Kings of Wands and Cups

A Tale of Two Grandfathers

Memorial Day in the United States was Monday, May 27, 2024. Two of my three grandfathers served in the US Armed Forces, and although one suffered an active-duty spinal cord injury that rendered him quadriplegic, neither lost their lives. Yet and still, it’s hard not to think of these men on a day meant to honor our fallen service members.

In the Mystic Storyteller Tarot, the Court’s King cards are leaders of the highest esteem, and today’s post shines a spotlight on the Kings of the Wands and Cups suits, the muses for which are former Service Members who are near and dear to my spirit and heart.

I’ll be honest upfront, folks. Today’s post is a good ol’ Southern porch-sitter. It’s a long and winding story, so grab a glass of sweet tea or lemonade or whatever tickles your fancy, and let’s wander for a spell down Memory Lane.

A Tale of Two Grandfathers

I was a child of teen and young adult parents. As such, my grandparents played a major role in my upbringing. Because they were older (Ha! They were younger than I am at the time of writing this...) and seasoned by life experiences, they were able to teach me important lessons around responsibility, accountability, sacrifice, acceptance, and most of all, love.

When my paternal grandfather, C. Ray Moore, whom I called “Granddaddy,” died of lung cancer in 1983, my entire world was rocked. I was only six at the time, and Granddaddy had been my favorite person in that little-big world. After learning about his death, my Gran’s high school sweetheart, Don Merritt, sent her a card of condolences from his home in Winter Haven, Florida. He and my grandmother had gone to school together in Colquitt, Georgia, in the ‘30s and ‘40s until he’d graduated a year ahead of her in 1952 and joined the Marine Corps. Granddaddy was also from South Georgia, but he’d lived in a different county. Soon, steady correspondence ensued and within a year of letter-writing and long-distance phone calls, Gran and Don had fallen in love with one another all over again. They were married in 1985 and once they’d settled into their new life and home down in Florida, my parents, Uncle Les, and I traveled down to meet him.

Because I was so young, and losing my Granddaddy had been tremendously heartbreaking, I was apprehensive at first about another man “taking his place.” All of that angst dissipated the moment I met Don. A quadriplegic, he was eye-level with me, and he spoke to me with respect, as if I was worthy of it even though I was only a child. Don was hilarious and although he couldn’t walk, he had more energy and verve than the rest of the adults by a country mile! He even let me sit on his lap and control his wheelchair’s joystick (as I’d called it). Together with my young parents and uncle, we wheeled through the Tampa airport, embarrassing my Gran until she’d pretended she didn’t know the rest of us “heathens.” And that was that: Granddaddy Don became my new Bonus Grandfather.

I could write an entire book about my Granddaddy Ray, who was the hardest working person everyone had ever known, and who told the best stories with the funniest facial expressions. I could fill a ream of paper with tales about his childhood spent on a South Georgia farm, how he’d been a greaser in his adolescence in the ‘50s, and how as soon as he completed his service in the United States Army, he’d fallen in love with my Gran at first sight. I could tell you how Granddaddy’d managed a small-town A&P Grocery Store in the ‘60s, treating every single employee and customer with respect and equality, allowing everyone who approached his store to walk through the front door. To Granddaddy, the most important aspect of a person was what was in their soul, the quality of their character. Color didn’t matter. Heck, he even bought me my first Barbie doll, which was the prettiest Black girl this little white girl had ever seen. I could tell you that I was heartbroken when my grandfather died, and how the trauma affected me well into adulthood, but none of those words could do justice to his influence on those first six formative years.

I could fill another manuscript on my Granddaddy Don’s life as an adopted child from an abusive family. I could tell you about him being a twin and being separated from his beloved brother, Ron, until they finally reconnected as young adults, engaging in creepy shenanigans as funeral home workers and performing as water-skiers at Cypress Gardens before joining the United States Marine Corps together. I could tell you how sorry he’d been to leave my grandmother, who was a junior at their high school at the time, and how he’d vowed to love her for the rest of his life. I might also tell you about the time when the Marines were hosting the NFL at a resort the summer of 1957 and Packers quarterback Bart Starr and my grandfather were running around a swimming pool when my grandfather fell in and hit his head on the bottom, completely severing his spinal cord. I could tell you that he’d spiraled in despair, and much like Forrest Gump’s Lieutenant Dan, my grandfather lost hope for a quality life... but that would be a boldface lie. My Granddaddy Don found immeasurable purpose as a disabled Veteran, spending the rest of his life writing about his experience and empowering others like him to do the most with what they still had available: their hearts, relationships, and their stories. Granddaddy Don was an enthralling storyteller, and I could have all the time and paper in the world but still not do justice to his tales of hanging out with Elvis Presley and Vincent Price, being gifted famous Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser’s stick, and completely changing lives through his generous spirit.

In my own heart and spirit, the best way I could imagine honoring these two men was to give them their own special places in my new Mystic Storyteller book and tarot deck.

Kings of Wands and Cups: My Ancestral Guides

In her book, Ancestral Tarot, award-winning author Nancy Hendrickson writes that our ancestors–of blood, time, place, or otherwise—can “volunteer” to be our Spirit Guides. When I first read the book a couple of years ago, I followed instructions for how to use the Court cards as ancestral proxies, which is very much aligned with the way I teach storytellers to use the Courts as character avatars.

When sorting through the Court cards, both the King of Wands and the King of Cups jumped from my hands and landed on my desk. I smiled, immediately recognizing who the two figures represented. The King of Wands was my Granddaddy, C. Ray Moore, with his fiery red hair and passionate nature, and the King of Cups was my Bonus Grandfather, Don Merritt, with his love for both water and people. The King of Cups in Pamela Colman Smith’s illustration looks so much like Granddaddy Don in the face, and his throne reminded me of his wheelchair, that I had no doubt he was volunteering himself through that card.

Let me pause for a moment and mention my maternal grandfather, a story about whom I included with the Justice card in my Mystic Storyteller book. Reverand Wallace P. Sellers, Jr. was an extremely conservative Pentecostal pastor, so I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t show up in the ancestral spread activities. And that’s okay! There is no blame or judgment; PawPaw just wasn’t as “worldly” (as the kids used to say) or accepting of esoteric ideas as my Granddaddy Ray and Granddaddy Don. Perhaps now that PawPaw’s on the other side of the veil he perceives things differently, and/or he might even be another family member’s Spirit Guide. Whatever the case, he was a charismatic storyteller in his own right, and you will read more about him in my new book.

These Two Kings

Who are the King of Wands and the King of Cups in the Mystic Storyteller Tarot?

King of Wands: The Inspired Leader

The King of Wands holds the highest standard of craftsmanship, creativity, enterprise, and passion in the entire Minor Arcana. Ruled by fire and leading by spirit, this charismatic King desires nothing more than to inspire others by helping them uncover and cultivate their own unique, innovative talents and skill sets. They’re a flattering visionary, encouraging diligent effort and demanding excellence. Given this individual’s captivating nature, they can’t help but spark a passionate connection with nearly everyone who crosses their path. Fortunately, although this King’s creative energy feels new and exciting, it’s also lasting—it doesn’t burn hot and fast before it fizzles out. The King of Wands ignites inspiration and then simmers, their ideas and creativity a smoldering resource within a vast and lasting desert of opportunities. This King is a master self-starter, and those guided by their tutelage tend to possess an entrepreneurial spirit and desire to create something remarkable from very little.

If the King of Wands represents you as a writer, there is a wildfire of possibilities just waiting to fly from your fingertips. Big results can come from small, conscious efforts; however, prepare to take necessary risks in order to write your story with passionate authenticity. You call the storytelling shots, so when this card blazes through a daily reading, or one of the tarot activities created for you in this book, you are being empowered to let your creativity spark the drive and motivation to pen a stellar Pulitzer Prize-worthy read.

King of Cups: The Emotional Leader

Ruled by water, the King of Cups is the most emotional leader in the tarot. Motivated by matters of the heart, this King is considerate, careful, and gentle in their leadership style. They are emotionally mature, encouraging, and kind. They see the best in others and work tirelessly to lead by example, prioritizing people and their feelings and demonstrating patience and flexibility. At their best, the King of Cups is proficient in humanitarian efforts. As a servant leader, this King offers counsel and advises others to seek work that brings purpose and meaning to their lives. They shine at advocating for what’s important to the people they serve and teaching them how to serve others. As such, they might excel as a chaplain, healthcare leader, hospice director, life coach, marriage counselor, relationship therapist, or social worker. Troubled by human suffering, the King of Cups makes the ultimate leader of movements to balance, change, and/or eradicate causes such as climate change, gender inequality, human trafficking, hunger, poverty, pollution, racial discrimination, socioeconomic disparity, sustainable agriculture, and water scarcity.

Water always finds a way, so if the King of Cups card lands on your writer’s desk, you are being encouraged to harness adaptability, persistence, and resilience. The card might also be considered a direct invitation to write what’s in your heart, mastering emotion and injecting more feeling into your article, essay, poem, or story.

Coming TOMORROW to your inbox!

Tomorrow, I will release the official Save the Date for my Mystic Storyteller book and tarot deck! As previously mentioned, the project is being launched on BackerKit, so in the coming weeks you will receive specific information about the BackerKit platform, how to support and share the Mystic Storyteller project, and why La Panthère Studio decided to move from Kickstarter to BackerKit. Stay tuned for all those details coming to your inbox!

Additionally, if you are not already following @MysticStorytellerTarot on Instagram, please click the image below!

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In her more than thirty years as a storyteller and visual designer, Amanda “Mandy” Hughes has written and designed over a dozen works of literary, Southern Gothic, and women’s fiction under pen names A. Lee Hughes and Mandy Lee.

Mandy is the founder of Haint Blue Creative^®, a space for readers and storytellers to explore, learn, and create. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Science in Psychology, and she has worked as an instructional designer for nearly twenty years.

When she’s not writing, Mandy enjoys the movies, theater, music, traveling, nature walks, birdwatching, and binging The Office. She is a tarot enthusiast who uses the cards to enhance creativity and foster wellness. Her book Mystic Storyteller: A Writer’s Guide to Using the Tarot for Creative Inspiration and companion tarot deck are coming to La Panthère Studio in 2024.

Mandy lives in Georgia with her husband and four sons, two of whom are furrier than the others (but not by much). Visit her website at haintbluecreative.com and follow her on Instagram @HaintBlueCreative and @MysticStorytellerTarot.