I feel that the The Two of Cups is one of the most beautiful cards in the deck, symbolizing deep connections, love, business partnerships, and friendship.
One of the great aspects of this card is the mutual respect in the exchange between two people, something that usually arises when one knows how to respect themselves. One thing a lot of us forget in our pursuit of love and connection is the love and connection we need to cultivate within ourselves.
I don't like saying the cliché phrase “You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else," because then it seems like loving yourself is a chore you have to do to get this other thing, rather than it just being something you should be doing anyway, so that it can just eventually serve love.
So what does loving yourself mean? This means not twisting yourself in knots for a person who is not showing you affection that you deserve. This means making sure you are with someone who allows you to continue to evolve and feel whole on your own. This means taking the steps to evolve and feel whole on your own. The more you do that, the more you cultivate the inner strength, so that you don't stake your well-being on what someone else does.
More importantly, though, when you set upon the path to truly deeply connect with yourself, and accept yourself as you are, and put effort into discovery of who you want to be, the brighter your light is. The brighter your light is, the more it is also noticed by others, others who are also on the same path of discovery.
Love - true, deep and healthy love - is also something that is built by two people. And it takes time. So, if you have found that you have a connection with someone, allow that time to deepen things without the need to figure out what the ending is.
When you allow your mind to stay in the present, and you are solid enough in yourself and your own life that you know wherever it leads, you will still be solid in yourself and your own life, then you open up a beautiful universe to you and the other person, where you can evolve together, expanding upon the beauty that's already being tended to in one another.
One of my favorite authors, Tom Robbins, wrote “When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on - series polygamy - until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter."
True, deep and healthy love also allows you to feel your best, most empowered self. So while this card talks of connection with another, use it in this moment to ask how connected you feel with yourself. I promise you the fulfillment you cultivate with the love of yourself will allow you to feel the most profound love later on.
