Yeshua said, “Grapes aren’t harvested from thorns, nor are figs gathered from thistles, because they don’t produce fruit. [A person who’s good] brings good things out of their treasure, and a person who’s [evil] brings evil things out of their evil treasure. They say evil things because their heart is full of evil.”
Gospel of Thomas, Logion 45
When Logion 45 showed up as our daily saying from the Gospel of Thomas, I was curious to find out how Spirit would pair it with the Tarot. The ‘random’ draw generated yielded the King of Cups. The King of Cups is an excellent match, whether we see him as corresponding with Scorpio (French system) or Pisces (Golden Dawn). Why the King of Cups and not one of the other Kings?
Because the King of Cups is the master of the psyche. He embodies authenticity and emotional integrity. This is different from having intellectual knowledge about integrity like the King of Swords, for instance.
The King of Cups in his mature expression (upright if you read with reversals) has left behind the tendency to seek to alter his consciousness in order to escape from what is going on inside his psyche. This King is not afraid of facing his shadows. In fact, he is in a position to teach others shadow work.
Not only does he know exactly what fruit he is capable of bearing. He is also acutely aware of when there is a need for pruning or weeding. When he produces less or worse fruit than he is capable of, he makes restitution and course-corrects. Because he is so acutely aware of his own shortcomings, he is more compassionate than the other Kings and less likely to pass judgment.
Be Like Marcus Aurelius
A historical example of this kind of emotional integrity, for all of his self-identification as a man of reason, Marcus Aurelius springs to mind. He did what a King of Cups might typically do–He kept a diary and was brutally honest about what surfaced mentally and emotionally so that he could stay on track for embodying the highest principles.
The quote below by Marcus Aurelius is one example of the kind of ruthless self-examination that the King of Cups subjects himself to in order not to drift from his True Self:
Ask, ‘Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?’ You’ll be embarrassed to answer.
So many of us are simply unaware of our own hearts (seat of emotions). A heart left to its own devices is like an unattended garden. Yes, there may be a fruit tree in there, somewhere, but there are also all kinds of weeds, thorn bushes, and thistles. We all have to do the work to better ourselves and to bear the kind of fruit that honours the Divine Seed within us.
Deck used: Tarot of the Holy Light