TAROTTwo of Cups
Upright
A positive future for partnerships and relationships
Harmony and balance in a relationship.
Good communications, common goals and happiness within friendships, partnerships and relationships.
Reconciliation within previously failing relationships
Intuition
The core message of the Two of Cups is not really about two parts of a relationship. It is that real relationships occur when two becomes one. The ideal relationship is one set of goals and aims and a common respect.
Reversed
A rocky patch in a relationship
The possibility of tension or disagreement in a relationship.
Lack of honesty or lack of open communication within a relationship.
Astrologia
Deep emotional bonds with partners or family. Strong family bonds. Very compassionate with good communication. Can be overly sensitive and overprotective, or care for others at the expense of themselves.
Two of Cups
The Two of cups is a card centered on the relations between the two halves of a relationship.
The Two of cups is a card centered on the relations between the two halves of a relationship.
Unlike the Lovers Card (which reflects the effects of a relationship on your inner self), the Two of Cups relates to the fortunes of the relationship itself.
Relationship can mean a friends, a business partnership or love-relationship. The card concentrates on the dynamics of the two parties and the strength (or lack of it) within the relationship.
The card can also be used to denote the importance of a relationship in an unrelated goal. It can for example, point out that a relationship will be important in attaining something.
It could also suggest a new relationship or the breakdown of an existing relationship.
One of the most poignant stories of love is shown on the card. Water is the universal symbol of emotion and the story on the card was chosen because it contains water. More water than is reasonable, unfortunately.
Hero and Leander
The Dardanelles is a natural waterway in Northern Turkey that in ancient times was called the Hellespont. It separated the ancient Western and Mediterranean world from the East.
Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite, who lived in a tower in the Western side, and Leander was a man who lived on the Eastern side. The two fell in love, but a meeting would not be allowed (Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite and sworn to virginity for one thing!). Instead Leander would swim across the Hellespont every night to be with his love in secret. Hero would light a fire at the top of the tower to guide Leander towards her.
But winter brought with it treacherous seas and the two lovers agreed to stay apart until the calmer waters of the spring.
One stormy winter’s night a lonely Leander spies a lit fire at the top of Hero’s tower, and goes to her. Winter brings with it not only stormy seas, but also high winds and the fire is blown out, leaving Leander in the middle of the Hellespont, directionless in a pitch black sea. He loses his way and drowns. When Hero realizes what has happened she dives grief-stricken into the sea to join him.
The bodies of the lovers are found washed onto the shore and locked in a final embrace.
Description and Symbology
Rather than the more static imagery seen in some decks, this card uses a raging sea to represent the physical passions and sexuality of a relationship. The waves bring the two people together and is symbolic of initial physical and emotional attraction.
A caduceus represents the more spiritual aspects: the healing and transforming nature of love and togetherness. For those with particular spiritual beliefs it may also represent the immortal nature of true love.
We also see two swans, symbolic of pure love and respect.
And of course, the story of Hero and Leander illustrates a number of points:
- Hero’s light as a representation of Love as a guiding light.
- The trials that stand between true love (and for those wondering, the swim was a 4 mile stretch and many adventurous young men attempted it including Lord Byron - who wrote a famous poem about it).
- The increasing pull that love causes when lovers are separated.
- The continuation of true love even after death.
- The recklessness that love can cause (and sadly, not all ancient Greek myths have a happy ending...).
The man and woman
The man and woman face each other as they raise a cup to each other. A sign of friendship or celebration of love.
The caduceus
The caduceus is associated with healing, immortality and transformation. In this card it is used to represent the healing power of love and its transforming nature.
The raging sea
The raging water raises the two figures up and towards each other and represents the passions and sexuality of love relationships. Note that the sea replaces the lion symbol seen in some decks, as it better represents the backstory of Hero and Leander.
The swans
Swans are symbolic of pure love and respect between two people.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
This card represents harmony and deep connections within an existing relationship or forming new bonds that will be lasting and mutually beneficial.
It predicts lasting love or friendship in a new relationship.
It should be noted that this card is not just for love. It can represent friendships and business partnerships.
There will be challenges within any existing relationship and these are caused by a lack of trust, difference of opinion or direction, or conflict.
The reversed card suggests that these issues need to be cleared before you can move on as they are currently blocking chances of success. If unaddressed they may cause a breakup.
For new relationships it might represent a shallow attraction or incompatibility.
Collaboration, good communications, a great sense of teamwork or simply a respectful and happy relationship will appear within the workplace.
Working together with others will yield better results that working alone.
Difficulties with working as a team. This may involve differing goals, lack of communication or parts of the team going it alone. In all cases the core problem is that the team is no longer working as one.
Health matters shared are health matters halved where this card is concerned.
Don’t keep your injuries or suspicious ailments to yourself. It is always better to confide in others, but especially so with this card.
Problems in your emotional life may be affecting your health through priorities that ignore health, stress or hiding your emotions.
It may be better to get these issues off your chest by talking to someone, or addressing the underlying causes.
Although the Two of Cups is more about relationships than spiritual matters, the energy remains the same. Love and respect are high goals to attain in everything and they are a path worth following.
Spirituality is a journey where compassion, understanding and open communication with fellow travelers makes your own journey easier and quicker!
There are issues with connecting with significant people in your life and this is having an effect on your sense of self.
You may be building walls against someone else but this is affecting all your relationships including the one with your inner self.
You may also be submerging emotions or feelings caused by a looming breakup or other event and this is clouding your true self from you.
You either need to get some distance to re-find yourself or address the underlying problems.
Partnerships or joint efforts will gain more traction and results than going it alone in finance. If you are struggling, this card suggests a way forward is to look to others you trust as they may have a solution.
If you are unsure don’t go it alone and look for others who can help, because this card suggests success will come through communication and collaboration.
Be wary of a break-up or deterioration of a significant partnership as this will have bad implications for your finances. Now may be a good time to limit the effects of this.
Indeterminate as this card is not really a yes/no answer but relates to a process.
Indeterminate as this card is not really a yes/no answer but relates to a process.
Reading the Card
A very common question with the two of Cups is ‘what is the difference between the Two of Cups and the Major Arcana Lovers cards?’ This goes to the heart of the difference between the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. Various sources will give you different answers with large areas of grey, but this deck assumes a very clear cut difference:
- The Tarot deck represents the world via five suites. The four Minor Arcana represent the physical elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth) which the ancients decided was the entirety of the world outside you. The fifth Suite, the Major Arcana represents a fifth element that the ancients called aether. This can mean many things, but for this deck, it is the spark of the divine (or humanity for the non-religious) that does not exist in the physical world but within us. It is variously called intellect, mind, free will, or the soul.
- The Minor Arcana represents the external elements and therefore the world outside you, including events you cannot control but affect you (including other people and their actions or relationship with you, and your reaction to external events). If you are feeling happy or despondent, that is caused by someone or something affecting you from the outside.
- The Major Arcana represents the inner you. It is about decisions you make and how they affect you. It points to things you do of your own free will and their effects on your personal growth. All the archetypes on the Major Arcana are facets of yourself.
So now we have our answer:
- The Two of Cups represents a relationship between you and someone else in the real world. It represents how that relationship is moving between you both. Relationships have ups and downs, and this card often represents a short term change.
- The Lovers represents how you see the relationship internally and how it affects you in the longer term (because your inner feelings are always more profound). You could feel kinship, part of a team, or deep affection and love, but all those things are within you. How you feel about the relationship does not change during short term ups and downs; your life partner remains your life partner even if you have the odd rough few weeks. So the Lovers reflects a longer change.
An important point to note is that the Lovers card reflects how you feel about a relationship, so it can refer to a relationship that has ended but is still affecting you. The Two of Cups refers to the actual relationship, so although it may appear just before a relationship starts, some Tarot readers believe it rarely refers to old relationships because they no longer exist in the real world (except when there is evidence of a chance of reconciliation in the question being asked of the Tarot).
The upright card
The upright card is about positive changes in relationships. It can refer to love relationships, friendships between two people and business partnerships between two people.
For existing relationships it signifies an increase in harmony between the two people. This may represent a deepening of love and attachment in a love relationship, greater teamwork and success within a business partnership, or greater respect and support within a friendship.
The upright card can also denote positive news regarding a new relationship. For those who are single it represents a relationship that will get off to a good start through common goals, compatibility or simply a positive and enjoyable time together.
For those looking to get back together the card suggests a positive outcome, but note this is a Minor Arcana so is quite short term in its outlook, and most reconnections have their make-or-break period after the initial excitement of reconnection. Make sure any previous long term issues are addressed by Major Arcana and/or in your own mind if you expectation is longevity moving forward!
The reversal
The reversed Two of Wands generally denotes the same process but with a negative slant, caused by a disharmony. This could be
- Unresolved issues that hold the relationship back.
- Changes in one or both people that mean a growing apart or force a moving apart.
- A lack of communication, disagreement, or different goals, or simply something one party has done to the detriment of the other.
- Something that precludes the closing down of the relationship such as a change in emotional attachment or cooling after initial passion with no deeper compatibility to replace it.
In most cases there is an underlying issue that needs to be resolved otherwise the problem will get worse with time.
For new relationships or partnerships the reverse card suggests some difficulty. This may be one of the points noted above but it may also mean lack of compatibility from the start. At the very least choose carefully and make sure there is a bedrock of agreement and stability once the initial attraction has faded
Card Design Process
It was decided early on that a deck based on ancient myth should have at least one or two tragedy stories in it. The story of Hero and Leander is very common in art and the basis of many stories, so it was a natural choice as it is a well-recognized archetypal love story from the ancient world.
Final Words
The Two of Cups represents partnership, harmony, friendship, and emotional connections between two people. The card shows two figures holding cups in what looks like a gesture of celebration, symbolizing their union or agreement. We also see a raging ocean, representing strong emotions and sexual energy.
