King of Cups
Minor Arcana · Cups
What the King of Cups means — upright and reversed, with keywords.
○ 14King of Cups
What this card is
The king sits on a stone throne that floats on a choppy sea, a cup in one hand and a sceptre in the other, a fish amulet at his throat and a ship pitching behind him. The water is rough and he is completely dry. This card is emotional steadiness, not coldness but feeling that has been made reliable. He is the person you call when something has gone badly wrong.
Upright meaning
KEYWORDS
steadinessdiplomacydry footing
Feeling made reliable, staying dry on a throne the rough sea is moving underneath.
Reversed meaning
KEYWORDS
bottled upcold
Mistaking suppressing a feeling for having handled it.
People also ask
- What does King of Cups mean?
- Keywords: steadiness, diplomacy, dry footing. Feeling made reliable, staying dry on a throne the rough sea is moving underneath.
- What does King of Cups reversed mean?
- Reversed, the keywords shift to bottled up, cold. Mistaking suppressing a feeling for having handled it.
- Is King of Cups a good card?
- Neither, and the question is worth resisting. Upright it speaks of steadiness; reversed, of bottled up. 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 King of Cups sit in the deck?
- King of Cups belongs to Cups, the suit of emotion, relationships, and intuition. Its rank carries confident, outward authority in this domain. Suit tells you which part of life is speaking; rank tells you how far along it is.
- Which cards are read alongside King of Cups?
- The same rank in the other suits: King of Wands, King of Swords and King of Pentacles. Comparing them side by side is the quickest way to feel what the suit contributes and what the number contributes.King of WandsKing of SwordsKing of Pentacles