Pendragon: Just One Tarot Card

Just One Tarot Card: the Three of Cups

Imagine that you get a sudden urge to get some insight into your own life. Something tells you to pull out that old Tarot deck that Aunt Gloria gave you for Christmas a couple of years ago. You close your eyes and cut the deck; you've decided in advance that whatever card you pull out is THE card that's going to be your guide for the rest of the week, in every area of your life.

You pull the Three of Cups. You stare at it for a second: three young girls clad in flowing gowns are dancing in a circle, each girl holding aloft a cup. Best I can tell, it's one blonde, one brunette, and one redhead.

Here are the "official" meanings of the Three of Cups:

1. “Absolute completion of a matter, a reason for celebration, an opportunity to heal and grow, quiet peace. A problem has been solved and it is now time to celebrate. Enjoy this moment. Favorable outcome predicted.”	Source: Tarot Power Legend by J.F. Lambert and Seth Stephens (2001) - a booklet that comes with "Miss Cleo's Power Tarot Deck."
2. “Abundance, contentment, happy outcome. Also victory, fulfillment, or healing.”	Source: Heart of Tarot, an Intuitive Approach by Amber K and Azrael Arynn K (2002).
3. “Keyword: Celebrations. Meaning: Happiness and reunions. Parties and meetings which lead to love affairs and lots of flirtation. In some cases this card can indicate pregnancy or birth. Ills are healed, harmony achieved. Attendance at weddings or christenings is likely.”	Source: A Tin of Tarot: an Easy-to-Follow Illustrated Guide to the Mysteries of the Tarot by Jonathan Dee (2002).
4. “This card represents the happy conclusion of an undertaking and the success and recognition that follow. 'Party time!' the girls seem to be saying. Their work has been done and their harvest has been brought in, so now they're ready to celebrate the bounty of their labors.”	Source: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tarot and Fortune-Telling by Arlene Tognetti and Lisa Lenard (1999).
5. “Meanings: The conclusion of any matter in plenty, perfection and merriment; happy issue, victory, fulfilment, solace, healing.”	Source: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by A.E. Waite (1910).
6. “The conclusion of any matter in perfection and merriment. Victory, fulfillment, healing.”	Source: The New Palladini Tarot by David Palladini (1996) — the little instruction book that comes with the New Palladini tarot deck.
7. “This card represents emotional endeavors being recognized and rewarded. It signifies good luck, healing, and celebration and is an auspicious card for artists.”	Source: The Sacred Rose Tarot by Johanna Sherman (1982) - - the little instruction book that comes with the Sacred Rose tarot deck.
8. “Wonder and joy.”	Source: Sacred Symbols: The Tarot published by Thames & Hudson (1995).
9. “We see three women so intertwined we can hardly tell whose arm is whose. In bad times as well as good, the card shows a sharing of experience.”	Source: Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: a Book of Tarot by Rachel Pollack (1980).
10. “Resolution of a problem. Conclusion. Solace. Healing. Satisfactory result. Fulfillment. Compromise. ”	Source: Tarot of a Moon Garden by Laura E. Clarson (1993) — the little instruction book that comes with the Tarot of a Moon Garden deck.
11. “1. Abundance. “2. Marriage or union. “3. Merriment and hospitality.”	Source: The Key of It All by David Allen Hulse (1996).
12. “Joining a group of like-minded individuals; emotional celebrations of all kinds; positive group mind; comfort; a happy outcome of an emotional situation; good luck; emotional fulfillment of something long awaited.”	Source: Book of Shadows by Silver RavenWolf (2003).
13. “Traditional meanings of the three of cups include celebration, friendship, and gladness. But the card may also suggest excessive merrymaking in the form of drunkenness, and can even signify addiction.”	Source: Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg by Cynthia Giles (1996).
14. “Plenty, hospitality, eating and drinking, pleasure, dancing, new clothes, merriment.”	Source: "Book T — the Tarot," an article by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in The Golden Dawn: an Encyclopedia of Practical Occultism by Israel Regardie (Llewellyn Publications, 1970).
15. “The Three of Cups is called the Lord of Abundance. The idea of love has came to fruition (suggested divinatory elucidation: mainly the reception of the feeling 'to be loved by somebody else' and thus returning a corresponding feeling; it is joy as well as healing from the inside).”	Source: Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, the little white book that comes with the Thoth tarot deck.
16. “Abundance. Fulfillment. Satisfactory result. Celebration. Resolution of a problem. Solace. Healing. Conculsion. Compromise. Abundance [sic]. Good luck. Pleasure. Hospitality.”	Source: The Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot Deck Instructions, the little white book that comes with the Royal Fez Moroccan tarot deck.
17. “ Good fortune in love; happy conclusion of an undertaking, perhaps in the arts. The Seeker may have unsuspected talents in music or painting. He is sensitive and sympathetic to others. There is hospitality — perhaps a party — in the offing.”	Source: Mastering the Tarot by Eden Gray.