TAROTQueen of Cups
Upright
Intuition, emotional depth, creativity, compassion.
An deep understanding of yourself and others
Inner happiness, peace and creativity
Emotional healing and emotional growth. The nurturing of a mother.
Intuition
The card image is based around the idea of the Queen of Cups as a rock that provides stability, protection and nurturing in a world of raging water. She controls the wild ocean inside all of us, enabling our better emotions and positive intuition to shine through.
Reversed
Over-sensitivity or coldness. Manipulative and controlling.
Emotion used as a weapon.
Manipulation and emotional games.
The archetypal bad mother. Emotionally suffocating, controlling or cold.
Astrologia
Very deep emotional awareness and intuition, making them socially adaptable. Very compassionate with strong ability to provide support. Difficulty letting go and tendency to over-idealize.
Queen of Cups
The Queen of Cups is the Queen of emotion and intuition. Both are usually represented by water and thus she sits on the edge of an ocean. She sits in contemplation whilst holding a cup, with the Moon - symbol of intuition - in the sky beyond.
The Queen of Cups is the Queen of emotion
Although the ocean rages behind her, she controls it, taking it in and turning it into freshwater that flows down from her into a pool protected from the sea.
She represents the nurturing, caring feminine. Compassionate and understanding but with a deep intuitive side that can understand people, their needs and motives. Upright, she uses this understanding to help those around to grow. This makes her the perfect nurse or carer, helping us to grow emotionally until we are also able to control our own emotions ourselves.
She also represents the higher mind: the Arts and literature, especially when it comes from the inner emotional self.
Reversed, she uses her emotional and intuitive powers for her own ends and can become manipulative or deceitful.
Tethys
Tethys literally means nurse or grandmother. She was one of the earliest Gods and nursed both Helios and Selene (shown in this deck as the Major Arcana Sun and Moon cards). She is the Goddess of freshwater.
We see freshwater flowing from her. The hem of her dress transmutes into freshwater flowing into a small pool. This water nurtures a jumping fish, symbolic of the outflow of life-giving emotion that emanates from the Queen of Cups towards everything under her care and protection.
The importance of Tethys was immense. Without freshwater the earth would be barren. Life on land cannot exist without it and she went on to give birth to thousands of minor gods that created the rivers, streams and springs that make up the flow of water inland.
Despite her importance, Tethys does not appear much in myth apart from her role in the Ancient Greek creation myth. She is probably a personification deity (i.e. she is not the Goddess of freshwater so much as freshwater itself).
Description and Symbology
We see the Queen sat near the ocean, representing the unfiltered emotion that rages within us all. This water is turned into freshwater by the Queen and becomes the nurturing and life-giving water/emotion we all need to survive on land.
The Queen’s throne is a rock, marking her our as unmoved by the force of the ocean behind her. She sits on the rock, looking beyond a gold cup that she holds.
She is deep in introspection, in tune with herself and her thoughts. In the sky, we see the Moon, symbol of the intuitive mind. It appears near the cup, as if giving power to it.
Freshwater from the hem of the Queen’s dress flows down forming a pool. In this pool we see a jumping fish. This is symbolic of the higher mind (the spiritual aspect of ourselves). The Queen nourishes this aspect, allowing us to grow and gain control of our base and degenerate emotions, and share our higher emotions of love and compassion.
The Queen
The Queen sits on a rock by the ocean, representing unfiltered emotion. She in unmoved by the raging sea and sits in controlled contemplation.
The leaping fish
We see the hem of the Queen’s dress transmute into freshwater, symbolic of the Queen’s ability to control raw emotion and only give out the pure, nurturing ones. The result of this freshwater is a leaping fish, symbolic of the higher mind. The pool is protected from the raw emotion of the ocean beyond by the throne the Queen sits upon - a large, immovable rock.
The moon and cup
The Queen holds a cup that has a cherub on it, indicative of children and their care. The Moon appears near the cup as if giving it power. This shows that the Queen gets her powers from intuition and deep emotions
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 is a good time for existing relationships as there is a sense of honesty and understanding between the partners.
For those who are single, new relationships have the same dynamic, which will lead to a positive outcome so long as emotional needs play a crucial role. Any new relationship built on material gains will fail if this card has anything to do with it, as this Queen wants nothing to do with that!
Negative emotions are in danger of taking over your relationships: jealousy, emotional manipulation, smothering of clinginess, or distance and coldness. This may be coming from you or within the relationship, or from a third party outside the relationship who is following their own agenda.
Wherever it is coming from, you will need to identify the root cause and address it, otherwise the relationship will suffer.
This card suggests better relationships within your team (or a person who is acting in a supporting and nurturing role, and this is driving the team forward).
Make sure that your career satisfies you creatively or the team has a social aspect to it, otherwise the workplace may feel cold to you.
Expect emotion to gain traction over reason and professionalism at work.
This may be caused by personality clashes, divergence of opinions, or simmering emotions finally gaining a voice. It may also be caused by hidden agendas, or self-preservation in the light of bad news.
Whatever the cause, there is a need to control the situation and give the mind prevalence over raw emotion. Unfortunately this may mean distancing yourself from certain people if they are the root cause, or placing a greater emphasis on things that reduce stress (including curtailing the long hours).
There may be some help coming to any obvious or long term ailments or conditions you have.
For those not currently suffering any problems, the card suggests that looking after your relationships and social connections will gain positives in your general health (as does being emotionally open and positive).
Other issues in your life may be causing you to become emotional or be pulled out of place by someone who has an agenda against you (and who is using negative behavior and emotion as weapons).
Take care to watch your stress levels and spend some time creating space from the source, and recuperating if it starts to change your behavior.
This card points to intuition coupled with emotion, which will help you understand both yourself and others around you.
Motivations and deeper meanings within relationships will become more apparent, as well as anything to do with deeper questions and the esoteric.
A focus on progression, material wants or status is causing you to lose some of your core values, and in extreme cases may be making you selfish, exploitive or manipulative.
It is time to consider where emotional ties and relationships come into your life and whether you are losing something in the equation. This card suggests you might be getting the balance wrong.
This card is not specifically associated with money, and in many cases is the exact opposite. That is not to say you will lose money, but more that people are more important, and the most important one is your inner self.
The card ask you to consider what you really want, and what you consider important; it is rarely just money.
Look at where your spending is going and how much happiness and contentment it really creates. Look at your will and who you really want to benefit. Consider what you want to be doing in the future and how close you are to it.
These are all deeper questions and bring into focus your emotional ties… but can you answer them all immediately? If not, there is work to do right there!
Finance and material needs may be taking precedence on your real needs.
We all need to eat and have a roof over our heads. Such needs are often quickly satisfied, yet we desire more and forget what we are losing in the fight.
Think carefully about what you really want out of life, as materialism or status may be taking precedence over your emotional needs and relationships.
Yes through emotional maturity and an understanding of real needs.
No through an overly emotional focus on all problems.
Reading the Card
Like all court cards, the Queen of Cups can represent people or things other than yourself:
- A fulfilling and mutually supportive period in an existing relationship.
- Your own intuition and ability to read people around you, their intentions and aims.
- The Queen of Cups is a very strong card in emotional and spiritual matters and can represent a set of ideals or institutions and people that represent the caring feminine.
- A deeply caring and understanding figure that represents the mother archetype. This does not have to be your actual parent, but could be someone that has a very deep lasting impression in your learning and growth, such as a business mentor, teacher or older friend.
- A figure of emotional support. This person could be a close friend that acts as your emotional confidant or a professional caregiver, teacher or counselor.
- A project or event that involves exploring the arts or your inner creativity. This could also be a person who promotes creativity in you.
- When reversed, the card can represents someone who is overly sensitive or completely cold. This could show as controlling or as a gate-keeper rather than nurturing behavior. It could be a recent addition to your family circle who does not want you there or someone who acts as an authority figure and thinks they know best (and strangely, usually also to your detriment!).
When reading the ‘upright card’ and ‘reversal’ sections below, note that although the text refers to you it could actually be any of the above. The question being asked (or your first thoughts when you see the card) will suggest who or what the card refers to.
The upright card
The Queen of Cups represents all Water: Water sign in Water sign, in the element of Cups, the suite of Water. She is deeply in command of her own emotions and able to sense the emotions of others.
She epitomizes the deeper, inner intuitive mind and positive higher self. Nurturing, caring, compassionate, with an ability to second guess people’s intentions. This is not in a controlling way but to pick them up when they falter or need reassurance. She represents the caring mother archetype. She can also represent the artist or poet and especially those creating work based on their own emotional experiences.
The reversal
The reversed Queen of Cups is Water flowing against you. Pushing you away, making you cold and uncomfortable, or drowning you out. She is a master in using emotion for her benefit.
She can now be overly emotional and smothering like an over-caring mother who does not not allow you to grow up. This usually involves a blurring of boundaries and taking decisions on your behalf whether you want it or not.
She can use her intuition or position to be manipulative, play the victim/diva, or can withhold emotion and become distant and cold.
Card Design Process
The Queen of Cups card was designed primarily around the relationship between the Queen and the fish, and this relationship can have several meanings.
Upright, she protects the fish from the ocean beyond, filling its pool with freshwater that transforms from her flowing dress. Reversed, the fish is trapped by the Queen and unable to find its own way in the wider ocean beyond.
The fish can also represent intuition and spirituality and is used in a similar way as the jumping fish in the Major Arcana Moon card. The moon also appears in the sky, cementing this similarity.
The other concept used was the Queen’s throne as a rock. It represents stability in a sea of otherwise wild and raging emotion. The Queen’s throne is a symbol of her control over this sea within herself.
Final Words
The Queen of Cups represents positive emotions and the archetype of the caring mother. She is fully in control of her emotions and understands the emotional state of others. She uses her strengths to help others, allowing them to grow and thrive.
