Five of Cups
Minor Arcana · Cups
What the Five of Cups means — upright and reversed, with keywords.
○ 5Five of Cups
What this card is
A figure in a long black cloak stands with his head down over three cups that have tipped and spilled. Behind him, unnoticed, two cups are still standing upright, and beyond the river there is a bridge and a house. This is the card of grief and of the tunnel vision that grief creates. The loss is real, and so are the two remaining cups, and the bridge was built long before today.
Upright meaning
KEYWORDS
griefspilled cupstunnel vision
A real loss taking up the whole view while two cups are still standing behind you.
Reversed meaning
KEYWORDS
turning aroundclinging
Either you finally look up, or the mourning outlasts its own usefulness.
People also ask
- What does Five of Cups mean?
- Keywords: grief, spilled cups, tunnel vision. A real loss taking up the whole view while two cups are still standing behind you.
- What does Five of Cups reversed mean?
- Reversed, the keywords shift to turning around, clinging. Either you finally look up, or the mourning outlasts its own usefulness.
- Is Five of Cups a good card?
- Neither, and the question is worth resisting. Upright it speaks of grief; reversed, of turning around. The same card is encouraging in one spread and a warning in another — what decides it is the question you asked and the cards around it.
- Where does Five of Cups sit in the deck?
- Five of Cups belongs to Cups, the suit of emotion, relationships, and intuition. Its rank carries friction, competition, or a real test. Suit tells you which part of life is speaking; rank tells you how far along it is.
- Which cards are read alongside Five of Cups?
- The same rank in the other suits: Five of Wands, Five of Swords and Five of Pentacles. Comparing them side by side is the quickest way to feel what the suit contributes and what the number contributes.Five of WandsFive of SwordsFive of Pentacles