King of Cups - Orpheus

I've heard it said, only the wounded healer can heal and who we find within ourselves.

The representation of water depicted in the King of Cups symbolizes the overt search for relationships to guide and help others.

The Mythic figure of Orpheus is embodied in this card, who was priest, healer, poet, musician and truly, a creative soul. Sadly he seemed destined for unhappiness meeting an untimely end as the wounded healer, having a great compassionate and empathetic heart, toward every living thing and yet couldn't heal the wounds of his own heart. I believe many of us have aspects of this wounded healer embodied in our personality, and we need to learn to heal ourselves.

This kind of individual is often characteristic of the personality in the helping professions, or is simply found among many, whom for what ever reason seem to care for others more than themselves, and can't trust life quite enough to take it's course.

A timely card today, as I think about how difficult it is for many of us to completely trust in the goodness of the Universe when we witness so much suffering all around us, perhaps in the form of broken relationships, either through resentment, or separation through death, leaving us angry, and questioning why. It can be a challenge to find our way back to some kind of emotional stability.

I may no longer be the kind of wounded healer who can't heal all of her wounds, but I do have a wounded faith.

King of Swords - Primed For Action

Like the King of Swords, I certainly was  primed for action today, to fight the great Burdock Beasts again, this time in my front garden. They are now gone! Unlike the King, I am not exactly an authority, particularly when it comes to burdock, but I was determined in my attack strategy to rid my garden of this invading interloper. I dug out the roots and got them by the kahunas! I may not of succeeded in completely conquering them as there are others around that I can't get at, who will not doubt spread their seed, but these ones will not return! I know burdock do have great medicinal qualities, but I couldn't care less, because they have become my nemesis this week!

 I replaced them with transplanted sunflowers, nasturtiums and some wildflowers. Come Fall I will plant Foxglove, bulbs, and transplant a few perennials from my larger garden that is burdock free.
It's very hard work fighting the Burdock Beast, but so worthwhile to have my flower garden back again!


The King of Swords exists within us all, embodied in the mythic figure of the hero Odysseus. He fought terrifying sea-monsters and escaped the call of the sea Sirens who sang men to their deaths. He was driven by determination, foresight, cleverness, with the most impressive strategic skills of the human mind.

However the character defects found in the King of Swords is his lack of empathy for others and the  disassociation from his feeling. Paradoxically this is an individual of high principle in spite of his lack of empathy for others and is a contradiction of terms.
We may not be authorities but with determination, clear thinking, and by using our intellect we can find strategies to overcome our inner monsters.

The Burdock Beast

King of Cups - Emotional Balance Versus Desperation

The King of Cups, a perfect card for me to draw this morning, as it's caused me to reflect on emotional balance and the way I behave. In the past, I've been a person who'd panic when it came to certain situations. Don't get me wrong, this can still be my default, and I really hate that feeling.

Physiologically everything I feel can seem like it's speeding up and about to implode. My heart races, blood pressure goes up, breathing becomes shallow, I can't think straight and simultaneously, everything is in a kind of painful slow motion.

 I think my mind's try's to slow down in order to think, but the monkey brain seems to be more powerful. The fight or flight instinct takes over. I still can find myself reacting this way, but with experience comes wisdom and new skills in order to handle seemingly crisis situations with less muddled thought and more clarity and peace of mind.

As a SCUBA diver I know and understand panic is what kills people. Similarly, the same can be said for most, if not all crisis scenarios. For instance getting a call from an intimidating, rude and threatening bill collector might not cause your imminent death, but there are those who suffer from addictions like gambling, that can cause suicidal thoughts or worse because they can't meet their obligations and responsibilities,and might actually act on these thoughts, which is a tragic. They've reached that jumping off point, where they can't live with the addiction, nor live without it. This is the worst kind of desperation.

The King of Cups embodies the kind of individual who is an em-path, who easily demonstrates compassion toward others and is a kind of healer, but doesn't seem to have the ability to help or heal himself. We all have to learn how to help ourselves in order to do this. Most of the time we need to put our false pride aside and reach out for help. Many who are in the helping professions match this kind of personality type, an empathetic counsellor who is the Wounded Healer, with a kind of hole in the soul.

 When we call upon the authority of the King of Cup's, we can calm the turbulent waters of our emotions that carry us away, which leads us to feel like we're out of control, as we're reacting negatively to our panic.

Life experience enable me to reach out for help, to learn how to be proactive in my daily life. After many years, I finally found preventative tools that center me, slow me down, and bring serenity to the core of my being.
Doing a daily reading or meditation, getting enough sleep, exercise, eating well, and generally living a healthy lifestyle all help to draw on that authority of the King of Cups, which can calm the volatile waters of emotion. In turn I can trust life enough to take it's course, and not cheat myself.