Arcanebra

🜄 Water · 14 cards

The suit of Cups

emotion · love · intuition · connection · imagination

Cups are the suit of water. A cup is a container, and the suit is about what we hold and what holds us: emotion, love, friendship, imagination, memory and the inner life. Smith fills these cards with water in every form, from the streams pouring from the Ace to the rivers, pools and seas behind her figures, and the mood of the water often tells you as much as the cups themselves.

In a reading Cups speak about relationships of every kind, about how something feels rather than how it looks, and about intuition, dreams and the wish to belong. They can be the gentlest suit in the deck, and also the one most given to drifting: water takes the shape of whatever contains it, and several Cups cards are about longing for something that is not quite there.

The numbered cards follow feeling as it moves through a life. The Ace offers it, pouring from a cup held out of a cloud. The Two is a pledge between two people, the Three a shared celebration. The Four turns inward, bored and unwilling to take the cup on offer, and the Five grieves over three spilled cups while two still stand behind. The Six looks back at childhood, the Seven is a cloud of tempting visions, and in the Eight someone walks away from a careful arrangement of cups towards the mountains. The Nine sits contentedly before a full row, and the Ten shows a family beneath a rainbow of cups. The courts carry feeling in their own ways: the dreamy Page with a fish looking out of his cup, the romantic Knight, the Queen gazing into a closed and elaborate chalice, and the King who keeps his composure on a throne afloat on a rough sea.

Ace of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Ace of Cups Root of the Powers of Water Two of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Two of Cups Lord of Love Three of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Three of Cups Lord of Abundance Four of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Four of Cups Lord of Blended Pleasure Five of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Five of Cups Lord of Loss in Pleasure Six of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Six of Cups Lord of Pleasure Seven of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Seven of Cups Lord of Illusionary Success Eight of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Eight of Cups Lord of Abandoned Success Nine of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Nine of Cups Lord of Material Happiness Ten of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Ten of Cups Lord of Perfected Success Page of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Page of Cups Earth of Water Knight of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Knight of Cups Knight Queen of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Queen of Cups Water of Water King of Cups, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 King of Cups King

History of the suit

Cups are one of the four original Italian suits, coppe, and correspond to hearts (coeurs) in French-suited packs. In the occult tradition the suit was given to water, and the cup was associated with the Grail and the chalice of the Mass. Older Marseille-type packs show only the right number of cups arranged decoratively; the scenes on Smith's Two to Ten are her own, and the Waite-Smith Ace, with its dove and wafer, makes the eucharistic connection more explicit than the large ornamental cup of earlier aces.

The Cups at a glance

CardUprightReversedAstrologyYes/no
Ace of Cupsan open heart, new love or friendship, emotional renewalfeelings held back, emotional emptiness, love poured out unwiselyRoot of WaterYes
Two of Cupsmutual attraction, partnership, a promise exchangedimbalance in a bond, a falling-out, broken trustVenus in CancerYes
Three of Cupsfriendship, celebration, communityoverindulgence, a strained friendship, feeling left outMercury in CancerYes
Four of Cupsapathy, withdrawal, discontentwaking up, renewed interest, accepting an offerMoon in CancerMaybe
Five of Cupsloss, grief, regretacceptance, moving on, forgivenessMars in ScorpioNo
Six of Cupsnostalgia, childhood memories, innocent kindnessstuck in the past, idealised memories, moving forwardSun in ScorpioYes
Seven of Cupschoices, fantasy, wishful thinkingclarity, a firm decision, disillusionmentVenus in ScorpioMaybe
Eight of Cupswalking away, moving on, disillusionmentfear of leaving, drifting, returningSaturn in PiscesNo
Nine of Cupscontentment, a wish fulfilled, satisfactionsmugness, overindulgence, hollow satisfactionJupiter in PiscesYes
Ten of Cupsfamily happiness, harmony, emotional fulfilmentfamily tension, a picture-perfect surface, broken harmonyMars in PiscesYes
Page of Cupscuriosity, imagination, tender feelingsemotional immaturity, escapism, a creative blockEarth of WaterYes
Knight of Cupsromance, an invitation, following the heartmoodiness, unrealistic promises, jealousyFire/Air of WaterYes
Queen of Cupscompassion, intuition, emotional wisdomemotional overwhelm, poor boundaries, moodinessWater of WaterYes
King of Cupsemotional balance, calm authority, compassion with controlsuppressed feelings, manipulation, moodinessFire/Air of WaterYes