To clarify and deepen my understanding of the Ship, I pondered the following comparisons with similar and/or opposing cards. Maybe my comparisons will inspire you to make your own!
(Not) settling down
Ship: Inability to
settle down because of itchy feet, adventurousness, or commitment issues. To be "not there yet", to be on the way.
House: To settle for something; to be (or at least feel) at home somewhere.
Anchor: To stay put; to put down roots - to settle down. To stick with something or someone.
Commitment
Ship: Inability to commit - possibly because we feel that there's so much else to discover yet.
Ring: Commitment. To be tied to someone or something.
Change
Ship: Changes we set in motion. A change of environment. Changes which take some work.
Stork:Change in the form of a transformation. Inner change; e.g. change of heart. Changes dictated by the inner nature of things. Changes which happen gradually.
Rider: Change is brought to us; changes that happen without our doing. Sudden or enforced changes.
Anchor: The opposite of change: stability or stagnation. Everything stays the way it is because we are able to maintain, are holding on to, or are restrained from changing, the status quo.
House: The opposite of change: regularity. Everything stays the way it is because we always act according to tradition or our personal habits, and/or don't allow innovation.
Mountain: The opposite of change: permanence. Everything stays the way it is because we won't budge.
Departure; "gone"
Ship: Someone has literally gone away; departed in the sense of "gone on a journey". Someone is absent but might return; something is missing but might be found.
Coffin:Someone is gone - as in "dead". The experience of a very painful and permanent loss. Something is over for good.
Scythe: Sudden, painful, or "efficient" (wasting neither time nor effort), departures. Someone cuts themselves out of our life; cuts us off.
Mice: Something is gone in the sense that it has been taken away, stolen. "Departure" in the sense of sneaking away, or as a slow process of dwindling away.
Longing
Ship: Longing in the sense of wanderlust - the longing to be elsewhere, to discover new places.
Stork:Deep longings in general, but especially the longings which arise from our inner nature.
Heart: Romantic longing.
Lily: Sexual longing; the longing for sensual experiences.
Snake: Longing in the sense of cravings - to want to get or to achieve something.
