Four of Cups
Secret whisperA fourth cup floats unseen; lift your eyes from the three.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsapathy, contemplation, reassessment, missed offers
Boredom or withdrawal may be making you overlook what is being offered. Look up; something good is held out in front of you.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsnew motivation, acceptance, seizing the moment, awareness
You are coming out of a rut and ready to engage with life again. Say yes to what you once ignored.
About the suit of Cups
Cups belong to Water: feelings, love, friendship, intuition and the imagination. They show what is happening in the heart and in your relationships.
Reading the Fours of the tarot
Fours build structure: stability, foundations and sometimes standing still.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had caused satiety only; another wine, as if a fairy gift, is now offered the wastrel, but he sees no consolation therein. This is also a card of blended pleasure.
Reversed: Novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations.
The picture
A young man is seated under a tree and contemplates three cups set on the grass before him; an arm issuing from a cloud offers him another cup. His expression notwithstanding is one of discontent with his environment.
