This morning I taught a class on YouTube about the Suit of Cups. One of the things I love about teaching these sorts of classes is that I always get new ideas of how the cards work. Tarot is infinitely expansive; there are always new ways to see, understand, and process the cards.

My big unexpected take-away from the class was about how much we can use the element of Water and the suit of Cups in our practices of manifestation.

When I speak of manifestation I am speaking of prayer, of Law of Attraction, of Creative Visualization, and of magick. Use whichever words feel most comfortable to you. The premise is the same, however we might speak of it. When we want to bring something in to being, we must imagine it and see it clearly in our mind’s eye. In this way things move from thought to form.

Had I given much consideration to it, I might have more easily seen the suit of Pentacles as a suit of manifestation, since it is of the Earth element, and therefore already solid and real. I might have seen the suit of Swords as a suit of manifestation, because it is the suit of Air, and therefore related to the powers of the mind, where all manifestation begins. I might have even seen the suit of Wands, because of the passionate, spiritual motivation that we derive from the element of Fire.

But did I ever see Water as manifestation? Well, the Seven of Cups is one of the two cards that I strongly see a card of manifestation. The other is the Two of Wands. When I see either of these cards, I am inclined to ask my client to consider what they want to manifest at this time, and to encourage them to put their energy into bringing their desires into being. If both cards appear together, the need and ability to manifest is especially strong, and should not be ignored.

Truly, all four tarot Aces invite manifestation, and it was with the Ace of Cups that our discussion of manifestation began. Each Ace offers a beginning, an essence, a concept, and a jumping-off point. Each Ace is a seed from which something might grow.

What came to me very clearly was this. Everything I have ever learned about manifestation and magick includes a specific central point. The emotion that we put into our vision is paramount in our ability to bring that vision into being. Without feeling it, without emotion driving it, the manifestation will not have life.

While some tarot cards can speak of, and offer opportunity for, manifestation, we can use any tarot card to bring something in to being. Each card carries an energy. Tarot magick is simply the practice of using specifically chosen cards to bring us the energy we want, or to banish from us the energy that doesn’t serve us.

When we study the suit of Cups we might see instruction on how to channel our emotions toward manifestation. We might specifically see a story of manifesting more love in our lives, and on the planet.

What do you see about manifestation in the suit of Cups?