Five of Cups card

A feeling of baseless loss of hope.

Supporting / Blocking Tarot Card

support

The card is a blocker, as the feeling of loss and lack of trust from the previous card has now turned into despair. When someone believes for long enough that things will go poorly, they may end up experiencing negativity. Lack of communication exacerbates the situation. It’s important to remember that as a future card, the querent is in a state of the Four of Cups, where doubt is only beginning to settle in. By addressing the challenge at the Four of Cups stage, one can avoid reaching a state of despair.

Relationships

Career

Finances

Relationships

Career

Finances

The Meaning of The Card

Five of Cups card represents loss, regret, and sorrow. It often depicts a figure cloaked in black, focusing on three spilled cups while two full cups stand behind them, unnoticed. This imagery reflects how the person is consumed by their grief and disappointment, fixating on what has gone wrong rather than acknowledging what still remains. The card suggests that while the pain of loss is real, there is still hope and opportunity present, but it requires the individual to shift their perspective. The Five of Cups encourages moving beyond sorrow by recognizing and appreciating the positives that still exist, even in difficult situations. In the Four of Cups, due to feelings of rejection and doubt, the person’s response to the situation becomes unbalanced and pessimistic. They may feel disheartened, even though the actual situation is stable. The issue lies in the person’s pessimistic and painful perspective, focusing on what they lack rather than appreciating what they have. The individual can overcome this challenge by changing their attitude and perspective.

Five of Cups card: The Meaning of The Symbols

Card Symbols	Symbol Meaning
Gray Background	A gray background symbolizes the search for balance between the material and spiritual realms. Gray represents compromise, reduction, detachment, and protection.
Yellow Background	The yellow part of the card, located at the bottom, symbolizes intellect, ego, self-image, and how the individual communicates with the external world.
Castle	The castle symbolizes abundance on the horizon, security, protection, and authority.
Black Cloak	The black garment symbolizes mourning and loss. The cloak represents authority, power, grandeur, while black signifies fear, danger, threat, negative traits, dark impulses, but also sophistication, authority, power, and learning.
Lowered Head	The figure with a lowered head symbolizes dejection and humility. It represents sadness, introspection, and a lack of confidence.
River	The river symbolizes uncertainty or negative situations in a person’s life, but these are temporary. At this moment, the person is facing a challenge, obstacle, or a situation of change that must be navigated as part of life’s flow. It also symbolizes life’s flow, intention, power, but also a challenge that must be overcome.
Bridge	The bridge symbolizes the person’s ability to overcome difficulties. It represents transition, connection, passage between worlds, and hope.
Cups	The cups lying on the ground after being spilled symbolize what has been lost. The standing cups remind the person that not everything is lost. The cup represents the element of water; water is an emotional element and a feminine symbol. The cups resemble the nurturing feminine womb.

Mythology

Psyche returns to the palace with Cupid, but her heart is full of doubts. One night, she decides to discover who her beloved really is. When she finds out it is Cupid, the god of love, she is horrified and, in an attempt to escape, accidentally spills hot oil from a lamp on his wings. Cupid is hurt and betrayed, telling Psyche, “”In a place where there is no trust, there is no love.”” He leaves her, and Psyche is left desolate in the palace. The card represents despair and the need to uncover the truth, as well as the fear of that revelation. Whether the truth is loving or painful, once it is discovered, the querent can confront any question or challenge.

Representation of the Card in a Reading

In a tarot reading, while the Four of Cups represents the beginning of a foundational stage, which can cause feelings of restlessness and a sense of delay, the Five of Cups reflects the reaction to this delay. This card shows the individual’s response to the emotional setbacks they have experienced. Often, this reaction is unbalanced, and after the feelings of rejection and doubt seen in the Four of Cups, the Five of Cups can represent despair. The challenge with this card is to recognize and focus on the positives—the “half-full” aspects—rather than getting lost in the negative aspects.