Learn Tarot · The Suits in Depth · Lesson 12 of 25

Cups in depth: the suit of Water

All fourteen Cups, from the overflowing Ace to the rainbow of the Ten and the four Water courts, with their scenes, titles and decans.

The suit at a glance

Cups are Water: feeling, love, friendship, intuition, imagination and dreams. They describe what moves us and what we long for. The Golden Dawn set them in Briah, the creative world, where a will first takes on feeling and image.

The numbered Cups run through the water signs: Twos to Fours through Cancer, the home and the heart; Fives to Sevens through Scorpio, depth, loss and desire; Eights to Tens through Pisces, dissolving, dreaming and fulfillment. The Ace is the Root of the Powers of Water.

Water's gift is connection and its shadow is drift: moods that take over, escapism, the wish that stands in for the deed.

Ace to Three: the heart opens

• Ace of Cups, Root of the Powers of Water. A hand from a cloud holds a cup overflowing in five streams; a dove descends with a wafer, and water lilies float below. New love, compassion, an emotional or spiritual gift. Reversed: feelings held back, emptiness, a heart that needs its own care first.
• Two of Cups, Lord of Love (Venus in Cancer, 0° to 10°). Two young people pledge their cups beneath a winged lion's head on a herald's staff. Mutual attraction, partnership, a bond made as equals. Reversed: an uneven bond, broken trust, drifting apart.
• Three of Cups, Lord of Abundance (Mercury in Cancer, 10° to 20°). Three women dance with cups raised over a harvest. Friendship, community, celebration shared. Reversed: overindulgence, gossip, a third party in a pair.

Four to Six: boredom, grief, memory

• Four of Cups, Lord of Blended Pleasure (Moon in Cancer, 20° to 30°). A young man sits under a tree, arms folded, before three cups, and ignores a fourth offered by a hand from a cloud. Apathy, contemplation, an offer missed through looking inward. Reversed: interest returning, the moment seized.
• Five of Cups, Lord of Loss in Pleasure (Mars in Scorpio, 0° to 10°). A cloaked figure mourns three spilled cups and has not yet turned to the two still standing; a bridge leads to a house beyond the river. Loss, regret, grief that has to be felt. Reversed: acceptance, seeing what remains.
• Six of Cups, Lord of Pleasure (Sun in Scorpio, 10° to 20°). In an old garden, a child offers another a cup full of flowers. Nostalgia, kindness, childhood, reunion. Reversed: living in the past, or outgrowing it.

Seven to Ten: dreams, departure, fulfillment

• Seven of Cups, Lord of Illusionary Success (Venus in Scorpio, 20° to 30°). A figure faces seven cups in the clouds, each holding a vision: a face, a veiled shape, a snake, a castle, jewels, a wreath, a dragon. Many options, daydreams, glamour. Reversed: a reality check, a clear choice at last.
• Eight of Cups, Lord of Abandoned Success (Saturn in Pisces, 0° to 10°). Under a watchful moon a figure walks away from eight stacked cups toward the mountains. Leaving what no longer satisfies to look for something deeper. Reversed: staying too long, or wandering without aim.
• Nine of Cups, Lord of Material Happiness (Jupiter in Pisces, 10° to 20°). A contented man sits with arms folded before nine cups on a curved shelf. Satisfaction, pleasure, the wish granted; readers call it the wish card. Reversed: smugness, or a success that feels hollow.
• Ten of Cups, Lord of Perfected Success (Mars in Pisces, 20° to 30°). A couple raise their arms to a rainbow of ten cups while two children dance and a home stands nearby. Lasting happiness, belonging, family in whatever form it takes. Reversed: strain in the home, harmony that needs repair.

The Water court

• Page of Cups, Princess of the Waters and the Lotus (Earth of Water). By the sea, a youth looks at a small fish rising out of his cup. A creative or intuitive message, sensitivity, a playful heart. Reversed: emotional immaturity, escapism, doubting your intuition.
• Knight of Cups, Prince of the Chariot of the Waters (Air of Water). A rider in a winged helmet holds out a cup from a horse that walks rather than charges. Romance, invitations, following the heart. Reversed: moodiness, empty promises.
• Queen of Cups, Queen of the Thrones of the Waters (Water of Water). Enthroned at the shore, she gazes into an ornate, closed cup. Empathy, emotional depth, calm care. Reversed: losing yourself in others, poor boundaries.
• King of Cups, Lord of the Waves and the Waters (Fire of Water). His throne floats on a moving sea, a ship on one side and a fish leaping on the other. Feeling mastered: diplomacy, calm leadership, compassion with a steady hand. Reversed: volatility, or feelings suppressed until they leak out.

Reading Cups in a spread

Many Cups mean the heart of the matter is emotional: love, friendship, family, creativity, or what someone truly wants under what they say. Book T read a run of them as pleasure and merriment, and they are, on the whole, the gentlest suit.

Pay special attention to Cups that point to choices about feeling: the Four (ignoring an offer), the Seven (too many options) and the Eight (walking away). Together they ask whether you are refusing, scattering or leaving, and which of the three you actually need.

Try it

Draw a single card each morning for a week and note how you feel that day. Whenever a Cup appears, compare its scene with your mood, and at the end of the week write which Cup came closest to the truth of your week.

Next lesson: Swords in depth: the suit of Air