Feeling without form
Unlike the Page, the Knight of Cups is taking their journey very seriously indeed. It may even be all they do, as they are consumed by this experience of following their heart and soul. In many ways, this card represents falling in love, in that the Knight is utterly enthralled by the ebb and flow of her own heart. It can be a beautiful experience, but it can also represent becoming emotionally stuck. I always find it interesting how it seems the more seriously we take ourselves, the less accessible enlightenment becomes. The Page of Cups, with her lightness of spirit, seems far more likely to discover great truths than this Knight, brooding and serious.
This person may have become lost in their journey. Obsessive love is one expression of the Knight of Cups, as is a person who has become overly attached to self-help books or spiritual doctrine. It’s possible to go so far into these deep and fascinating explorations that we lose track of our own lived reality. This Knight is often brooding, moody, at the mercy of their heart’s fluctuations. They feel everything ten times over, ten times as strong.
Despite the strength of feeling, there’s a passivity here. Where the Knight of Pentacles’ dedication leads her slowly towards a goal, the Knight of Cups stands still. It’s an impasse. In order to really move forwards, that emotion needs shape. The Knight of Cups is like water without a container – all that deep feeling is swirling, but has no form, no real expression. And without form it becomes, well, sort of meaningless.
There can sometimes be superficiality here too. Think of a brooding young poet, so careful to always have his hair in his eyes, his shirt untucked like so. The romantic image of the poet becomes more important than the poetry itself – whilst he imagines he is being ‘deep’, really, he is being vain. Another example may be a life coach, who concentrates so much on saying the right ‘spiritual things’ on social media that they forget what really brought them on this journey in the first place.
The Knight of Cups is not all moody vanity, though. This card can represent a person who is really just taking the time to indulge themselves in pure feeling. It is not always necessary to find containers for or ‘give shape’ to our emotions, or articulate our spiritual journeys. The Knight of Cups can represent a person who has allowed themselves to surrender – and that can be a beautiful thing. As always, remember that Knights represent extremes, and know that this is a short-term situation – to remain in this place too long risks becoming stuck or lost.
Lastly, this card can simply point to a person who is falling in love or who is being very romantic. There is a fun element to the Knight of Cups, too – they may just be encouraging you to buy a bunch of roses for someone you love.