TAROTFive of Cups
Upright
Disappointment, grief, regret, living in the past
Mourning a loss or weighed down by a disappointment.
Dwelling on the past such that you are unable to view the future clearly.
Intuition
Some tarot cards show a man in black and that can look ominous rather than an image of grief for beginners (and with Tarot, first impressions of any card are important!). To fix this it was decided to use a far less ominous woman who is more clearly grief-stricken. The path forward and away from the point of grief is also now much clearer.
Reversed
Moving forward from past disappointments.
Understanding the past and coming to terms with it.
Seeing what you still have rather than dwelling on what has been lost.
Forgiveness and rejuvenation.
Astrologia
Intense passion. Resourceful. Transformation and growth. Financially responsible. Prone to aggression and name calling, destructiveness and secrecy.
Five of Cups
The previous card, the Four of Cups, is about disconnection from life through a lack of drive or inability to cope with the normal events of life. The Five of Cups looks at a different kind of disconnection; through real grief and significant disappointments.
The card shows a woman unable to move through grief. We see three overturned cups containing wine in front of her. The wine has spilt and resembles blood, signifying injury or pain.
The woman does not see the clear path in front of her that would take her forward to a bridge, over the river and into the safety and support of a walled city beyond. Neither does she see the two un-spilled cups behind her representing the things she still has.
She instead remains stuck in grief and oblivious of the path still to tread, the support in the distance, and the things she still has behind her.
Tragedy is a common theme in mythology (some would say far too common and far too tragic!) and one name stands out as particularly poignant.
Queen Niobe
Queen Niobe is the archetypal bereaved mother. She had several sons and several daughters (the exact number of each varies but is usually six of each or seven of each).
During a ceremony held to honor the Goddess of motherhood, Leto, Queen Niobe was heard to brag that she had more children than the Goddess of motherhood herself. Leto had only two children: Apollo and Artemis (who are seen in the Ace of Swords and Chariot cards).
When Artemis and Apollo heard of this, they both flew into a rage and swore immediate revenge. Artemis killed the Queen’s daughters with her bow, and Apollo killed the Queen’s sons in the same way.
Queen Niobe, wracked by grief at the sudden loss of her family fled to a high mountain, Mount Sipylus and pleaded to the sky for the gods to end her pain. Zeus, taking pity on her, turned her to stone so that the Queen would gain a heart of stone and no longer grieve.
Such was the depth of the Queen’s grief that this failed. A stream trickled from the rock and continues to do so to this day.
In the card we see animals associated with both Apollo and Artemis: the raven of Apollo and the hare of Artemis.
Description and Symbology
We see a woman dressed in black and deep in grief.
She is on a path that carries on into the distance over a bridge and into a city but the woman is stationary because of her grief. She neither moves forward nor backward. If she was to carry on down the path the woman may have found comfort and protection in the city.
In front of her we see three overturned cups spilling red wine. These are symbolic of the loss the woman is grieving
Behind the woman (and unseen by her) we see two upright cups signifying things that the woman has not lost and are still with her, but her grief blinds her to them.
If we note that the woman is Queen Niobe, then we can also see the symbols of the two Gods associated with her grief. The raven of Apollo flies overhead and in the distance we see the hare of Artemis (to the right of the path).
The grieving woman
The woman is Queen Niobe, representing the archetype of the grieving mother.
The path ahead
The path represents the life choice to move forward after pain and distress. At the end of the path we see a bridge leading to safety, implying that moving forward is the correct choice.
The spilled cups
In front of the woman we see three overturned cups with red wine spilling from them. They represent the woman’s loss
The un-spilled cups
Behind the woman we see two upright cups. These represent the things the woman still retains. Because they are behind the woman, she may not notice them.
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
You are holding on to past hurts or slights (perhaps even from an earlier relationship) and this is negatively affecting your relationships today. This card suggests addressing the losses you have suffered in the past by concentrating on the gains you have made and the distance you have travelled away from the past.
You are approaching a turning point where you are either learning from past mistakes or moving forward from them, and looking to the future rather than carrying old wounds.
You are disappointed in the path your career has taken in the recent past. This disappointment may be rooted it setbacks, feeling undervalued, or being put on a path/project you feel does not suit you.
Rather than dwelling on past mistakes it is better to concentrate on what you have, and how you can grow this via retraining or simply a better sense of your own worth. Be aware that the path this new-found confidence takes you may mean moving forward and away from your current situation.
You are regaining confidence in yourself and moving forward from a previously stagnant career path.
The card advises you to look forward rather than keep glancing back.
You have gone through emotional struggles in the recent past and these are having a drag-effect on your health. It is time to concentrate on the things you have rather than the things you have lost, and one important thing you have should be your health. Look after it!
You are beginning to come to terms with previous emotional knocks or disappointments in your life. Spend some of that new-found confidence on your health as it may have been too low down on the to-do list!
You have been jarred by an emotional incident or disappointment and although this is often painful, it is also a point of new growth.
Redefining your purpose and place in the world (as well as your priorities) is a better way to move forward over dwelling on grief or loss.
Take forward valuable lessons from previous disappointments or losses. This may mean re-evaluating priorities and what is important to you moving forward.
It may involve finding your way in a new period of your life (where it is important to make new rules rather than hold on to the old ways).
It may just mean you are now enjoying life more now that a difficult period has ended, in which case keep doing it!
Either you are going through a bad patch in your life where money is at the back of your list of important considerations, or money is one of the sticking points.
In either case, your emotional state right now suggests some professional help is in order, because you are already weighed down through emotion or disappointment in others.
You are in a better place after previous disappointments, setbacks and emotional events. Now is a time to consider whether your new phase in life also needs a fresh look at money matters.
Make sure they reflect your new life and not the old one!
No, through concentrating on previous loss.
Yes, through moving forward and growing beyond previous restrictions and losses
Reading the Card
The message of the Five of cups is of letting go of past issues and disappointments. Acknowledging and processing unwelcome emotions and thoughts is following the path forward to a better future, as is remembering what you have just as strongly as that which you have lost.
Acknowledging and processing unwelcome emotions and thoughts is following the path forward to a better future.
The upright card
The Five of Cups represents the traumatic loss of something important to you or a major disappointment. These are problems that will stop you in your path, unable to move through grief or stuck dreaming of a better past and unable to face the future.
The card shows this loss by the three spilled cups and the figure looking on in grief. Yet there is a path ahead leading to safety and protection. There are also two cups that still remain upright if the figure would turn and look to them.
The card thus suggests that disappointments should not stop us on the path we follow. We may lose something but rarely do we love everything and what is left is reason to carry on.
The reversal
The reversed Five of cups suggests healing after a traumatic loss or disappointment. You will realize what is lost through a coming to terms with it, forgiveness or realizing there is more to make you want to carry on than there is to force you to stop.
It also suggests forgiving yourself when you feel you may have played a part or not done enough. Coming to terms with a loss often also gives you new insight of what you still retain and how precious some of it really is. It shows you how inconsequential some things you previously held as important really are, and that can be a strong force for regrowth in a newer, better direction.
Card Design Process
As noted previously, a major part of this design was to make the main character wearing black obviously grieving and not ending up looking ominous. Another was to show the character on a clear path to safety, but rooted to where they stood through their grief. Hopefully both worked out!
Final Words
The Five of wands denotes dwelling in the past, either through past hurts and disappointments or major negative events. This is preventing you realizing what you have now, and is making you look backward rather than forward. To move forward the past needs to be put to rest. When you do this, the path forward will become clearer because it was always there. You just needed to look in front of you rather than at your problems.
