out of the water.
Their tails are barely in the water and they're sort of like
jumping out and the cup is sort of suspended above them in the
card here. So very powerful card, I would

(05:23):
say. I am going to look in the guide
book to see if there's anything else to add to this.
So yeah, this is an orca whale. It says while still a very
emotional being, the King of Cups is a master of restraint in
keeping his emotions in control.He does not bother his feelings,
however. Rather he is a perfect balance
of feelings and intellect who knows how to respond to an A

(05:47):
situation. Accordingly.
Be diplomatic and gracious with others, but do not run from your
emotions. Face them head on instead.
And it says upright discard about balance, generosity,
emotional maturity and caring. I think it was interesting,
especially just with like recent, I guess somewhat recent,
but the last couple of years some orcas have been attacking

(06:10):
boats, usually large boats, yachts.
And I think this is interesting because it talks about right
over the king of comes as his master of restraint and keeping
his emotions in control. But they don't, it's not you're
bottling them up. And so I'm almost like, oh, this
is interesting as I think about what the orcas strategically do

(06:31):
right now, just take out like the engines of large boats that
are most likely greatly impacting them in the water, not
just by sometimes maiming or killing other creatures, often
orcas, but they're also very loud.
I don't know about you, but if you've ever like snorkeled or

(06:51):
done scuba diving or just like swimming in the ocean when
you're underwater, I don't know.I never realized like how loud
boats were underwater as well. And the sound travels so much
and most whales, right, use sound to communicate underwater.

(07:12):
And so I'm just really like distilling down.
That's like very interesting thing about like what was this
say about orcas being like that?They are like this massive
restraint, but also they're using like they're, they're
picking very particular things. They're not taking engines off
of every boat. They're not like overturning

(07:34):
boats necessarily. They are going for strategically
large boats, ones that have perhaps like traumatized them
and their families in the past. And they're like taking them out
very strategically, it seems. And I don't know, that's just
really coming to mind right now as I think about this card where

(07:54):
there is this sort of like strategic element, not
necessarily like maybe the Knights or like some of the
kings in other suits are where it's a war.
I mean, perhaps so. But if we think about the King
of Cups as sort of being like the hierarchical top of the

(08:15):
cops, which are about emotions and feelings, it is this idea of
like, how do you balance, right,like rationality, quote UN
quote, with your emotions? How do you like, respond to
situations accordingly? How do you be diplomatic and
gracious, but also like not run from your feelings?

(08:36):
And I'm just like, yeah, those orcas, they are not running from
their feelings. And again, it's not like they're
necessarily like retaliating on specific.
It's not like they're going after one boat that like killed
another orca. That's not really what's going
on, We don't think. It's more that like they learned
that some boats of this size andsound have hurt orcas in the

(09:01):
past. Again, this is mostly
conjecture, what we've been trying to figure out as humans
as this has been going on for the last six months or years.
And again, yeah, they're just being very strategic.
And I'm just like, yeah, they'rebalancing, They're caring.
They have a lot of emotional maturity.
They grieve these animals. Again, there's one around here

(09:25):
that has lost multiple babies, multiple calves, and she will
carry the baby for days for the dead baby.
Like on with her as she travels like thousands, hundreds and
thousands of miles as like a form of grief, right?
Or just kind of making it known.It's very interesting.

(09:47):
All right, let's look at some ofthe other card depictions I have
here. So in the Sasser Abito Tarot
Gadak by Sassia Burrington, we see sort of what is depicted, I
would think, as like an older elderly man.
He's got a long, a longer beard that's white.
He's got some white hair. He's looking a little older,

(10:07):
grizzled. He's sort of pouring.
He's like using the like a carafe to pour what looks like
coffee into a mug. But he's also like staring
straight at you, which I'm like,that's very good literal
balance. And also like, like being very

(10:28):
not restrained, but being very like careful or like, again,
like strategic about like, OK, I'm going to look at you.
But also I'm like pouring my cupof coffee and I'm not actually
looking at the coffee, but I'm like doing a good job and it's
not overflowing or anything. He's wearing orange in this
image. And then we see these like what
look almost like the wreath of laurels that you see like in the

(10:52):
Greek things when you like win the Olympics or whatever, where
you wear the thing on your, yourhead like a crown of laurels.
They're not woven together. We just sort of see them behind
him. Just going to look in the tarot
deck guide book to see if they had anything else to add.

(11:16):
It's it was emotionally mature, kind father figure getting and
supportive. Also, in fact, I'm recording
this on Father's Day. So that's kind of funny.
In the US, June 15th, he said he's interested in hearing
everyone's opinions and viewpoints without judgment.

(11:36):
He says he's relaxed and self controlled.
He probably meditates. I see the King of Cups as a
charming world travelled grandfather, sharp witted, open
minded and delightful. He does look pretty delightful.
Like he seems chill, right? He's pouring his coffee.
He's like hanging out. He doesn't look like face in a
hurry to go anywhere. He doesn't look super strict or

(11:58):
concerned. He's just he's like, Oh yeah,
Yep, here I am everyday pouring my coffee, pouring something in
a hot mug or something delicious.
I guess we don't know it's coffee.
It's a dark liquid. So, but also the sort of like
again, if we think about cups isthe emotional sort of like
caring emotional, like feelings suit with water.

(12:22):
We think about right, hearing everyone's opinions and
viewpoints and having like without judgment, which again is
sort of valid balance that can come in with the card.
And then finally, on the therapist who Tarot deck prompts
by Drea Bloom and images by Rebecca Bloom, we see sort of
like abstract for your human figure.

(12:43):
They're quite sort of small on the card.
We just see kind of an outline of them with like brown and
yellowish tones. They're surrounded by like a
almost like a bubble, like goingto the good witches bubble.
And those are the box on wicked,except for this is like blue and
purpley, which are sort of the emotions like colors in the

(13:05):
stack. The the cups are all maybe blue
sort of around the edges and thecups cards.
And yeah, it's sort of this likeglowing.
Also, the word associated with it on here is balance.
And then the prompts on the backof the card say, what are the
things you wish were true, What gives your life meaning?

(13:27):
And how do you connect with a higher power?
It's very powerful questions thinking about right, like
things you wish were true, What gives your life meaning and like
a higher power. All right.
So in the library of Esoterica Tarot book by Tasha, they talk
about that the King of Cups is all about sensitivity, grace,

(13:52):
and giving. The King of Cups suggests it's
time for diplomacy, a moment to evaluate with an open mind and
offer service to others. I'm going to look in this book
to see if there are any depictions of the King of Pops,
in particular this one perhaps is.

(14:21):
It's very pretty. So it's the Rowrig Tarot and
from Germany artist Carl W Rowrig.
Maybe I'll put an image of this on my website as well.
It's very cool. I don't actually know, like what

(14:45):
if it's the king or it says it'sthe night.
OK, interesting. OK, in the Tarot and astrology
book by Kermeen Tanner they talkabout that the King of Cups is
associated with Scorpio, the emotional depth of fixed water.
The King of Cups is ruler of theunderwater world where he can

(15:06):
submerge himself in the deepest mysteries of life.
In this depiction in the book, he looks like, What's the like,
the Little Mermaid's dad, the guy who lives underwater that
has the Triton. And that's what he looks like in
this image, like a merman. It says elementally, the four

(15:29):
kings of the tarot are airy intellectuals.
They simply combine the element of Fair with the corresponding
element of their own suit. So the King of Cups and Barneys,
the vaporous combination of intellectual air with the deep
rolling waters of emotions, saysthe King of Cups is the husband
and father. But the card also represents the
fixed water sign of Scorpio, which makes him an intense and

(15:52):
passionate ruler. He's perceptive and analytical,
he's smart and sensual, and he creates a deep connection with
an intellectual equal. He's comfortable in the darkest
depths of emotion, and he can even be obsessive.
His corresponding Major Arcana card is the Death Card, and it's
ruling planet is Pluto, the God of the underworld.

(16:12):
All told, the King of Cups understands the ebb and flow of
time and the cycles of transformation and rebirth.
It says in the wind, in the Wizard's terror, the King of
Cups looks like King Neptune. There we go, Neptune.
His Trident and three pronged crown are evidence of his reign,
and his white beard and white hair signify his wisdom and

(16:33):
experience. Oceans rise and fall at his
command, and all the animals of surf and sea respond to his
call. He can raise storms and
hurricanes. He can stir whirlpools of grave
confusion. He can also raise his Trident
above the surface and call on the forces of air and fire to
bear down upon the waves. The King of Cups rules the third

(16:55):
Deacon of Libra and the 1st and 2nd Deacons of Scorpio, and a
natural horoscope. His primary domain is the 8th
House of Sex, Death, Inheritance, and Joint
Resources. In the Fearless Tarot book by
Elliott Adam, How to give a positive reading in any
situation, they talk about that the King of Cups is all about

(17:18):
channeling feelings for positiveresults.
Everyone likes the King of Cups.He says he's kind, affable, and
forgiving. He's nothing left to prove to
the world, which makes him unpretentious.
And I really get that vibe from the Sasser Beetho terror attack.
This is because he's a completely at peace with his
feelings about the past. The King of Cups has experienced

(17:40):
stormy seas and still waters that run deep.
Water and cups represent feelings in the Tarot, and the
King of Cups is perfectly at home in the realm of his
emotions. A fish Talisman guards his
heart, showing that the King truly wears his heart on his
sleeve. The Lotus staff symbolizes the
King of Cups works to achieve emotional enlightenment.

(18:00):
He tells us you are always goingto have feelings, why not
channel their power into something constructive?
Where are your emotions being channeled now?
Were you taught to repress your feelings and emotions?
Are negative past emotions leaving you feeling sad, scared,
unmotivated, or depressed? The King of Cups knows that
emotions can buoy or sink us. Feelings can be helpful or

(18:22):
destructive, just like the ocean.
The oceans aren't good or bad though they are energy.
The mind filters where feelings flow, says 2 symbols often
appear in the background of the King's card, the whale and the
ship Whales are the record keepers of the ocean.
They are the ancient giants thatremember all the way back to a

(18:43):
time when they used to live on land.
The whale symbolizes the abilityto access old memories from the
depths. Whales breathe air, giving them
the ability to bring old memories and feelings to the
surface for understanding and healing.
By making peace with the past, you don't have to work so hard
to resist it. The floating shed represents the

(19:04):
power of the mind to invent solutions to harness the water
or feelings. The seas and oceans used to be
large barriers before humans could build sheds.
After people started inventing boats, the waters became super
highways. Ideas were exchanged and trade
increased. The waters were channeled into a
positive result. The King's throne remains stable

(19:26):
above the waves. He was not ruled by his
feelings, but he governs them. He stays in contact with his
deep emotions and memories just like the whale, but he's not
overcome and submerged by them like the ship.
You can focus on a goal and harness the power of his
emotions to achieve it. When the King of Cups appears,
you can choose whether to sink or swim in the realm of your

(19:48):
emotions. Need the King's advice and make
peace with your past. Forgive yourself for whatever is
keeping you stuck. Forgive your others who have
hurt you, or they will continue to rule the direction of your
feelings. All right, yeah, I don't know.
It really. It makes me think of the orcas,

(20:08):
I guess, right? If they are sort of the keepers
of memory in that way, right? They, like I said, they right,
They do remember things. They have grief.
So they also sort of know how to, like, process their emotions
in that way. And finally, in the Terms of
Change book by Jessica Dorr, shetalks about that the King of

(20:29):
Cups is an intellectualizer by both nature and nurture, just
like sort of the cups in the domain of water.
Let's see here, emotions are like water too, and that they

(20:49):
can be powerful and all consuming.
They can flood us in the same way the water can.
When emotion arises, what often happens rapidly is we can lose
our connection with the earth and have to make a deliberate
effort to ground says. One of my favorite ways to think
about the King of Cups actually comes from Aleister Crowley's
interpretation of the Knight of Cups, which says that the

(21:12):
character is quick to respond toattraction and easily becomes
enthusiastic under such stimulus.
But he is not very endearing. His name is writ in water.
Emotions are like that too. They can be quick to arouse,
incredibly convincing in the moments of stimulation, but
rarely in it for the long haul. To say that something is in
water is to say that it has a short shelf life, to say the

(21:35):
least. To be masterful in the emotional
realm means to understand the life cycle of emotions, right?
That they will pass or they willgo away, especially once we've
actually, like, allowed ourselves to feel them.
The trauma expert Vessel Vander,who wrote The Body Keeps the

(21:57):
Score, has written that humans can endure more pain when they
know it is time limited. Which means that intellectually,
knowing the transient nature of emotions is a tool that helps us
with the necessary task of experiencing it.
This is how an emotion makes itsway out of an individual, out of
a family, and ultimately out of a bloodline.
So if you're feeling something big and deep, consider your

(22:20):
kingship. Consider that maybe you are the
one with the tools and temperament to contain the thing
and see it through once and for all.
All right, so let's dive in and see what the cards have to say
today on this topic, I will be pulling from the Citadel a

(22:41):
fantasy Oracle by Fern Inkrite. All right, OK, well, the cards
fall out, so I just forgot that one.
It says the orator or orator. Yeah, let's see here.
It's about communication and confidence.

(23:04):
This is not one I have pulled before, so it's fun to see, OK?
And I pulled it up right so the seats at the theater curve away
on either side of you, filled with a rapt audience waiting for
the performance to begin. Let's see.
On a stage, a single figure clears their throat and begins

(23:26):
their silicly. Even when they're not
performing, the orator speaks with complete confidence.
They've never shield away from apublic stage, but they're so
used to reading from a script. But sometimes they find
themselves tongue tied when it comes to thinking for
themselves. Shouting yourself is only
holding you back. It's OK if you take a little
longer to think about how to voice your needs and desires.

(23:48):
Writing a script of how to ask for these things might even
benefit you here. Be confident in taking up the
space and letting your voice be heard.
All right? That seems pretty clear to me,
right? If we imagine a gun like the
person sort of narrating a play or even the person screen
writing things like being the writer behind the scenes, right,

(24:13):
you can get used to reading a script.
And then when we have to speak off hand, which like I do these
podcast episodes, I do script parts of it or I have my sort
of, you know, beginning and ending kind of things that I
say. But I also sort of try to let
let spirit speak to me as I am going through it, as I'm sort of

(24:36):
channeling as I work on the podcast, right?
So this is telling us that sometimes, right, writing some
stuff down or sort of practicingvoicing our needs and desires
can be helpful and it can help allow us to feel more confident
as we write. We have that that script or that
piece of paper to kind of go back on.

(24:58):
Even if you don't use it at all,right?
You kind of have that space. And sometimes I think just
writing down things like journaling or things like that
can just sort of help us processor get it out of our head and
helps us be more confident in taking up space and letting our
voice be heard, as this says. So we are to channel our inner
orator about communication and confidence as we move forward

(25:20):
this week. All right, so links for the
tarot decks always be in the show notes and on my website if
you'd like to look at them and purchase them.
And thanks for joining me today on Everyday Tarot.
Just as a reminder, the podcast comes out daily, Monday through
Friday for all of 2025. You can e-mail me and me at
melikesaunders.com with your thoughts, questions and more.
I hope to hear from you. See you soon.

(25:42):
Bye bye.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Camille A. Saunders

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}King of Cups