The Queen of Cups
The Queen of Cups represents the spiritual, artistic and psychic side of yourself. She can also be a person in your life. The Queen of Cups is an artist, a poet, a Tarot card reader. Cups represent the moist, damp element of water. Water can transform into elusive haze, fog, vapor or mist. The Queen of Cups appeared tonight as something entirely different. She was a phantom, a spirit, a specter.
I’m staying up late with the ghosts of Thanksgivings past . . .
It is four nights until Thanksgiving. We are at our farmhouse prepping for the holiday. We’ll return to the city for school and work before returning here to cook for twelve hungry Italians – all of them my husband’s family. It will be a very good holiday this year. I can feel it.
Crunchy snow covered the ground when we arrived last night. I awoke this morning, blessedly late, and peeked outside. Giant snowflakes whizzed by. I had forgotten how quickly winter comes in the mountains.
We’ve gone ahead and set the Thanksgiving table, complete with his grandmother’s vintage English china. At midnight, I walk past the table, to my favorite Saturday night ritual, bubble bath in the claw foot tub. Something peculiar caught my attention. Past the glimmering crystal glasses and pressed linen napkins, sat a person. Posture erect and completely at ease. A ghost!
Did my Queen of Cups once live in this farmhouse? Was she attached to the heirloom china I’ve set out? Was she a wandering soul who decided to take a break at my table? Who she could be? I haven’t the slightest. But I’m happy she is here.
The months between Halloween and New Years are so haunted. The Northeast’s landscape transforms in the blink of an eye. Fiery orange and red leaves wash from trees in chilly rains and the landscape becomes gothic and barren. The nights are long and cold. The holidays pack massive expectation and oodles of emotion. We take stock and reassess our lives – where we’ve been and where we hope we are going. We turn inward.
We get visited by lots of old ghosties when we make significant changes in our lives. I’ve been doing a lot of reassessing and changing as of late. So, I’m not surprised at all to see a visitor at my table.
I figure the Queen of Cups will be my guest of honor this year. If I stress out while entertaining, I’ll think of her. She’ll remind me cooking is a simple way to share pleasure with those I love. I’ll stay open to any advice she may have and look for her when we all join to say grace. We’ll stuff ourselves silly with cheeses, pasta, turkey, side dishes and way, way too much food. When dessert comes, I’ll be sure to make my Queen of Cups a sweet offering.
This year, I am grateful for my unexpected guest.
Who visits you this time of year? Do you ever have ghostly visitors? When you move inward who shares in your intimate thoughts? If you could summon any guest to your Thanksgiving table, who would it be?