The Queen of Cups: A Black Moon Lilith Connection to the Tarot?

Last year, I posted a question in a Tarot subreddit asking if anyone had interpreted the imagery on the Queen of Cups through the lens of Black Moon Lilith. Prompted by the the two figures on either side of the chalice, I saw the resemblance to the astrological glyph almost immediately, but few on Reddit appeared to agree. Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t seem to “un-see” it, so the fascination with Black Moon Lilith persists as an interpretive mode through which to explore the archetypal energies of the Queen of Cups.

Traditional Interpretations of the Queen of Cups

When upright, this Tarot court card reflects someone in our lives or a part of ourselves that is tuned into emotions. The energy is mature, sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic — the living embodiment of the lunar archetype’s nurturing and feeling side. Reversed, however, common associations include a lack of boundaries and emotional depletion.

Mary K. Greer and Tom Little’s monograph, Understanding the Tarot Court Cards, was one of the earliest starting points through which I encountered the twelve “face cards” of the Tarot. I still think the concepts discussed are a solid basis from which to explore the myriad archetypal energies writ large, though I now feel that some of the traditional significations on which many authors draw — not just Greer and Little — are reductive, falling prey to a kind of “watering down” of mythic archetypal complexities. Still, the high-level associations…