Cups
Cups are one of the four suits of the minor arcana of the tarot, associated with the Water element. They rule the emotional realm: love, bonds, feelings, intuition, family, inner life. In the English playing-card deck they correspond to the suit of hearts.
Origin and symbolism
Cups are direct heirs of the Mamluk playing cards that entered Europe in the 14th century. The cup or chalice as symbol of the vessel that holds liquid connects with very ancient spiritual traditions: the Christian Holy Grail, the chalice of the mysteries, Egyptian funerary urns, the alchemical vessel. In all of them, the cup is the container of the precious — of the water of life, of the blood of Christ, of the elixir.
As Water element, Cups rule the emotional world: what flows, what unites, what dissolves boundaries. If Pentacles are firm earth and Swords are mental air, Cups are the feeling heart. In astrology, Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) have natural affinity with this suit.
The most relevant cards of the suit
Ace of Cups: beginning of a deep feeling, message from the heart, nascent love. Two of Cups: meeting between two souls, emotional alliance. Three of Cups: celebration, joy shared with friends or family. Ten of Cups: family fullness, happy home, amorous culmination. Knight of Cups: the romantic lover, arrival of a sentimental proposal.
More complex cards: Five of Cups (mourning, what has been lost), Eight of Cups (abandoning what no longer nourishes), Queen of Cups (mature emotional wisdom). Cups, in general, are the most luminous cards in the tarot — but also those that best describe the heart's suffering when they appear inverted or in difficult positions.
Also known as
- Chalices
- Hearts (in English)
- Coupes (in French)
- Coppe (in Italian)