The Ace of Cups Tarot Card
When you have found an emotional plateau, you will see the Ace of Cups in your Tarot reading. This card represents the culmination of a sacrifice that has been rewarded with satisfaction, contentment and a deep, lasting peace. This is the Tarot deck's card of true love and it would be hard to imagine a soulmate Tarot reading without the presence of the Ace of Cups.
From out of a cloud appears a hand holding a Cup balanced on its palm. From this gold chalice emanates four plumes of water, which steadily pour down into a lake populated by floral lily pads. A white dove holds a communion wafer in its beak just above the rim of the Cup. The white hand glows and the wispy cloud from which it comes is silver-gray in tone. The Cup is engraved with a "W" in some Tarot Decks, an insignia for Arthur Edward Waite, the father of the modern tarot deck.
The Christian ritual of communion is a re-enactment of Christ making the ultimate sacrifice for his followers. When the Ace of Cups appears in a Tarot reading, there is the feeling that a love is so deep that one partner would be willing to die for the other. This is not a harbinger of any such passing, just a metaphor for the depth of the love that is being expressed here. Aces are the culmination of a suit's meaning and Cups represent emotions. The dove, of course, is a symbol of peace; the peace that such love brings a person and the peace that one is able to thus send out into the universe.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When a Tarot Reading begins, the cards are dealt into areas regarding your past, present and future. Where each card lands is the area of your life story that it will help describe. When the Ace of Cups is in the past position, you have a lover of great importance in your past. Were you dumped and the tale became sad after such a wonderful peak? On a better note, the Ace of Cups here often serves as a foundation to the reading and informs the Tarot reader that you have a sophisticated mastery of your emotions.
When the Tarot spread reveals the Ace of Cups in the present position, you are probably getting the reading because of a new love interest in your life. Perhaps you have a strong intuition that "the one" is near. A certain lack of anxiety will bring you a sense of happiness when this card arrives in the present position.
The Ace of Cups in the future position indicates that you are pursuing love as a goal in this lifetime. This is not necessarily a great position for this Ace as it questions your motivations. Is love something that you pursue in order to justify a lousy current situation? Are you too picky about who you date out of some misguided desire to "have it all" or have a mate who shows that you won some abstract contest to rein in a millionaire stud who worships you? The Ace of Cups in this position confronts you that an idealized notion of love off in the distance is a poor substitute for the real thing.
The Hovering Ace
Many Tarot readers prefer to pull any of the Aces off the table and hold them above the reading, an act referred to as exalting the Ace. Aces are considered so powerful that they cannot mix freely with other Tarot cards and therefore serve as a subtitle for your entire reading. If your Tarot reader follows the tradition of allowing the Ace to hover above the reading, the lessons about love and emotional maturity will be all the deeper and more meaningful for a full understanding of your situation.
Card Combinations
Each Tarot card in a reading informs the interpretations of the other cards. If your Tarot reader leaves the Ace of Cups in the Tarot spread before you, the cards around it gain an influence over the meaning of this special Tarot symbol.
When paired with another Ace, the mastery of emotions will be complete and lead to success in a definite avenue of your life. When The Emperor or The Magician are in your reading accompanying this card, look for a position of authority to give you great satisfaction. Power and influence require a stable base from which to judge and the Judgment card near the Ace of Cups indicates you are making great life decisions. Temperance is a card where the main character seems to be using the Ace of Cups to stay on the stable and sane path. So accept the Tarot's message of stability when this card appears.
If Death is drawn in a reading that features the Ace of Cups, look for your loneliness to be the thing that is dying. An emotional stability that comes with being accepted by a partner is on its way.
When there are lots of other cards from the suit of Cups in a reading with their Ace, the emotional foundation for growth and leadership is truly present. If the reading with this card also has many cards from the suit of Wands, a business idea you have could be just what is needed in your chosen field. A fortune could be bubbling over.
When the Ace of Cups combines with many cards from the suit of Pentacles, you must ask yourself if your love of material possessions is getting in the way of a love of yourself and those around you. With the suit of Swords combining with this card, you have an opportunity to use verbal communication to get a deeper understanding of your feelings. Have you met a soulmate who actually understands your deepest desires and hopes?
When the Ace of Cups is in the same reading as The World, look for some of those deepest hopes and desires to be more than just understood; this card combination is like bulldozing a trail straight to your life's goals. It is one of the magic moments in all of Tarot reading.
The Two of Cups Tarot Card
When you are falling for someone, look for the Two of Cups in your Tarot reading. When you don't notice when other people walk in the room because the two of you are talking, the Two of Cups is waiting to jump out in a Tarot reading for you. This is the card of knowing that a bond is forming between you and someone else, be it a truce with a sworn enemy or a kiss with a future soulmate. But it is a weak card. The cards around it in your reading hold great sway in determining the outcome of this relationship that is quickly deepening.
A woman and a man are standing, looking into each other's eyes. Behind them is a serene, cloudless blue sky. Rolling hills are below that sky and the foreground is a plot of golden earth on which they stand. They each hold a gold cup. The woman holds hers with two hands, the man with one as he reaches toward her. She is wearing a robe and laurel crown, he has on some fashionable attire found on the "Mister Rights" of centuries ago. Superimposed onto the idyllic scene is a winged lion's head with a staff holding intertwined snakes coming in between our lovers and their cups.
The glyph that hovers above and between the lovers is a stylized rendering of the caduceus. This is an ancient Greek affirmation of the merging of masculine and feminine natures into one derived from the myth of Tiresias, who was turned into a woman for seven years. The staff with two snakes represents this merging of two natures around a solid core and the lion's head with wings illustrates two natures as well. This seal is an abstraction within the image on the card. The lovers depicted in the card don't even seem to notice that this floating amulet is there. This is why the Two of Cups is so dependent on the cards around it – the experience is so dependent on another person and chance that the slightest influence could come in to dominate the situation of a person receiving this card in their Tarot reading.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
The Tarot reader spreads the cards into sections detailing the past, the present and the future. Where a card is dealt is the time of your life that it describes.
When the Two of Cups lands in the past position, this indicates that you had a great, warm relationship that was the foundation of everything you have become. Regardless of how it ended, evolved or changed, the Two of Cups in this position affirms and acknowledges that this great connection did occur and had a life-lesson impact on you both.
In the present position, the Two of Cups confirms that a union is being born or a reconciliation is occurring. Often this card appears in the present position as the person receiving the reading is about to go to a high school reunion or a family gathering. It confirms that the time to bury that hatchet or pursue passion has arrived.
When this card appears in the future position, a good outcome is almost guaranteed. The Two of Cups is a card that allows you to peer into where the subtlest energies between you and another person are going. This card's appearance in the future position signals that those energies are about to become amplified into full-fledged infatuation, partnership or a deep commitment between you and this other person.
In the future position, the card is a definite answer of "Yes" to any questions about finding a soulmate, pursuing a crush, mending a fence between you and a friend or getting back together with a lover.
Card Combinations
A reading of Tarot cards always considers how the cards interact. The closer two cards are to one another, the more they inform that part of the reading.
The Two of Cups has a pair of higher echoes in the Tarot's Major Arcana: The High Priestess and The Hanged Man. These cards are numbered 2 and 12 respectively. They are very passive cards in the deck and rely heavily on the other Tarot cards in your reading to give a complete picture. The Two of Cups indicates a great coupling, but with whom? If there are many cards from the suit of Pentacles in your reading, you and your new partner are sure to share the wealth. Lots of other Cups indicate deep emotions. If there are lots of cards from the suit of Wands, you might serve as this person's muse, or be inspired by a new love to express yourself artistically to great success.
The suit of Swords is a special case when combining with the Two of Cups because Swords represent ideas and words. There is the possibility that a passionate response on your part might be met with some pleasant discussions, perhaps a little pillow talk, but the relationship ahead might be one that seems like a better idea in advance than it was a relationship in hindsight.
The coming partnership foretold by the appearance of the Two of Cups will have the personality of your soon-to-be partner described simply by examining any Major Arcana cards that are in the reading along with it. The Devil card will bring a domineering new boss or a lover who is a heavy drinker or is involved with drugs. The Emperor will bring a man who has a set way of doing things, but who is deeply attracted to you as you are "his type."
The Hierophant pairing up with the Two of Cups signals a brush with someone of status and accomplishment. If you are entering into a love relationship under this type of pairing, there will be an initial excitement of entering into a glamorous world previously out of your reach. But this card warns you to assert your independence in this relationship and not be a servant to a master who controls you.
The Lovers Card, of course, is the indicator that a soulmate situation has arrived when it is paired with the Two of Cups in your reading. This is perhaps the most classic Tarot combination of all and indicates that the love relationship of your lifetime began melting your heart as these cards were dealt.
The Three of Cups Tarot Card
Are you excited about your friendships? Is a group welcoming you with open arms? Are there new life lessons that are bringing you great insight that involve collaboration? Are you getting ahead with the help of some acquaintances who are "in the know"? A Tarot reading that features the Three of Cups is a reading that is reflecting your joy in finding the right group of friends in life.
Three women dressed in robes are toasting their golden cups high in the air. The one in the center is turned away from us, face obscured, but the other two are smiling. The have flowers in their hair and stand on fertile ground with foliage and vegetation growing all about. Behind them is a cloudless, peaceful blue sky. We can look at their shoes and see that they are almost dancing in this circle. There are few depictions of joy as succinct as the Three of Cups.
It is important to note that these three women are happy because they are with each other. There is a complete equality illustrated here, there is no dominant character, which is the usual case in many Tarot card depictions. The suit of Cups represents love and emotions. The Cups here are raised quite high and the fact that they are raised over the heads of each of these three revelers might be a small warning. Emotions often get the better of us and we submit to them even when we can logically determine that the emotional choice might not be the best thing. Often we are weakened when emotions come into the picture; when feelings are put in a higher position than the common sense of our heads. The joy of belonging to a group or bonding with some friends is so intense that we mindlessly conform in order to maintain our status in that clique. Amidst the joy of the celebration in the Three of Cups, a lack of thought and planning may be present despite such a good time being had by all.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Every Tarot reading is divided into three sections. Cards are dealt into your past position, your present position and your future position. When the Three of Cups is in the past position, you can look back fondly on a wonderful time in your life when you felt secure and part of a group of friends going places. If you are depressed presently, perhaps you can use the fact that you have experienced this type of joy before to understand that it could come around again in your life. If you are doing well right now, there is a good chance that the Three of Cups in the past position is the foundation of your present comfort. It could illustrate a blissful childhood or underscore your elation at a successful stint in a sorority back in your college years. If the Three of Cups appears in the present position in your Tarot reading, you are running with a good crowd, and any stress in your life is likely to dissipate when you spend time with your close friends. A new club, church or other social organization could be dominating your life and making you feel like you finally have a place to belong. When the Three of Cups is dealt into the future position in your Tarot reading, good times are coming your way. If you can get past any trust issues, there are people who will truly warm up to you and include you in their way of life.
Card Combinations
Your Tarot reading is not a set of cards that mean things alone. The cards near each other in a reading combine to illustrate more complex visions of your life and your potential. The cards around the Three of Cups will let you know what kind of friendships the card is illustrating and whether they will be as deep and joyous as possible.
When cards of other suits that are also numbered Three appear alongside the Three of Cups, your reading is definitely about groups and friendships. The Three of Pentacles indicates in-laws or other family will have sway over your life. The Three of Swords confirms that a tragic event will unite you with some people with whom a strong bond can form. The Three of Wands indicates that a good business or creative climate is impending and that a few other people with whom you are working will help get a project right and make it profitable.
These Minor Arcana cards are all lower echoes of the Major Arcana cards that carry the number Three with them: The Empress (Tarot Card #3) and Death (Tarot Card #13). The Empress represents the self-fulfillment aspect that the Three of Cups finds in groups. Meanwhile Death represents the power of transformation to completely alter one's existence. The Three of Cups echoes this in the ecstasy of the three women in joyous abandon, transformed in spite of any demands of the real world.
When there are many Cups cards in your reading accompanying the Three of Cups, the emotional connection that you make with your new friends will be deeper and more satisfying, although you will also be risking more of revealing the real you. When a reading featuring the Three of Cups also has many cards revealed from the suit of Swords, the issue of commitment and following a strict philosophy begins to take shape. Are your new friends followers of a particular guru whose guidance has made them better and happier people? Be careful not to give blind obedience in exchange for friendship and acceptance.
When the suit of Wands is featured prominently in a reading with this card, look to find creative inspiration from the people around you. This is a card combination that one might see when starting a class in art or business. The Three of Cups is in a treacherous Tarot reading when there are many cards from the suit of Pentacles present. Pentacles represent material reality and create a multitude of reasons for people to be around you. Friendship for the sake of friendship should be the case and the lust for wealth is the thing that most clouds and corrupts this simple truth.
The Four of Cups Tarot Card
If you are getting a Tarot reading and the Four of Cups card appears, just having taken the step to acknowledge that the Tarot reader is needed – that there is someone in the universe besides your self – is a big step. The Four of Cups is a stubborn, ungrateful and self-absorbed card. Whether you are off in your own little world, depressed, selfish, afraid to reach out or are nursing wounds from a bad relationship, the isolation in your world is self-imposed – you can take the kindness of the universe and join us all in the real world whenever you choose. The appearance of this card insists that your detachment from being part of the world is becoming an issue.
A young man sits beneath a tree on a hillside. There is a subdued landscape off in the distance under a brilliant blue sky. The boy is sitting cross-legged with his arms folded. His head is slightly bowed and his eyes appear to be closed. In the foreground, just down the hill, are three golden chalices. They rest upright on flat, solid ground. The green hillside is alive with shoots of new grass. Floating at the young man's eye level is a small cloud. From it a hand protrudes, holding a fourth, matching cup.
The ambiguous nature of the boy is key to this card. Is the boy pouting or asleep? The question really asks if he is resisting the offer of another cup in his intransigence or is he missing out on the offer of another cup by being asleep. The card symbolizes opportunities ignored or unrealized. Cups are the Tarot's suit of emotions and in this card they are your future regrets if you do not stop sulking or sleeping. The card is a call to action; it is time to wake up, be alert and to be open to new experiences.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Every Tarot reading sees the cards dealt out into positions representing your past, your present and your future. Cards are often stronger in one of these three spots than they are in the other two.
If the Four of Cups is in the past position in your reading, the foundation of your current situation is based on not taking an opportunity that was once offered to you. Perhaps you turned down a person who was romantically interested in you and now that person has gone on to have a successful career. You may have some bitterness over a failure to take advantage of a situation in the past. You may be angry at fate, you may be angry with some other person or group of people and you may be mad at yourself, but the presence of this card in this position is to insist that you acknowledge and accept the past. In such a realization of what happened, you will be able to move past it.
In the present position, the Four of Cups indicates that you are closed off to a solution that would assist you. You might be stubbornly clinging to the old way of doing things. There may be someone in your life who is offering you love and you are turning it down, or you are so self-involved that you do not even know what love is beyond self-love. You will have to confront yourself and be totally honest with how you are behaving, as this card brings up excuses and rationalizations as a defense mechanism to continue the pattern of avoidance symbolized by the crossed arms of the boy illustrated on the card.
The future position is actually a strong placement for this card and one that is more often beneficial to you than the card's reputation might indicate. The Four of Cups takes on a wisdom of selective standards. The older we get, the more we know what to avoid as our intellect combines with experience to make us turn down certain offers. For example, the Four of Cups in the future could indicate you turning down cigarettes or avoiding wild parties where trouble could be brewing. What is attractive to you at one age is repulsive later in life. When this card is in this position, you will be growing wise and learning what to just not bother with anymore.
Card Combinations
Tarot readings feature a few cards from the deck. No matter how much you learn about one card, understand that when it appears in your reading, it will be influenced by the presence of other cards. Some cards combine to change the meaning of each other and no card is static and consistent in what it tells you about yourself without considering how it relates to the other cards in the deck.
The Four of Cups mingles well with the Temperance card. This is the card of giving up the excesses of life to find peace. Temperance makes the cross-armed boy a symbol of avoiding temptation. Temperance is the higher echo of all Tarot cards with the number 4 in them, as is The Emperor. When The Emperor card accompanies the Four of Cups in your reading, you will be refusing opportunities from a position of superiority. People just don't realize how far ahead in the game you are.
A pairing of the Four of Cups with The High Priestess makes your reading more about avoiding gossip and immature friends who stab each other in the back. Paired with The Moon and you may be running with a crowd that is getting into trouble. The Sun card paired with the Four of Cups puts your ego front and center and challenges you to see where you might be wrong about your responsibility in a sticky situation.
The hand in the cloud that holds the fourth cup on this card mimics the Tarot's motif for each of its Ace cards. The Four of Cups pairs well with any Ace. When the Ace of Cups is present, the emotions of your decision to be avoidant are grounded in a deep psychological certainty. Paired with the Ace of Pentacles, and your stubbornness is based on feeling that you are not getting your fair share in a relationship or business deal. When the Ace of Swords is present with this card in your reading, you will be speaking your mind even if the ideas you express cut you off from the people you love. The Ace of Wands is a sophisticated addition to a reading that contains the Four of Cups. This is the indicator that you have mastered a creative process, be it painting or parenting, and you now know what to do and, more importantly, what not to do in conducting yourself through the project at hand.
The Six of Cups Tarot Card
Are you feeling a joy for life comparable to the carefree days of childhood? Is your innocence becoming apparent in a relationship? Were you naïve in judging a person or situation recently? Did you have a playful emotional attachment to someone that contrasted the serious tone that they took in approaching things? You may find the Six of Cups in a Tarot reading soon if any of these circumstances sound familiar. This is the card of childhood play, creativity and a disconnection from the obligations and responsibilities of adulthood. Sometimes this card is quite a wonderful blessing in a Tarot reading when so much of life makes demands on you. Other times, though, this card warns you that you may be out of your league in a situation where adult wisdom would do you well.
A boy and a girl are in a village square. They are dressed for play. The cloudless blue sky above contrasts with the warm golden earth below and the strong buildings of the village that shield them from the outside world. Six cups from the suit of Cups are arranged about. One is often depicted standing alone on a pedestal near the children. A few of the cups are in the foreground of the card. One of the cups is being handled by the boy, and in some tarot decks the two children are handling this cup together. Each cup has foliage growing in it, with a prominent flower in full bloom emanating out of all six of these cups. The boy and girl are sniffing the flower in the cup he (or they) holds.
This card is a metaphor for the small joys of childhood – and yet a reminder that those joys have less relationship to the adult world than any of us would really like to consider. The children are not dressed to interact as lovers or business partners, down to the goofy red cowl that the boy is wearing. The suit of Cups represents emotions in the Tarot and to fill up a cup with dirt and plant life is not what emotions are to be used for. But that is what childhood is for – to not have to be an adult with emotional responses and commitments based on knowing the difference between right and wrong. The children hold onto love (represented by the cup) but have no idea that the flowers will not be there forever and that they will have to learn how to fill the cups they encounter in life with love and emotion.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Every Tarot reading is different, but each follows a format of setting cards in the position of the past, the present and the future. Each card tells a story about these parts of your life and together paint a more complete picture of your life and the possibilities facing you.
When the Six of Cups is in the past position, this indicates that at the foundation, you have an innocence about you that almost serves to protect you from the jaded souls of the world who want to complain about everything. This card is so inherently about childhood that it almost never means anything about your actual childhood in the past position. It brings the past position of your Tarot reading into the realm of the recent past. This innocence, or naïve nature in the past has led you into your current predicament.
When it is in the present position, the Six of Cups is a card letting you know that you may be too trusting of an individual. It also may be a card that indicates your genuine affection for someone is the reason you are succeeding. This is a card of enjoying the moment without consideration for the consequences of your actions. Tarot readers at tourist resorts see this card come up seemingly more often than the laws of chance would allow for. People on vacation are inherently at play.
In the future position, the Six of Cups reveals that you are headed to a place of blissful peace and play. This could signal an upcoming vacation or a relationship providing for you to have a more relaxed and carefree life. Enjoy the satisfaction that your future will make you feel like a kid again.
Card Combinations
Every Tarot spread sings the harmony created by the cards interacting with each other. Cards closest to each other have a deeper effect in coloring what each other indicate.
When the Six of Cups is combined with The Lovers card, look for a relationship to be idealistic and playful. You might have a hard time setting limits and establishing boundaries, but you will still be having fun. This card is the highest echo of the Six of Cups. On the flip side, the card numbered 16 in the Tarot is The Tower and indicates that a serious immaturity on your part has caused neglect to a situation that is due for a dramatic upheaval due to being radically out of balance from what is called for. Your behavior at this time will be under intense scrutiny and carry a burden.
When The Chariot card is drawn, you will be victorious over a more prepared opponent. This card combination is seen in many underdog sports victories and legal battles that emulate the David and Goliath tale.
When paired with the Temperance card, the Six of Cups is a card that allows you to enjoy the simple things in life. The Queen of Cups or The King of Cups works well with this card in giving you an appreciation of life as an adult with enough sense to remember to enjoy things as you did as a child and never be too weighed down with responsibilities.
Paired with the Two of Pentacles and you will spend your money irresponsibly, while you will hold onto something valuable for sentimental reasons if the Six of Cups is near the Four of Pentacles. One of the Tarot's Major Arcana cards that goes great with the Six of Cups is the Strength card, as the purity of your belief is enough to fight off the criticisms of those with less than honorable intentions.
The Seven of Cups Tarot Card
Do you have high hopes? Are you working to get where you want to be by sitting around on the couch? Do people tell you that your dreams are just illusions? Are you greedy but not willing to work for what you most desire? Do you have a plan to get rich quick? Are you tempted to have an affair? Did you cheat on a diet or exercise plan and stick to the script that obesity is just in your genes? The 7 of Cups is a card that appears in Tarot readings when what you desire has no relationship to your ability to actually get it, or when temptation offers temporary pleasures that could bring permanent damage.
A silhouetted figure stands at the foreground of the card looking deep into it. Under a blue sky a swirling cloud has rolled in and on it rests seven cups. Each cup is full with a different illusion. There is a castle, jewelry, a victor's laurel wreath crown, a woman, a glowing body rising as if from the dead, a snake and a dragon. Many different variations on the contents of these cups exist in the myriad Tarot decks available to your card reader, although these are the most common and recurring ones to appear.
In the Tarot, the suit of cups represents emotions. The contents of the cups here represent temptation. Are you after the material gains represented by the castle, the beauty represented by the jewelry or the power of life and death itself, as represented by the raised body? Do you lust deeply as represented by the woman or do you seek the glory only a laurel wreath can indicate? The power of The Magician is indicated by the presence of a small dragon, known as a magician's familiar – these creatures will do your bidding, but at what cost? Finally, the snake straight out of the Garden of Eden is not pandering the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge now – do you seek that wicked power he represents? This card is unique in the Tarot deck for the shadowed figure standing in front of the cups – he or she is almost rendered in flat 2-D to underscore that you, the person receiving the Tarot reading is being presented with temptations that are ultimately hollow. The only question remaining, though, is whether or not you find them irresistible.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When a Tarot reading commences, the cards are all placed in specific areas based on when they are pulled from the deck. These positions represent your past, your present and your future. A card's meaning changes based on its location in a reading.
When the Seven of Cups is in the past position, your pursuits of pleasure have led to where you are today. This could be a nice place of having been satisfied, but it is usually an indicator that you are not where you should be in life and that you have nobody to blame but yourself. When you emphasize a life of pleasure-seeking, at the core, you are pursuing a life of selfishness. Where this has lead you only you can see, but a past based on narcissistic pursuits does not often lead to a solid present or future without much support from other areas of your life.
In the present position, this card indicates that you are being sidetracked by desire instead of staying the course in a healthy relationship or steady project. Many people drop out of school when they are tempted by the easy path of partying and a steady meager paycheck. Lots of women are drawn to prove that they can seduce a man whether or not he is married and without consideration to the damage they are doing to themselves and others. What looks fun and tempting is almost never as enjoyable and yet the cost is often higher in personal suffering than we ever imagined.
In the future position, this card is actually not menacing at all. The temptations that are so present in it are far off dreams. They may even be motivators of something good coming your way somewhere on down the road. The strength of this card in this position is that you are tempted to continue on a current path out of self-interest. While the card will tempt someone to drop out of school when it is in the present position, here it will cause a greed that one can only satisfy if one is to stay in school in order to get a higher paying job. The Seven of Cups tempts you from so far off that the illusions it provides you actually may build your character.
Card Combinations
Your Tarot reading includes many cards, and they all have an influence on each other. The shift in meaning can be subtle, and it can be intense, depending on the combination.
The Seven of Cups is the lower echo of two cards in the Major Arcana: The Chariot (card #7) and The Star (card #17). The Chariot represents the victory of manifesting something that has long been desired. The Star represents the inspiration to pursue a particular course in life. If either of these cards appears in a reading with the Seven of Cups, the desire and inspiration are intensified while the negativity associated with pleasure-seeking is lessened.
The Magician is a card associated with illusions and if it appears in a reading with the Seven of Cups, you might be the person who is tempting others by manipulating their desires. With the Three of Swords present, your pursuit of illusion is in response to a broken heart, no matter how firm your denials. When paired with the Nine of Pentacles, your attempt to keep up with the Joneses has a self-destructive side as you go into further debt to keep up appearances. When the Seven of Cups is in the same reading as The Sun, someone else is paying the bills and you are taking full advantage of having a second childhood with few foreseeable consequences.
The Eight of Cups Tarot Card
When you are finally fed up with it and you turn to a Tarot reading to show you the way, the Eight of Cups says that it is just time to leave. When a relationship is getting abusive, when a friend is increasingly disrespectful, when a parent cannot accept you are now an adult who must make independent decisions, the Eight of Cups indicates that it is time to go. When your self-obsession is alienating a partner and you cannot understand why this person is packing up and moving on, the Eight of Cups might have appeared in his or her Tarot reading, and it may have landed in yours.
A red-robed traveler is departing under a gloomy sky with a crescent moon and a sad faced disc upon it. The landscape is rocky and appears to be an inlet to some vast sea or ocean off beyond the mountainous rocks ahead. In the foreground are eight Cups. There is a row of five and on top of this row are three more. Two of them are separated by a gap from the third.
The Cups in this card seem to be on a ledge in a windowsill, indicating that there is a leaving of an interior space into an exterior space. The gap in the top row of Cups signifies lost love, as Cups are the Tarot suit of emotion. The person walking is not showing his or her face, indicating that there is no looking back and perhaps a contempt for the situation that caused this person to leave. The walking stick indicates that it will be a long journey ahead. The sad faced disc is thought to be the dark part of the crescent moon. It is illuminated only to illustrate the weariness that this card illustrates. A crescent moon is a signal of a new beginning. When the dark face of the moon seems bright by comparison to your own emotional sadness, it is time to change direction and move on in life. The landscape suggests that it may not be easy for you to move on, but the fact that you would attempt to navigate such rough terrain only asserts what a terrible place you have been occupying to send you out that way.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When your Tarot reading arrives, the cards are shuffled and some are placed face up in different sections. These sections represent your past, your present and your future. When the Eight of Cups is in the past position in your Tarot reading, you might have a sad tale to tell from your childhood that shaped you. The energy of this card in this position points to escaping and by abandoning things rather than coping with them. If this is a pattern in your life right now, look back to what happened in your childhood that may have caused you to adopt avoidance as a coping mechanism.
The Eight of Cups is at its most powerful in the present position. This card reveals the fundamental hopelessness of a current relationship, job or other stressful situation. If you have been considering moving on, this card and its message will come as no surprise when it appears in the present position of your Tarot reading. The strength of this card is in the person actually having left the situation – this is a motivation for you to make a radical change with your current situation. If life is fine and dandy and you cannot imagine things changing, the Eight of Cups is a card that insists you look around at those closest to you and confronts you with the notion that these people might not be at all happy with the way things are going. The Eight of Cups may wake you up from a state of obliviousness. In that regard, this can be a card of empathy.
When placed in the future position, the Eight of Cups is a signal that you may be on the path to becoming worn out, drained and otherwise left without any energy. Sometimes a Tarot reading will have many happy moments in the past and present situation and when this card shows up in the future, it is assumed to be an omen of bad news ahead. To the contrary, the power of receiving the Tarot reading is to let you know in advance that some of the things that seem great now might have a side to them that has yet to reveal itself to you. Suppose that you knew in advance that a current relationship might develop codependent patterns that saw his casual requests become regularly scheduled demands on you. With this warning, you might be able to spot your part in this pattern while it is in its infancy and take steps to stop it while preserving the relationship. In that regard, the Eight of Cups in the future position might be better news than cards of joy and pleasantries that give you no pause to be disciplined.
Card Combinations
No Tarot card in a reading is an island. The cards all influence each other. There is a harmony, especially with cards that are next to each other.
When there are many other Tarot cards from the suit of Cups around, love and other emotions are being manipulated. This can get old fast. If the suit of Swords is prominent in a reading that features the Eight of Cups, a verbally dominant authority figure is taking the joy out of your life. Avoidance makes so much sense.
When the suit of Pentacles is prominent in a reading with the Eight of Cups, the loss or absence of money is bringing a relationship to a close. You may have a partner who is in debt or your own spending habits are causing problems in your life that are starting to affect your interpersonal relationships. The suit of Wands signifies inspiration and creativity. When the Eight of Cups is in a reading with many cards from this suit, you may have to isolate yourself from people in order to create a masterpiece, or leave home to be accepted as an artist. Many people who start their own business have to leave a comfortable job and take a big risk in starting out on their own.
What rewards and adventures await you as you move past that somber crescent moon?
The Nine of Cups Tarot Card
When you picture a Tarot reading in your mind, even if you have never seen a deck of cards before in your life, you are hoping for a card to come out that confirms you will be getting everything you are wishing for. Every Tarot reading starts with the desire for your psychic to pull up the Nine of Cups.
A well-fed man sits on a bench with his arms crossed. He wears a fancy red hat with a matching red feather in it. Behind him is a circular table covered top to floor with a blue cloth. This makes the man's white robe stand out all the more. On this table are 9 cups. The man sits with his table of cups in an unadorned golden hued room with a golden floor.
The man has such a smug look on his face. He is big too, satisfied and well fed, perhaps even a little bit cocky after a fulfilling experience for which he had obviously longed. He is getting exactly what he wants. The Cups are his and empty; he has enjoyed their contents and has arranged them as trophies. When you get exactly what you wish for, you too will have that satisfied look and that line of trophies. Will you be enjoying your satisfaction alone like our friend with the fancy hat? Will you be on a throne or just a functional wooden bench?
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
The Nine of Cups carries a great power to grant your wishes, and so you may want this card to stick in the future position. You might want to have "credit" with the forces of the Tarot in case you need a wish granted at some point in the future. When this card appears in the past position, you can look back to when you got what you wanted with the perspective that comes with having moved on and evolved. With age comes wisdom and as time passes we may see that the things we really wanted were not what we should have gotten. Women who "get" a man by having a child with him see this card in readings later in life. They got what they wished for and now see the Nine of Cups as a truly hollow victory. The temptations of this card in the Present position are often overwhelming. Is there a man you crave? Is there a co-worker you wish would get fired? Is there a job prospect out there that would be the best imaginable career move possible? Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. That man might be a jerk. Your co-worker might be replaced by an even more terrible person. That job might be great but the company could close at a time that is terrible for your finances. Even though the suit of Cups represents emotions, the Nine of Cups is a card that should make you put thought before desire.
Card Combinations
The Nine of Cups mixes poorly with other cards of the Cups suit. This card needs precision and thought and Cups are too emotional. The chance to have something you really want blinds you to the practical realities. This is wishing to make love with your cute professor and finding out you were one of a few girls in your class that he bedded. Too many Cups cards in a reading with the Nine of Cups present and you are likely to follow a false passion toward oblivion. The Nine of Cups surrounded by many cards from the suit of Swords is a blessing. Swords are cerebral and active. Swords bring about practical and deliberate action. A reading such as this would find you wishing for your college to deliver a friend who also doubles as a study partner.
When the Nine of Cups appears in a reading and there are many cards from the Pentacles suit, look for a financial wish to come true. If Swords and Pentacles appear in equal numbers, your financial decisions and investments will be especially good! If you are in business for yourself or are in the fine arts, you should enjoy seeing your Tarot Reader pull up the Nine of Cups amongst a reading with a lot of cards from the suit of Wands. This is the suit that rules creativity and if you have been longing for that creative breakthrough or the big chance for your paintings to be seen in a gallery or your band to play in a nicer venue, be sure to think about your creative career when the Nine of Cups appears and grants you one wish.
All Tarot cards in any suit bearing the number 9 are lower echoes of the Major Arcana's cards numbered 9 and 19. The Hermit is card #9. This is the card of loneliness. It is echoed by the man on the bench in the Nine of Cups being alone. Sometimes getting what you want means alienating a lot of people along the way. The Sun is Tarot card #19. This is the card of glorious fulfillment. The Cups arranged on the table symbolize having attained what was desired, a lower echo of the powerful Sun card and the achievement it symbolizes.
When the Nine of Cups appears in a reading with Death, you are likely to get a good transfer in your workplace or move to better domestic situation. Combined with The Devil card, the Nine of Cups gives you more partying than you have ever had, but a bigger hangover than you can handle awaits.
Since the Nine of Cups grants your wishes, perhaps the best companion for it in a reading is the Temperance card. This is the card of foregoing pleasure for a greater sense of purpose. To have the opportunity for the universe to give you a quick route to the things you most want and to also receive the most disciplined and reverential card in the entire Tarot deck is a blessing of wisdom beyond almost any other possible Tarot reading.
The Ten of Cups Tarot Card
Has family life been a source of joy lately? Is the peacefulness of life allowing you to become what you want to be? Did someone recently make you happier than you expected? Look for the Ten of Cups to validate your good feelings when it appears in your Tarot reading. Few cards in the deck deliver as much joy as this collection of golden chalices.
A man and woman are looking away from us, off into the distance. They hold each other at the waist, but each raise an arm in welcoming the future. Ahead of them is a scenic landscape with a charming house amidst the green shrubs and trees under a perfect blue sky. To the side are two children, clasping hands, dancing. Above this scene is a rainbow arching across the sky. Superimposed on it are ten golden cups.
No card in the Tarot deck quite looks like an illustration for the phrase, "and they lived happily ever after," as does the Ten of Cups. Note that the people pictured in this card are not dressed in stylish or fancy clothing. Cups are the Tarot's suit of emotions. The appearance and status of these people have no relationship to their emotional state of mind. This card reiterates the truism that happiness comes from within. If there is a downcast part to this card it might be that rainbows are more illusion than real and that happiness is a fleeting experience in every human life.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
The Tarot reading is divided into sections representing your past, your present and your future. The cards that land in one position tell a story about that specific time period of your life and look at things as foundational when they are in the past, active when they are in the present and possible when they are in the future.
The Ten of Cups in the past position is actually the card's strongest presence in a Tarot reading. This card representing happiness functions best with that representation as a memory. Recalling happy times is actually clearer than experiencing happiness in the moment or finding fulfillment in wishing to be happy in the future. This card in this position represents a powerful foundation of faith in the world and a belief that things will work out. You are strong because of positive values instilled early in life.
In the present position, this card represents a recent breakthrough. You may be in love at the moment of the reading or falling in love with someone. This card carries emotional impact, so there is some wonderful sentiment permeating your life and your world at present. The Tarot reading confirms that you should be enjoying yourself thoroughly.
The future position indicates that your emotional contentment is coming. The Ten of Cups is a card that is the natural climax of the entire Tarot suit of Cups and so it functions well in the future position as a reminder that your goals in life are worth pursuing no matter what the current struggle may be delivering.
Card Combinations
Every Tarot reading involves a few cards and the mixture of their meanings adds up to one reading. The cards are not sectioned off away from each other. They each have influence in the reading that changes the meaning of the cards nearby.
When any other cards from the suit of cups appears in a reading with the Ten of Cups, the emotional sentiment is amplified. When paired with the Ten card, the Seven of Cups gives your happiness a "dreams come true" feeling, while the Six of Cups delivers a childlike wonder at your new world.
Like all other cards from the Tarot's Minor Arcana, the Ten of Cups is a lower echo of three cards in the Major Arcana: The Wheel of Fortune (card #10), Judgment (card # 20), and The Fool (card #0). The Ten of Cups reflects the Wheel of Fortune's delivery of one's ultimate reward, it echoes the absoluteness of the Judgment card and it has the unmistakable joie de vivre of The Fool card. Any of these cards appearing in a reading with the Ten of Cups underscores the importance of what your Tarot reader is about to tell you. All of these elements are present in the Ten of Cups whether or not one of these other cards makes an appearance in your reading.
When paired with any of the other Minor Arcana cards numbered 10, the Ten of Cups serves as a card of emotional hope no matter how tough the situation. The Ten of Swords speaks to finality and ending a chapter of one's life on a sour note. When paired with the Ten of Cups, the happiness possible in the next chapter is apparent. The Ten of Pentacles is a card of extreme satisfaction on the material plane but not on the emotional one, thus these two appearing in one reading together indicates a complete satisfaction of emotional and material contentment. The Ten of Wands is a card of being overburdened. When it appears with the Ten of Cups in your reading it may indicate that you have spread yourself too thin or are responsible for the happiness of so many other people that you are not truly enjoying the moment.
When the Ten of Cups appears in a reading with the Three of Pentacles you are building the foundations of a deep relationship that will last a lifetime. Many Tarot readers report seeing the Ten of Cups appear in a reading paired with The Chariot when they give readings for athletes, and that this indicates a major victory is imminent. When The Hermit card is paired with the Ten of Cups in your reading, there is a muted celebration as your emotional triumph is difficult to share with those around you. If you are a writer or an artist this could indicate the moment when you realize that you have "created your masterpiece" … but of course, it is not the moment where you have sold it.
The Page of Cups Tarot Card
Is there a chance for love to blossom soon? Are you being a little more tender and emotional lately, sobbing at silly sentimental things? Have you been operating on a hunch and finding your way in a relationship that is more exciting than you imagined, but more complex than you are used to? Has someone close to you given you a look or hug that says more about how special you are than a thousand poems or a hundred greeting cards ever could? Are you considering a reconnection to a bygone friendship or considering rekindling a relationship with an ex? The Page of Cups will appear in your Tarot reading to confirm the presence of this kind of energy. This is the card of getting to know the familiarity of love all over again.
With a casually churning ocean in the background, a young man stands on the solid foreground of this card. He wears ornate vestments and a stylish hat. He holds a golden cup from the Tarot suit of Cups in his right hand. He stares at the cup while his left hand rests above his belt, his body language signaling some expectation. Out of the cup a tiny fish has appeared, and it seems as if it is looking straight into the Page's eyes.
The flowered embroidery on his attire signals that he is from a royal court. But without a crown, he is not a king. Pages are the Tarot's equivalent of princes – they are not in leadership positions, and may not be direct heirs to the throne, but they have a charmed existence of privilege that is balanced with obligation to the court they serve. The suit of Cups is the Tarot suit that represents emotions. The Page of Cups card is, at its core, a manifestation of youthful emotions.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Every Tarot reading features cards placed in specific areas of the surface in front of you and your Tarot reader. Each card lands in an area designated as representing your past, your present or your future. Where a card lands changes the very meaning of it ever so subtly, but ever so permanently in regard to describing your situation.
When the Page of Cups card is in the past position, it is strongest. This represents your childhood, the foundation of who you are as well as describing the recent past. This is a card of healthy emotional outlets. You were raised well and know how to be passionate without getting into too much trouble. This card gives you core values of love and respect that serve you well in a world that is growing less and less polite. Your recent past may have included falling in love so deeply that it felt like the first time and was certainly close to being the most intense time ever in your life.
This card in the present position is an indicator that you may be powerless over the attraction you have to a soulmate at this very moment. You may be in love with a classmate, co-worker or friend and not even realize the depth of your attraction to this person. You might even reflexively deny it. Page cards are not experienced and the little fish of love in the cup of your emotions may finally be staring you straight in the face and making you realize that you have fallen in love. The longer you deny the presence of this possibility, the more frustrated you will become, especially in expressing your emotions. Immaturity and inexperience combine to stunt your growth. Look around and embrace the love that is there.
In the future position, the Page of Cups is a card that predicts an igniting of desire in the near future. A page is young, many years from the responsibilities of the court. Love is an immediate interest and a youthful intoxicant. Time seems different when you are young – impatience for change makes an hour seem like a day. So the Page in this position indicates that you might get impatient for love, but something is about to sprout … you might even be around your future lover now and not even know it.
Card Combinations
When your Tarot reading begins, there are many cards placed before you. They are individual cards, but their meanings are altered based on the cards around them. The unique interaction of a group of cards is what makes your Tarot reading an individual one, just for you and your situation.
When the Page of Cups is joined by the Knight of Cups in your reading, there might be two suitors pursuing you. Heavy flirting and gifts are in your future, at least until you decide on one of them. The King of Cups indicates that a professor or boss is a possible partnership candidate. The Queen of Cups joining up with the Page indicates you will be much more serious with your next love relationship than you might have been in the past.
Any of the following five cards from the Tarot's Major Arcana are powerful predictions of love with a charismatic man when they appear in a reading with the Page of Cups; but they are, ultimately, indicators of a short-term relationship. When paired with The Devil, the Page of Cups delivers a lover whose addictive tendencies make your life difficult. The Fool will give you a lover who soothes your spirit when it joins a reading that features the Page of Cups. This Page card pairs intensely with The Hermit, which is a card that describes a love relationship between you and a somber, serious man who is looking for a monogamous relationship, while The Chariot card alongside the Page of Cups reveals a coming partnership with an athletic specimen who is desired by many women. The Emperor reveals a love relationship will be occurring with a man who is much older than you. When any of those five pair up with the Page of Cups and one of the remaining Queen cards also appears in the reading, this is a powerful soulmate indicator. Prepare immediately after your reading for destiny-altering love, as you will be locked in the arms of a crazy life with this intense, artistic man for some time. The Queen of Pentacles indicates that he will have money, the Queen of Swords reveals him to be a writer and the Queen of Wands indicates that he is an artist and quite creative.
The Page of Cups is a great card to appear in any reading. At its worst, it is the recognition that you have a lot to learn in your emotional development. At its best, love is all around.
The Knight of Cups Tarot Card
When you are inspired but not productive, when you have champagne taste but a wine cooler budget, when a smooth-talking person in your life has big plans but no resources … in all of these cases and more, look for the Knight of Cups to appear in your Tarot reading to describe this phenomena.
Under a bright, blue sky, a man on horseback is pictured. He wears a suit of armor. His silver helmet has its mask uplifted. The crest of Mercury adorns this helmet as well as the rider's shoes, still in their stirrups. The armor is decorated with a fish pattern. The white horse is at repose, looking down at a small stream that it has yet to cross. Sitting straight up, the man holds out a large gold chalice in his right hand. The landscape of the card is subtle, some forested hills and cliffs are on the far side of the river. The ground on which this Knight's horse has taken him already is barren, almost a desert.
Knights represent things arriving with great speed, and are often analogous to change. Knights belong to the Tarot set known as Court Cards in the Tarot deck. Court Cards consist of Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages. Court Cards may represent you, the person receiving the Tarot reading, or represent someone in your life. When a Knight appears in a reading, it is often representative of the "New You'" or underscores the importance and impact of a person with whom you have become recently fascinated. The white horse ridden by the Knight of Cups is unsullied by any experiences. This is your idealization of a new experience or a new person in your life. Cups are the suit of emotion. The Knight of Cups underscores the intensity of a new passion or a new passionate acquaintance.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Each Tarot reading has cards laid out in positions representing the past, present and future. Think of them as foundation, current situation and expected resolution. When the Knight of Cups appears in the past position, you can look back at an intense change you underwent as the foundation of where you are now. This often represents a lover who swept you off your feet and then left just in time to break your heart, or it illustrates a time in your life when the chaos of things made you too sensitive to actually get involved with someone; perhaps you can look back on it now and realize that you might have been scaring away some pretty good catches.
When the Knight of Cups is revealed to be in the present position, consider all of the possible passions you are juggling currently. Is one of these passions pulling you somewhere? Is a new love interest long on romance and short on paying for the flowers, wine and candles? Many scenarios are possible, but it is usually quite easy to spot what or who the Knight of Cups is in your life when these descriptions arise.
In the future position, this card indicates a coming passion. You may find a new hobby that overtakes your whole life. An obsession with a new partner can instantly turn passion into a dangerous addiction. The Knight of Cups in the future position is a trampler of logic and planning; it is a coming bout with pure emotional ecstasy and the aftermath of losing that perfect pleasure. Forewarned is forearmed and you may have a little head start in separating a con artist looking to bed you from a true lover for the ages.
Card Combinations
Whenever two Court Cards appear in a reading together, one is most definitely you and the other is another prominent person in your life. It is often difficult to confess to your Tarot reader that you are, in fact, the force in your life that a particular card is personifying. When two Court Cards appear in the same reading, it is easier for you to help your Tarot reader assess who is who, thus facilitating a clearer, more accurate reading.
When the Knight of Cups appears in a reading with lots of other cards from the suit of Cups, the lack of logic and structure are holding back a favorable resolution. When this Knight card is present in a reading dominated by Wands, your passion for a creative pursuit or hobby is consuming everything. Pentacles in numbers in a reading that includes the Knight of Cups reveals you are following your bliss and that the money will follow.
Court Cards mix particularly well with Aces. An Ace of any suit present in a reading with the Knight of Cups adds a positive spin to the groundbreaking swell of passion indicated by this card.
When the Knight of Wands is paired with a female card from the Major Arcana (The High Priestess, The Empress, Strength, Temperance, The Star and The World), there is a definite personification in the Knight as a man in relationship to the Major Arcana card. If you are a woman receiving the Tarot reading, the Knight of Cups represents a man in your life. If you are male, the female card that is drawn represents a key woman in your development or present predicament.
The Knight of Cups combines quite well with The Chariot and indicates a smooth transition is already in the works. With The Tower card, the Knight of Cups only serves to underscore just how drastic and thorough the change you are going through is bound to become.
The Tarot's Judgment card is one card to take seriously when it appears in a reading with the Knight of Cups. There is such a certainty of resolution and absolute finality to the Judgement card that when paired with such a passionate, electric and emotional card as the Knight of Cups, the outcome of a reading involving these two is something life-altering of the permanent type: pregnancy being only one of those serious outcomes.
The Queen of Cups Tarot Card
Are you feeling at peace? Did you seek this Tarot reading because you want to know if this good feeling is going to stay with you? Are you having lucid intuition and want to check out your hunches with a foundational psychic science like the Tarot deck? Have you conquered anger with love recently? Did your patience win in the end over the rash decisions of a close friend or lover? Can you tell what others are feeling and help move them toward being all they can be? Has logic taken a back seat to matters of the heart and been found unnecessary in dealing with the world? All of these circumstances contribute to the Queen of Cups emerging in your Tarot reading.
At the edge of the shoreline sits the throne of the Queen of Cups. The stone chair is adorned with cherubs and a large conch shell rises above its back. The Queen is sitting on her throne holding a large cup. This cup appears quite different than the cups from the Tarot deck's suit of cups. Its gold base leads to a stem that has ornamental handles attached to it. Atop the cup is a lid that looks like the roof of a church, complete with a miniature spire and cross. With a gold crown and silver robe, she is alone, sitting and staring at this cup, which she holds before her with both hands on the base. The cloudless bright blue sky and placid water of the sea surround her. Many Tarot decks reveal her throne to be on an island while others show it on an islet. Her feet do not touch the water; they rest comfortably on colorful rocks washed up in front of her.
This is a card of intuitive connections, tender love, spirituality and devotion. Unlike any cup illustrated in the Tarot's suit of cups, the Queen's cup has that decorative lid on it as a metaphor for holding in a deep love. The Tarot's suit of cups represents emotion and queens represent female energy. The shoreline is a symbol of the edge of human consciousness and the sea is the endless and deep reservoir of untapped feeling. The stones, upon which her feet rest, assure us that the feelings brought up when this card appears are not superficial. Although they are often evasive and impenetrable under analysis, these feelings are deep and they are real. To deny an actual emotion or assume that it is going to go away is to ignore the foundation upon which that feeling rests.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When your Tarot reading begins, the cards are dealt out before you in sections. Each section has a distinct meaning: your past, your present or your future.
When the Queen of Cups is in the past position of your reading, you can look back on your childhood and upbringing as having been one of being surrounded by affection and goodwill. You cannot blame any present failures on the past. If this card applies to the more recent past, you were in a relationship where your affection was overflowing. Your present situation may be entwined with having let out too much of yourself on behalf of a partner who did not reciprocate your feelings in the way in which you wished.
With this card in your present position you are likely falling in love, even if you are in denial about this. The lid on the queen's cup might be sealed tight, but that does not mean you do not have an overwhelming emotional attachment to someone. One of the troubles with having hunches in our rational world is that we often cannot precisely articulate the way we feel. The Queen of Cups in the present position insists you take a break and get in touch with your feelings before you move in any specific direction. Do not rush a decision without knowing how you feel, and make sure those feelings are not influenced by rigid worldly logic that conflicts with your hunches.
When this card is in the future position, you are headed toward a date with contentment. Aim high in the present, as knowing that you will be encountering the Queen of Cups can give you confidence to take risks in love and life, career and college. Family and friends are going to be a great part of your future, so make sure you know where you stand with them and they with you.
Card Combinations
Every Tarot reading is an occasion for cards from throughout the deck to come together and create one seamless narrative about you. When a card is exposed, its energy is transmuted onto other cards in the deck. It all adds up to making your reading unique for your situation.
If the Queen of Cups is joined by The High Priestess, you get the best of both worlds, as the Queen's affectionate side balances the indifference of The High Priestess, whose worldliness makes the Queen of Cups a little more wise to the ways of those who would manipulate unconditional love for personal gain.
The Chariot is a great card to combine with the Queen of Cups, as it signals a definite delivery of love and affection. You victory over loneliness will be a matter of the heart for sure.
The Queen can signify mourning, though, as her natural state of loving is frozen by the presence of certain cards. The Three of Swords is a card of heartbreaking loss. Combined with the Queen of Swords and the Tarot reading is about missing an ex-lover who has moved on with no special memories of the time he had with you. The Five of Cups is similar, except that it indicates your refusal to take any responsibility for your own role in the breakup, reveling instead in the rejection you took. In reality, the Queen of Cups must understand that the love lost at that time was not special enough to work on unconditionally.
Primarily, though, the Queen of Cups is an upbeat card that offers much peace and good feelings to a Tarot reading. When it combines with the Ten of Cups, you are looking at living happily ever after. Matched in a reading with the Ace of Wands and the hobby you love will suddenly be a moneymaking career that you enjoy getting up for and fully embrace. Most cards in the deck create harmony with this special lady, symbolizing the good potential in your everyday life ahead.
The King of Cups Tarot Card
Are you in the presence of a calming, reassuring individual? Have you been placed in a leadership position because of your open-mindedness? Has the debilitating drama of an old relationship taught you to maintain an even approach when a little chaos appears? The King of Cups will be making an appearance in your Tarot reading when the need to dissipate the drama is peaking in your daily activities.
He sits on a shell-shaped stone throne, this King with a crown and a cup in one hand. Many Tarot decks depict him holding his royal seal in the other. The unique thing about his repose is that his throne is adrift on a stormy sea. Wild waves and currents toss about the throne but he is as composed as if it were the mildest sailing weather of the season.
This card has an aura of calmness about it. The King and his throne will survive the riotous seas. Cups in the Tarot deck are the suit representing emotions. To be holding his cup so steadily is a sign of controlling one's emotions. A king's official seal is a gold stamp that is embedded into wax in the private correspondence of royalty. To be holding this while resting on his throne means that it is business as usual despite tension in his world.
Court Cards and Personification
Court cards in the Tarot (Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings) are often indicative of someone else's involvement in your situation. A good Tarot reader understands that the influence of a particular individual can loom large in the life and on the psyche of the person receiving the Tarot reading. The King of Cups is often representative of another person and, if so, tends to be embodied by someone in your life who is not or was not affected by excitable situations.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When the Tarot is dealt for your reading, there are sections into which each card lands. These sections represent your past, your present and your future. Wherever the King of Cups lands, there is a calm energy.
If the King of Cups is dealt into the past position, consider a caring and peaceful figure from out of your past. Your Tarot reading will be emphasizing some of the events in your life that led you to where you are right now. You might be behaving in a manner that mimics this person. When this card lands in the present position assume that a calm person with whom you are interacting has more of an influence over the current situation than you may realize. Conversely, someone who you assume is taking care of business might not be doing the job. One downside of the King of Cups is that his detachment and tolerance for bad behavior can leave those closest to him exposed to negativity. Just because he has a calming influence of control and peacefulness is not a guarantee he will help the situation.
In the future position, this card is a coming blessing of peace and loses much of its personification. The King of Cups here represents the universe itself creating an energy that assists in a complete calming of your life experience. Of course, if you are bored now and looking for some excitement, this is not necessarily the card you want to see telling you about the days and weeks – and maybe even years ahead.
Card Combinations
When your Tarot cards are dealt, they do not speak alone. The cards sing in harmony, each card adding subtle definition to the cards nearby. This symphony makes every Tarot reading a unique song about your life.
There is a strong partnership angle whenever a court card depicting a king is in the same reading with a queen. When the King of Cups is in the same reading as the Queen of Cups, look for an emotional soulmate union to be the most soothing thing you have ever felt. Paired with the Queen of Swords and you will be able to talk to a man who has interested you for a long time. When the Queen of Wands appears, look to have a reassuring relationship with a mentor, boss or teacher. The Queen of Pentacles card combines with the King of Cups for a strong bond between two people, although one of you may be financing the other's pleasurable pursuits.
When feminine cards from the Major Arcana appear in a reading along with the King of Cups, deep partnerships with many levels of attraction and complexity occur. The World combines with the King of Cups for a love relationship based on working to achieve a great goal together. The Star is a Tarot card with intense psychic powers and when it combines with the King of Cups you will be drawn to a chance encounter with a potential soulmate. Temperance is a Tarot card of finding inner peace and combines well with the King of Cups, but almost too well, as some relationships without tension are easy-come, easy go. Two Major Arcana cards that feature women in roles that avoid feminine stereotypes are Justice and Strength. When either of these cards appear in a reading along with the King of Cups, a non-romantic partnership will be successful at a business or creative project. The King of Cups combines great with The Lovers card, although the usual warnings apply in regard to one member of the partnership being in love with the idea of love more than with the partner. The Empress might be the most traditionally feminine card in the Tarot and when she meets the King of Cups expect a traditional dating, engagement and marriage cycle to be established. The two of you might overspend on a lavish wedding, though, so plan ahead. The High Priestess is a passive card as is the King of Cups; when the two of them appear in the same Tarot spread there is a mutual attraction between a woman and a man that grows in intensity, as neither party is able to make the move. Unrequited love is often the subject of novels and theatrical productions, but when you see this combination you can use it as motivation to make your affections known. The King of Cups is reticent, but he is quite in touch with his feelings.
No comments:
Post a Comment