Arieli's Two of Goblets

Month: Tammuz (Days of Sun)

Numerology: The number two indicates choice, duality, and the attempt to find balance. In Pythagorean philosophy, the number two (dyad) is the principle of separation and creation. Twos suggest dialogue, communication, and the potential to create something. According to Joanna Powell Colbert, mean balance, receptivity, attraction, or a test of choice. The second sefirah on the Tree of Life is Chokhmah, Wisdom.

Arieli’s Two of Goblets: The Two of Goblets shows a flowering olive tree with a twisting trunk, standing in the middle of a green field. In the distance are more trees. Below the tree are two metal goblets, one seemingly empty and the other filled high with green olives. Olives were one of the Seven Species on the Land and were cultivated for food, soap, and for lamp oil. Fresh olive oil was burned daily to light the menorah in the Temple. In ancient times, an olive branch was a symbol of peace throughout the Mediterranean. When the Temple stood, the ceremony for announcing a new month was held on the Mount of Olives where Jews have buried their dead for over 3,000 years.

Arieli assigns these meanings to the Two of Goblets:
Upright: a partial realization of expectations, a sign that the work being done is just halfway there
Reversed: an unequal distribution of resources

Arieli’s description of the card: Under a sprawling olive tree there are two bowls: one is filled with olives, and the other is empty. Olives, and the light produced by their oil, symbolized wisdom. In a Talmudic discussion of the verse, “God gives wisdom to the wise,” it is said that the full vessel is filled even more, and the empty one remains empty. A full mind can hold more than an empty one. In other words, in order to increase wisdom, one must first have some. [I have been unable to confirm Arieli’s citations to Daniel 2:21 and Brachot 40.]

The RWS Two of Cups: A young couple is joining in marriage. They are on a stage and the backdrop shows a house is nestled in the rolling countryside. Each person wears a laurel wreath and holds a chalice. The man is stepping forward and reaching one hand toward the woman. Between their cups is the Staff of Hermes and above that is the head of a winged lion. The winged lion may be a reference to Ezekiel’s chariot vision. The symbol below the orange lion is often mistaken for the Rod of Asclepius the Healer; it is actually the Staff of Hermes, which signifies commerce and communication. Marriage is a contractual relationship. For now, it is the honeymoon period; we only hope the staff is a herald of blessings to come.

“Let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” — Khalil Gibran

Traditionally, the Two of Cups card signifies: a formal partnership agreement, union, communication, trust, fondness, or “the interrelation of the sexes.” Twos indicate balance or choice and Cups indicate emotion; thus the card may indicate the choice to commit to a relationship. Reversed, it may suggest: imbalance, inequality, failure to resolve a disagreement, or the breaking of a contract.

Comparison between the cards: The RWS card shows a perfect moment in a relationship. The Arieli card shows that life is not fair.

Hebrew Letter Correspondence: The numeral 2 is the letter בּ, which the Sefer Yetzirah connects to the moon and wisdom.

Relationship with Major Arcana: The Two of Goblets is related to the second sefirah on the Tree of Life: Chokhmah, wisdom. Wisdom is the bride of God and was present when heavens and earth were created. She is a female figure in Jewish literature.

However, 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah, linked Chokhmah with Father and Binah with Mother. Perhaps that is why Arieli has assigned the Two of Goblets and his Magician card to Chokhmah.

Tarot has a couple of bizarre twists on mathematics. In one system, you add the digits of a card to reduce it to a single number. In the other system, you reduce a card’s number by ten. Thus, each of the following cards has a value of two:

2=2 Arieli’s Magician (RWS High Priestess)
11=1+1=2 Arieli’s Wheel (RWS Justice)
20=2+0=2 Arieli’s Sun (RWS Judgment)
12=12-10=2 Arieli’s Justice (RWS Hanged Man)
22=22-10=12-10=2 Arieli’s World (no RWS card)

The only visual connection between Arieli’s Two of Goblets and his Magician is the tree in one card and the inconspicuous potted plant in the other. The Wheel, like the Two of Goblets, shows the vagaries of fate and harvest time. Arieli’s Justice card shows the Book of Life and the Book of Death, which are sealed on Yom Kippur, and beneath them, the scales of justice.

In the RWS deck, the Hanged Man indicates a pause; so too, a wedding is a moment suspended in time, with the future unknown. Robin Wood’s High Priestess might preside over this significant moment. Many Tarot books speak opaquely of The Masculine and The Feminine (as does much of Kabbalah). In the Robin Wood Tarot, a pagan-inspired deck, the artist may have intended for the Two of Cups to represent a marriage between The Magician and The High Priestess.

Magical uses according to Tyson: to achieve a happy marriage and a harmonious home; for any pleasure in life.