8 is a number of setting priorities and goals, organizing your life, systems, regeneration and structure, practicality, balance and symmetry. On its side 8 resembles the lemniscate - a symbol of infinity. Cups are associated with the element of water, with emotions, love, pleasure in life, matters pertaining to the unconscious, intuition and inner planes. This card is sometimes seen as indicating a period of disillusionment; a time to walk away from it all and reflect upon what matter to you.  Reversed it can indicate looking at psychic or intuitive experiences and re-evaluating them; deciding which psychic tools are most appealing to you.  It may also be warning against over-organizing and warning that you need to trust your instincts and psychic intuition.

"Reflecting on relationships and thinking over what you like and don't like about them.  Putting your emotions into some kind of order and finding ways of categorizing or analyzing your feelings.  Establishing emotional priorities  among several relationships or within a single relationship. - Gail Fairfield

Ah, absinthe.  I have never tried this elixir of hallucinatory essence but I've read of it.  It's legend and lore gives one pause.  However this kit certainly offers an attractive and beguiling temptation - succumb to the allure of the absinthe and record your experiences for posterity.  It reminds me of various scientific inquiries and personal exploration into LSD use.  We are often tempting but the lure of mind-expanding drugs.    We think they can help us connect with the divine but perhaps the reality is that they cause us to lose our connection to our true selves.

The figure on the All Hallows 8 of Cups is walking away from a visit to the ancestors, leaving loving tribute to their memories.  Her face and expression are hidden from us so we cannot be sure what she is feeling right now.  Is she paying a final visit before leaving them behind forever?  Perhaps she is leaving the area and will no longer be able to visit.  She is leaving her past and her emotionally connections behind in order to move forward and makes her wishes come true.

Is that what absinthe offers to us?  The gift of being able to explore our inner wishes and desires without the emotional guilt that might accompany such pursuits.  So maybe what I need to consider is how I can explore those realms without the assistance of substances such as absinthe.  I think what I need to do is look in my heart and see what I truly desire in life.  What do I really wish for in my heart of hearts and how can I make that wish come true for me?  I really don't need the help of mind-altering substances to do this, although I'd be the first to admit that they do make it somewhat easier because the cause us to put down our guards.  Can I be honest and truthful with myself and get beneath my own inner guards?  I think I can but it might not be easy or even especially pleasant.  But if I need to move forward and make my dreams come true the I really need to find out what those dreams are.  That scares me a bit but I think I can handle it.