What the suit of Cups means
A cup holds water, and water takes the shape of what holds it: this is how the suit speaks of feelings. Cups belong to the element of Water and to the water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. They describe love and relationships, friendship and family, intuition, imagination and the inner life.
In playing cards the Cups are hearts. Some decks call them Chalices.
Water in light and shadow
In their light the Cups are tenderness and joy: the Ace’s overflowing heart, the Two’s meeting of two people, the Three’s celebration with friends, the Ten’s happy family under a rainbow. In their shadow, feelings turn heavy or vague: the Four’s apathy, the Five’s grief over spilled cups, the Seven’s illusions, the Eight’s walking away.
The court cards of the suit are sensitive people: the dreamy Page, the romantic Knight, the empathetic Queen and the King, who keeps calm in a stormy sea.
Many Cups in a reading
When several Cups appear together, the situation is ruled by feelings more than by facts: love, a friendship, a family matter, a creative impulse. Listen to your heart, but check that what you feel is not only what you wish to see. Many reversed Cups can show emotional fatigue or feelings that have not been expressed.
Questions and answers
What element are Cups in tarot?
Water: emotions, intuition and relationships.
Are Cups always about love?
Often, but not only. Cups cover every feeling — friendship, family, grief, inspiration — and the inner life as a whole.