Meaning of Tarot Cards - Suit of Cups

Next in the Meaning of Tarot Cards on the minor arcana is the The Suit of Cups. The Cups element is water and is connected to Pisces, Cancer & Scorpio of the zodiac.

The Cups is the tarot suit most often connected with issues related to feelings and emotions.


The Ace of Cups
The Root of the Powers of Water

Numerical Value: 1
Season: Summer
Direction: West

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - A new beginning emotionally. Joy, faithfulness, fertility. The start of artistic or creative projects. Start of a new relationship, new friendship, love. Upsurge of strong feelings. Strong initial attraction. Deep love or hate, could be at the same time. Being in touch with emotions. The extent is modified by surrounding cards.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Symbolic of changes for the worst. Failure of love, despair and stagnation. Possibly loss of faith. The need to get out emotionally.


The Two of Cups
The Lord of Love

Numerical Value: 2

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Love, affection, beginnings of new partnership, friendship or romance. Resolved differences. New phase in existing relationship, whether good or bad.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Dissent, separation, divorce, unfaithfulness or deceit in a personal relationship. Quarrels and misunderstanding, love unrequited. Jealousy. Souring of friendship or relationship.


The Three of Cups
The Lord of Abundance

Numerical Value: 3

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - A valued venture or project comes to a fortunate conclusion. Birth, possibly physical but may mean the birth of a new project. Something, conceived out of love coming to fruition. Celebration. Birth of a child. Ceremony. Engagement. Wedding. A joyful time.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Loss of happiness, selfishness. Self indulgence to excess. Illness possibly associated with over-eating or smoking. Tension between family and friends.


The Four of Cups
The Lord of Blended Pleasure

Numerical Value: 4

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Apathy, boredom, dwelling on past experience. Time to re-evaluate an all too familiar environment. Love that turns to familiarity. Mundane routine. Bad attitude and refusal to look on the bright side. Examine mood of discontent.

Reversed/Upsidedown - The overturning of a way of life. Change rapidly happening resulting in new anxieties. A low boredom threshold. Ill health or fatigue resulting from over indulgence.


The Five of Cups
The Lord of Loss in Pleasure

Numerical Value: 5

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Sorrow and regret. Dishonour that cannot be overcome. A need for re-ordering and re-evaluating priorities. Broken engagements and emotional letdowns. Problems in relationships with friends or loss of friends. Regret over decisions.

Reversed/Upsidedown - False starts, Worries which arise both unexpectedly and from unexpected sources. Despondency.


The Six of Cups
The Lord of Pleasure

Numerical Value: 6

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - A sense of the past. Past efforts resulting in happiness. Can also indicate that new elements entering into one's life are linked to the past. Nostalgia and memories. A long held dream may be realised. Old love or friendship rekindled. Learning to live in harmony.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Dwelling and living on the past. Pride and vanity in past accomplishments and success creating a barrier to future success. Clinging to outdated customs and habits.


The Seven of Cups
The Lord of Illusionary Success

Numerical Value: 7

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - May be too many opportunities and choices are presented which need careful consideration to avoid a grave error of judgement. The illusion of success, but it's not permanent. Being faced with several choices, one of exceptional promise but great perception is needed to see it. Relationship difficulties. Selfishness. Vanity.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Relying upon false hopes. A fear of success. Indecision and self-delusion. Too many choices resulting in inactivity.


The Eight of Cups
The Lord of Abandoned Success

Numerical Value: 8

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - An air of change. A turning point. Leaving the past behind for the unknown. A change in point of view. A change of perspective. A turning away from established objects of affection and relationships to facilitate progress to newer and deeper things.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Clinging on to something that is over. Recklessness and restless. Abandoning the familiar for an impossible ideal. Risk and fantasy.


The Nine of Cups
The Lord of Material Happiness

Numerical Value: 9

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - A future assured. Satisfaction, contentment, and physical well being. This is a wish card. Dreams will be realized. Wishes to come true. A positive time for making things happen.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Complacency, vanity and self indulgence. Falling into error. Money shortage due to loss of credit cards or spendthrift tenancies. Not giving enough.


The Ten of Cups
The Lord of Perfected Success

Numerical Value: 10

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Lasting security and happiness. Enjoyment of ordinary pleasures. Contentment, happy home life. Good relationships. A search for fulfilment is marked with success. Emotional commitment.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Instability of relationships. Quarrels with family. Insecurity. Sudden violent disruption of ordered environment and routine. Anti-social behaviour.


The Page of Cups
The Princess of the Waters; The Lotus of the Palace of the Floods

Numerical Value: 7
Elemental Name: Earth of Water

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Imagination symbol. A reflective, quiet artistic and poetic person, kind and gentle. A person gifted with much foresight. A person who gives freely their advice from the wealth of knowledge they have. New idea or talent. A messenger bringing news. Emergence of new feelings.

Reversed/Upsidedown - A person who is lazy and given to harmful gossip and lies. Unable to make meaningful commitments. Shallow, self indulgence. A selfish person that schemes and keeps knowledge to themselves.


The Knight of Cups
The Lord of the Waves and the Waters; The King of the Hosts of the Sea

Numerical Value: 4
Elemental Name: Fire of Water

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - New excitements and change, particularly in romance. Bringer of ideas, offers and opportunities. A person who is intelligent and amiable. But a dreamer who can easily be led or discouraged. Constantly bored and in need of stimulation but is also refined and artistic. Emotionally sensitive man.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Unreliable and reckless. Emotionally inhibited. False promises and trickery. A person who has trouble knowing where the truth ends and the lie begins.


The Queen of Cups
Queen of the Thrones of the Waters

Numerical Value: 4
Elemental Name: Water of Water

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - Indicates high achievements made possible through the use of imagination. A happy card indicating balance and harmony. A highly imaginative and artistically gifted woman. Romantic and affectionate in her outlook. Lacks common sense but is highly intuitive, sometimes dreamy and psychic. Other people, events and atmospheres can easily influence her. Emotionally sensitive woman.

Reversed/Upsidedown - Cannot be depended on. Feckless. A dreamer and unreliable. She is swift in changing her opinions without good cause or reason. Can give in to hysteria. Holds back emotions in some cases.


The King of Cups
The Prince of the Chariot of the Waters

Numerical Value: 4
Elemental Name: Air of Water

Meaning of tarot cards:
Upright - A man of law or business, responsible and considerate. Commands respect but not love. Kind, but ambitious and a skilled negotiator. A born manipulator, who has arrived in a position of power by use of brain rather than brawn. Avoids confidences and often works in secret. A seeker of power, with hidden agendas, often feared or distrusted by others around him.

Reversed/Upsidedown - A dishonest, unscrupulous, violent man whom is likely to be involved in double dealings. Has no moral stance and only responsibilities are to himself.

That's the complete set of Suit of Cups. Next on Meaning of Tarot Cards I will post the Suit of Swords.