TAROTKing of Cups
Upright
Being in control of your emotions through maturity, diplomacy and channeling them into creativity
A balance between intuition, emotions and common sense.
Being in control of situations by being in control of your own emotions.
Channeling emotions constructively through exploration and creativity.
Intuition
The card shows two ocean surfaces. One represents the world of emotion between people, and the other represents the inner world of the mind: intellect, intuition, and creativity. This second ocean has a whale swimming in it, suggesting a much larger ocean than many imagine, given it has so much in it!
Reversed
Attempting to control of your emotions by repressing them, or being overly emotional and gullible.
Not being in control of your inner self or actions by allowing emotions to rule.
Confusing your inner world with reality, causing unrealistic expectations, gullibility and childishness.
Astrologia
A passionate and creative person. An assertive leadership quality when they are able to balance intellect and emotion. Can be deeply spiritual, quickly finding true meanings. Can be emotionally unpredictable when the balance between intellect and emotion is lost.
King of Cups
The King of cups represents the archetype of the perfect husband, father or mentor. He is a man truly in control. Not because he controls others, but because he is in control of himself and understands the needs of others.
He has a high inner confidence, intellect and creativity that he can use to achieve his greatest gains. These are not battles over territory or riches, but great works, understanding the world, and diplomacy.
In terms of creativity and thinking, the King of Cups represents Renaissance thinking (a more recent term would be polymath). This describes someone who has interests in many fields and gains creativity by making connections between unrelated subjects that others do not think of. Like the King of Cups, it also implies a good balance between emotions and logic and being able to think at different levels at the same time.
The King of Cups is ruled by Fire and Water, and his superpower is holding both in perfect balance. The fiery emotions of the heart and the waters of the deep subconscious working together for the good of both.
The King of Cups is ruled by Fire and Water, and his superpower is holding both in perfect balance.
Who better to navigate this ocean of emotion and intuition than the God of the Ocean himself?
Oceanus
Oceanus is the God of the great ocean that encircles the world, and was seen as the personification of the oceans that exist outside the known map. The Olympian God Poseidon was more closely associated with the known oceans, specifically the Mediterranean.
As ancient Western cultures moved out of the Mediterranean Sea, Oceanus became associated with the great expanses of water that were the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Thus he is always the God of uncharted oceans.
He makes a perfect fit for the unknown seas within us; the deep waters of the subconscious and the fiery, flowing emotions of the heart. In Tarot these are the domains of the King of Cups.
Description and Symbology
We see the King of Cups as the God of the Ocean (Oceanus as described in many ancient texts; a horned man with a serpent or fish-like tail). He holds a small scepter, showing he does not need to wield power, but is instead a just and fair ruler.
The ocean we see the king in represents the emotions between people.
We see fish jumping out of the water, reminiscent of the fish in the Page of Cups, Queen of Cups and the Moon cards, but this time we see many more of them. Ideas and creativity flow from this king!
Behind the king we see a ship, denoting the need to navigate the sea rather than stay in a fixed place. Learning and exploring never stop if we are to attain a higher level of understanding because the world is constantly changing.
Above the scene we see a strange inverted sea. This represents the inner uncharted ocean inside us. It includes the deep waters of the subconscious mind and its interactions with our deeper and fierier urges and passions. We see a whale swimming in this ocean. This may be the smaller of the two oceans, but the largest things known to us swim in it - our creativity, passions and deep understanding.
The king
The king has no throne and holds a small scepter. He does not need displays of power because his true power is all around him for all to see - the powerful ocean.
The leaping fish
Although single jumping fish appear on other cards, this card has a whole shoal of them. This king is full of idea and inspiration!
The ship
A ship sails the ocean behind the king. Understanding yourself or the emotional seas around you is not a one-time thing because both you and the world are constantly changing. Knowledge of either is a constant process of exploration.
The higher ocean
We see another ocean towards the top of the image, representing the inner ocean inside us. This includes the deep waters of the subconscious and the base emotions that drive our passions. A whale swims these waters. Although this may be a small ocean, big things come from it!
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 very lucky card for relationships as it represents fulfilment of both emotions and passions.
There will be positive emotion and understanding and a stronger physical relationship. There may also be a period of support and care if one partner is going through a difficult patch in other areas.
For the single person, the King of Cups represents the role model of a good partner and future parent. Honest with you and his own emotions, physically passionate, diplomatic, charming and a good parent.
Lack of control on emotions is causing issues within your relationships. This may show itself as difficulty in communicating, lack of empathy, doing things your own way whilst ignoring others, or retreating from emotionally charged situations.
You may also have a poor balance between logic and emotion, and trying to fix emotional problems through abstract decisions rather than simply listening and caring.
You need to see problems from other views than your own, and temper your responses to this insight.
This card is the epitome of the professional, so either you will meet such as person or will start to move into such a person’s shoes. Good at your job and able to pick up concepts quickly, creating new ideas and ways forward, able to build a team around good leadership, and a strong emotional support and tutoring role.
Either you have an overly emotional, controlling, vindictive or manipulative figure blocking your career, or you are that person, or you are dissatisfied with your career and this is causing you to become emotionally charged.
In all cases something has to change.
It is time to stop the emotions and use that energy to fix the problems even if it means taking a hard path. At worst, it means looking for a new career. At best, it means looking at the situation from the eyes of other people, try walking in their shoes and see their problems, and temper your frustration via the new insights this creates.
Although not directly related to health, this card suggests having the stamina and strength of personality to get through any illness or complaint. The card could also relate to a healer or counselor who you will meet during the course of treatment, as it often relates to professionals who know their subject.
You are becoming emotionally drained, or lack coping mechanisms for a current situation. This may be causing you to become unhealthy or take up unhealthy habits.
This may also be caused by someone in your life who you believe is being unkind or manipulative.
It is important to detach yourself from the situation by creating space or realizing some battles are not worth the cost and retreating.
Unlike some of the other ‘intuition’ cards that are heavy on Water and the subconscious, the King of Cups mixes both Fire and Water, resulting in drive as well as inner imagination and intuition, and bringing it up into the real world. This may manifest as ideas or designs that create real change in the world.
If you are looking to create artistic, design, creative work or literary output, this is a very good card.
It is also a good card for learning; either you will find a mentor for your spiritual journey or will start to become one.
You are either tempted (or actually are) using your intuition and ability to second guess people and use it against them through manipulation or vindictiveness, or are becoming emotionally charged and overreacting.
This is a game you can certainly play, but it never leads to success for very long because it is a very short term strategy - people soon see through the game.
It is time to look at the core problem. Either you are on a path that you are not enjoying, or you have failed in some part of your life and are now taking short-cuts. In either case, this is the root problem that needs solving.
This card is not directly related to money or finance as it is related to passions (Fire) and emotion (Water). It does however open you up to understanding concepts and ideas, so represents a good time for looking at the more technical financial aspects. It is also a good card for finding a mentor or knowledgeable professional. So if you are thinking you may need someone to help with planning and accounting, now may be a good time to look for someone!
You are either making emotional decisions or mixing money and emotion (such as going through a breakup or fixing problems through ‘retail therapy’).
Be wary of being too trusting or gullible when it comes to money. Emotion stays in relationships and finance should be taking a longer view than any short term emotional issues you may be currently facing.
Yes through emotional stability and wisdom.
No through lack of emotional stability or lack of emotional backbone to face problems head on.
Reading the Card
Like all court cards, the King of Cups can represent people or things other than yourself:
- A goal, project or aim you are working on. The card suggests moving forward by addressing the needs or thoughts of people other than yourself (especially by listening to them) will work best.
- A person who is acts as a positive father figure, mentor, counselor, or teacher.
- Someone who is diplomatic and able to keep calm even in difficult situations. They are able to give advice from deep experience and are often older than you.
- A person with radical but also practical ideas. They can walk the tightrope between these two extremes because they deeply understand people’s hopes and desires and the routes they choose to achieve them.
- Reversed, the card represents someone who either is not in control of their own emotions or uses their understanding of people and processes to manipulate or emotionally blackmail others. They may also be overbearing or overprotective. The person may be older or in a position of authority.
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 upright king of cups represents the emotional maturity and wisdom that comes with age. It signifies a more mature view of people and the understanding that a dream you have for yourself is less likely to succeed than a joint dream created by many people working together.
The king of cups also represents controlling both the fire of base emotions and the water of our more caring emotional side. From this comes an inner, self-assured confidence tempered with a social conscious and need for others to succeed as well as yourself.
This balance is also the place where flashes of inspiration and creative insight come from, because they satisfy both our higher emotions and deepest desires.
When seen in a reading, the card can therefore represent:
- A time when you are totally in control of your emotions, including both your higher emotions and deepest desires.
- A period in a relationship or career where the involved people come together for a common aim. The group supports each other positively to achieve the goals.
- A burst of creativity when all your emotional energies and desires mix together to create something that speaks to both, yet is greater than the sum of both.
- An older man, possibly a father figure or teacher, who will lead the way in a problem, event or process. The exact situation will be clear in the question being asked.
The reversal
The reverse card represents one of two things that may block the sense of the upright card:
- Instead of a period of emotional maturity in your life, there is inability to control emotions. This will manifest itself as moodiness and avoiding or ignoring emotionally difficult situations
- A tendency towards trying to control your emotions by repressing them. This can only work for so long and works poorly once you hit the ‘ah, that’s the limit’ moment! Sudden outbursts of emotion, argument, or simply becoming unhappy because you are not expressing your true feelings will be the result.
- Controlling other people’s emotions rather than your own by becoming manipulative, vindictive or insincere. An understanding of people allows you to help them but it also allows you to undermine them for your benefit. This can work but only once because people learn.
Watch how you or others deal with problems when you see the reversed king of cups!
Card Design Process
The main idea with this card was to show two oceans that represent the two kinds of emotional interactions. One represents interactions between people, and the other represents interactions within us. Both are needed to properly display the true mastery the King of Cups has with emotions.
For the king himself, a common physical description of Oceanus was used as the source.
Final Words
The King of Wands represents emotional maturity, a just leader or an older mentor. He can represent creativity and passions working together in harmony to create great works or a satisfying relationship.
He represents the perfect partner… but can also be the exact opposite when reversed!
