King of Chalices
Chalices
How This Card Is Derived
Papus gives no separate description of this card. It is derived from his system: Chalices is He (ה), the passive, receptive principle, acting in Briah, the creative world; the King is Yod, the suit's active principle embodied — it originates. The meaning below is that combination read out, not a quotation from him.
Upright
The active term inside the receptive world: someone who originates in the medium of feeling. Papus's Yod always starts a thing, and a King of Chalices starts by setting the emotional terms on which everything afterwards proceeds — the tone of a household, the temper of an office. He is not demonstrative. The active principle here works by establishing a climate rather than by making demands.
Reversed
The climate set for one person's convenience — atmosphere as an instrument of control, all the more effective for never being stated out loud. Or a throne occupied by someone who feels a great deal and originates nothing, so the terms get set by whoever is loudest.
Correspondences
- Suit
- Chalices — He (ה), Briah, the creative world
- Suit principle
- the passive, receptive principle
- Rank
- King — Yod
- Rank role
- the suit's active principle embodied — it originates
In a Spread
At the commencement, the matter begins because someone set the emotional terms. In opposition, an authority that cannot be argued with because it has never made an explicit claim. At equilibrium he is what keeps the temperature steady. As the result: the matter resolves on terms someone else established, and resolves calmly.