Let the worries of your every day fall as rain drops and breathe slowly. When you feel calm and centered, we will begin.
You’re back on the beach at Oceania, the sunset stretching her canvas as far as the eye can see. You walk to your right and see a man sitting on a midnight blue throne in the shallow waters of the ocean. The cerulean water comes to the legs of the throne.
You walk into the cool ocean water to him. He keeps his eyes fixed ahead. This can only be the King of Cups. How does he look? Your own father, brother, yourself or a man you loved long ago? The King radiates peace and you feel relaxed in his presence. Then you follow his sight line. You gasp. A person is drowning. You are too far away to see if it’s a man or a woman. You are about to jump in to save them, but the King puts his arm on your shoulder. You are forced to look at him. His eyes shift from aqua green to hazel in a matter of seconds.
“No, my friend, you must leave them there.” His voice is melodic like the ocean waves.
“They are drowning; you just can’t sit there, King!”
“I know you feel their pain, so do I. The best way at times to save a person is to let them save themselves. They are drowning by their own thoughts and feelings. If I was to interfere, they would be back here in a month or two. I watch, you see. I send them love and strength. That is all I can do.”
“What if you were wrong?”
The kings smiles at you so patiently. “I never lost one yet. The really bad cases don’t make it here. They pass me by all together.”
“Where do they go?”
“To others better equipped. My cousins: the Hermit, the Hanged Man, the High Priestess to name a few. Look now.”
The person has finally stopped struggling, or the waters have stopped churning around the person. Whichever it is, s/he begins to float. You feel the fear now turning into peace.
“Beautiful to watch the calmness come back to people, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
You can stay here as long as you want and talk to the King of Cups. He may even offer you to sit in his throne, a most rare honor to be granted. When you have your fill, the King gives you a warm embrace. He whistles and Mari, the dolphin friend of Nile, the Page of Cups, comes to you.
“You are welcome back, any time,” he says as a final farewell.
You climb on Mari’s back and she takes you back to your reality. Open your eyes when you feel Mari has taken you as far as you can go.
How was your time with the King of Cups? Is he all that you imagined? Record and reflect in your Tarot Journal your encounter with him. For the next two weeks, try to see how you can be The King of Cups in your life.
