Opposites attract? Margarete Petersen’s Two of Cups

Moving on from the single bloom of the Ace, today we look at the Two of Cups in the Margarete Petersen Tarot.

Two of Cups (trimmed):

© Margarete Petersen Tarot

The colours are not what I’d usually associate with the watery suit of the Cups – the gold, brown and red feel more earthy, or even fiery!  Yet those gold waves wash across the image, tinted with blue as they reach greater depth…

All the Cups cards, like the Flames/Wands, have a second ‘frame’ within, this time a square – rather than the rectangle of the Flames.  There’s a sense of the central part of the image being enclosed or contained. 

In the Two of Cups, we see two opposing faces, one light-coloured, one darker-shaded.  The number ‘2’ is all about duality – opposites: dark and light, hot and cold… and in the Cups, we’re usually looking at the emotional side of things.  The union of opposites – the idea of opposites attracting, for instance.  Drawing from the idea of opening up our hearts, in the Ace, we’re now asked to share what’s inside of us – to drink from each other’s cup!

Two faces opposed -

Yet open hearts, love combined 
Two faces attract.

Margarete Petersen Tarot, AGM-URANIA, 2004.