The Ace of Cups, as depicted in the RWS clearly makes reference to the Annunciation, the announcement of the Incarnation [of Christ] given by the archangel Gabriel to Mary (KJV. Luke 1:26–38) and for which a Church festival is held on the 25th of March (Lady Day). Just after the spring equinox and nine months prior to the birth of Christ on the 25th of December [Christmas Day].
Robert M. Place in his book, The Tarot has this to say about the card:
The initial M on the cup identifies it with Mary. It is upside down to show that it is receiving the Host delivered by the dove.
It is noteworthy that in the Annunciation of Cortona, painted by Fra Angelico [1433-1434], there are three lines of text painted between the Archangel on the left and the Virgin on the right. The words of the angel are written on two lines, reading from left to right. The words of Mary are between those two lines. If we look attentively we see that her words are written upside-down. But that is not all. Mary’s reply is also written backwards. As a consequence we have to stand upside-down, reading from right to left, to discover what she is saying. This indicates to the viewer that the words are addressed to God, who would be in the proper position to read them.
Place then goes on to say: The dove is the standard Christian symbol for the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed by David Fideler, who in his book Jesus Christ Sun of God, contends that the Christian gnostics made much of the fact that the name Jesus is equivalent to the number 888… because he ‘contained in himself the entire number of the ‘elements’ [Gk. stoicheia = letters], which the decent of the dove [who is Alpha and Omega], made clearly manifest, when he came to be baptized; for the number of the dove is eight hundred and one. The meaning of this statement is fairly simple; The name Jesus, 888, is a perfect name encompassing the whole of creation, and is reflected in the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet which, contains 8 letters denoting hundreds, 8 denoting tens, and 8 denoting units. Jesus is therefore Alpha and Omega, the all encompassing spiritual plenitude, which was made manifest by the decent of the dove at his baptism. This is because the Greek word for DOVE is equivalent to 801, which is also the value of Alpha and Omega.
Place concludes his elucidation of the Christian symbolism in this image with the words: … and the Host with the cross is the body of Christ, and the five streams of water pouring from the vessel represent the five wounds of Christ, which he suffered for the salvation of the world. Waite wrote that there were four. It appears that he wanted to connect the symbol to the fountain in the centre of Eden from which four rivers flowed towards the four cardinal directions.
NOTES:
Waite’s depiction of the ACE OF CUPS, shows five rivers overflowing from the cup.