The Six of Cups Tarot Card

Are you feeling a joy for life comparable to the carefree days of childhood? Is your innocence becoming apparent in a relationship? Were you naive in judging a person or situation recently? Did you have a playful emotional attachment to someone that contrasted the serious tone that they took in approaching things? You may find the Six of Cups in a Tarot reading soon if any of these circumstances sound familiar. This is the card of childhood play, creativity and a disconnection from the obligations and responsibilities of adulthood. Sometimes this card is quite a wonderful blessing in a Tarot reading when so much of life makes demands on you. Other times, though, this card warns you that you may be out of your league in a situation where adult wisdom would do you well.

A boy and a girl are in a village square. They are dressed for play. The cloudless blue sky above contrasts with the warm golden earth below and the strong buildings of the village that shield them from the outside world. Six cups from the suit of Cups are arranged about. One is often depicted standing alone on a pedestal near the children. A few of the cups are in the foreground of the card. One of the cups is being handled by the boy, and in some tarot decks the two children are handling this cup together. Each cup has foliage growing in it, with a prominent flower in full bloom emanating out of all six of these cups. The boy and girl are sniffing the flower in the cup he (or they) holds.

This card is a metaphor for the small joys of childhood – and yet a reminder that those joys have less relationship to the adult world than any of us would really like to consider. The children are not dressed to interact as lovers or business partners, down to the goofy red cowl that the boy is wearing. The suit of Cups represents emotions in the Tarot and to fill up a cup with dirt and plant life is not what emotions are to be used for. But that is what childhood is for – to not have to be an adult with emotional responses and commitments based on knowing the difference between right and wrong. The children hold onto love (represented by the cup) but have no idea that the flowers will not be there forever and that they will have to learn how to fill the cups they encounter in life with love and emotion.

Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions

Every Tarot reading is different, but each follows a format of setting cards in the position of the past, the present and the future. Each card tells a story about these parts of your life and together paint a more complete picture of your life and the possibilities facing you.

When the Six of Cups is in the past position, this indicates that at the foundation, you have an innocence about you that almost serves to protect you from the jaded souls of the world who want to complain about everything. This card is so inherently about childhood that it almost never means anything about your actual childhood in the past position. It brings the past position of your Tarot reading into the realm of the recent past. This innocence, or naive nature in the past has led you into your current predicament.

When it is in the present position, the Six of Cups is a card letting you know that you may be too trusting of an individual. It also may be a card that indicates your genuine affection for someone is the reason you are succeeding. This is a card of enjoying the moment without consideration for the consequences of your actions. Tarot readers at tourist resorts see this card come up seemingly more often than the laws of chance would allow for. People on vacation are inherently at play.

In the future position, the Six of Cups reveals that you are headed to a place of blissful peace and play. This could signal an upcoming vacation or a relationship providing for you to have a more relaxed and carefree life. Enjoy the satisfaction that your future will make you feel like a kid again.

Card Combinations

Every Tarot spread sings the harmony created by the cards interacting with each other. Cards closest to each other have a deeper effect in coloring what each other indicate.

When the Six of Cups is combined with The Lovers card, look for a relationship to be idealistic and playful. You might have a hard time setting limits and establishing boundaries, but you will still be having fun. This card is the highest echo of the Six of Cups. On the flip side, the card numbered 16 in the Tarot isThe Tower and indicates that a serious immaturity on your part has caused neglect to a situation that is due for a dramatic upheaval due to being radically out of balance from what is called for. Your behavior at this time will be under intense scrutiny and carry a burden.

When The Chariot card is drawn, you will be victorious over a more prepared opponent. This card combination is seen in many underdog sports victories and legal battles that emulate the David and Goliath tale.

When paired with the Temperance card, the Six of Cups is a card that allows you to enjoy the simple things in life. The Queen of Cups or The King of Cups works well with this card in giving you an appreciation of life as an adult with enough sense to remember to enjoy things as you did as a child and never be too weighed down with responsibilities.

Paired with the Two of Pentacles and you will spend your money irresponsibly, while you will hold onto something valuable for sentimental reasons if the Six of Cups is near the Four of Pentacles. One of the Tarot's Major Arcana cards that goes great with the Six of Cups is the Strength card, as the purity of your belief is enough to fight off the criticisms of those with less than honorable intentions.

Herb: Rosemary

Rosemary is considered the protector of women :)

Uses:

-Helps keep a marriage faithful.. (hmm if only I knew that now lol)

-Memory (People drink rosemary tea to help improve memory)

-Love

-Fertility

-Keeps a home peaceful

-Rosemary satchels can be worn near undergarments to attract a sexual partner.... I'll just let you sit and think on this one lol.

-Cleansing

-Protection (Sprinkle some on your alter to keep yourself protect from negative energy during rituals/circles)

-Helps with dandruff (Make some tea, scrub it into your scalp whoo hoo! Wear black again lol)

-Fill a glass jar with water, sprinkle in a large pinch or two of dried Rosemary, and let this steep for a couple of days. Refrigerate it and use it as an astringent for your face.

-Can be substituted for Frankinsence.

-Burn with juniper berries in a sick room for healing

There are tons of uses for Rosemary! It's an amazing herb (aren't they all?) There are many medicinal uses, magick uses etc..

*WARNING* I would not suggest being around Rosemary when pregnant. Also, be careful if you have hypertension.

Rosemary Tea

1 teaspoon of dried Rosemary per 1 cup of boiling water.

 

The Four of Cups Tarot Card

If you are getting a Tarot reading and the Four of Cups card appears, just having taken the step to acknowledge that the Tarot reader is needed – that there is someone in the universe besides your self – is a big step. The Four of Cups is a stubborn, ungrateful and self-absorbed card. Whether you are off in your own little world, depressed, selfish, afraid to reach out or are nursing wounds from a bad relationship, the isolation in your world is self-imposed – you can take the kindness of the universe and join us all in the real world whenever you choose. The appearance of this card insists that your detachment from being part of the world is becoming an issue.

A young man sits beneath a tree on a hillside. There is a subdued landscape off in the distance under a brilliant blue sky. The boy is sitting cross-legged with his arms folded. His head is slightly bowed and his eyes appear to be closed. In the foreground, just down the hill, are three golden chalices. They rest upright on flat, solid ground. The green hillside is alive with shoots of new grass. Floating at the young man's eye level is a small cloud. From it a hand protrudes, holding a fourth, matching cup.

The ambiguous nature of the boy is key to this card. Is the boy pouting or asleep? The question really asks if he is resisting the offer of another cup in his intransigence or is he missing out on the offer of another cup by being asleep. The card symbolizes opportunities ignored or unrealized. Cups are the Tarot's suit of emotions and in this card they are your future regrets if you do not stop sulking or sleeping. The card is a call to action; it is time to wake up, be alert and to be open to new experiences.

Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions

Every Tarot reading sees the cards dealt out into positions representing your past, your present and your future. Cards are often stronger in one of these three spots than they are in the other two.

If the Four of Cups is in the past position in your reading, the foundation of your current situation is based on not taking an opportunity that was once offered to you. Perhaps you turned down a person who was romantically interested in you and now that person has gone on to have a successful career. You may have some bitterness over a failure to take advantage of a situation in the past. You may be angry at fate, you may be angry with some other person or group of people and you may be mad at yourself, but the presence of this card in this position is to insist that you acknowledge and accept the past. In such a realization of what happened, you will be able to move past it.

In the present position, the Four of Cups indicates that you are closed off to a solution that would assist you. You might be stubbornly clinging to the old way of doing things. There may be someone in your life who is offering you love and you are turning it down, or you are so self-involved that you do not even know what love is beyond self-love. You will have to confront yourself and be totally honest with how you are behaving, as this card brings up excuses and rationalizations as a defense mechanism to continue the pattern of avoidance symbolized by the crossed arms of the boy illustrated on the card.

The future position is actually a strong placement for this card and one that is more often beneficial to you than the card's reputation might indicate. The Four of Cups takes on a wisdom of selective standards. The older we get, the more we know what to avoid as our intellect combines with experience to make us turn down certain offers. For example, the Four of Cups in the future could indicate you turning down cigarettes or avoiding wild parties where trouble could be brewing. What is attractive to you at one age is repulsive later in life. When this card is in this position, you will be growing wise and learning what to just not bother with anymore.

Card Combinations

Tarot readings feature a few cards from the deck. No matter how much you learn about one card, understand that when it appears in your reading, it will be influenced by the presence of other cards. Some cards combine to change the meaning of each other and no card is static and consistent in what it tells you about yourself without considering how it relates to the other cards in the deck.

The Four of Cups mingles well with the Temperance card. This is the card of giving up the excesses of life to find peace. Temperance makes the cross-armed boy a symbol of avoiding temptation. Temperance is the higher echo of all Tarot cards with the number 4 in them, as is The Emperor. When The Emperor card accompanies the Four of Cups in your reading, you will be refusing opportunities from a position of superiority. People just don't realize how far ahead in the game you are.

A pairing of the Four of Cups with The High Priestess makes your reading more about avoiding gossip and immature friends who stab each other in the back. Paired with The Moon and you may be running with a crowd that is getting into trouble. The Sun card paired with the Four of Cups puts your ego front and center and challenges you to see where you might be wrong about your responsibility in a sticky situation.

The hand in the cloud that holds the fourth cup on this card mimics the Tarot's motif for each of its Ace cards. The Four of Cups pairs well with any Ace. When the Ace of Cups is present, the emotions of your decision to be avoidant are grounded in a deep psychological certainty. Paired with the Ace of Pentacles, and your stubbornness is based on feeling that you are not getting your fair share in a relationship or business deal. When the Ace of Swords is present with this card in your reading, you will be speaking your mind even if the ideas you express cut you off from the people you love. The Ace of Wands is a sophisticated addition to a reading that contains the Four of Cups. This is the indicator that you have mastered a creative process, be it painting or parenting, and you now know what to do and, more importantly, what not to do in conducting yourself through the project at hand.

The Three of Cups Tarot Card

Are you excited about your friendships? Is a group welcoming you with open arms? Are there new life lessons that are bringing you great insight that involve collaboration? Are you getting ahead with the help of some acquaintances who are "in the know"? A Tarot reading that features the Three of Cups is a reading that is reflecting your joy in finding the right group of friends in life.

Three women dressed in robes are toasting their golden cups high in the air. The one in the center is turned away from us, face obscured, but the other two are smiling. The have flowers in their hair and stand on fertile ground with foliage and vegetation growing all about. Behind them is a cloudless, peaceful blue sky. We can look at their shoes and see that they are almost dancing in this circle. There are few depictions of joy as succinct as the Three of Cups.

It is important to note that these three women are happy because they are with each other. There is a complete equality illustrated here, there is no dominant character, which is the usual case in many Tarot card depictions. The suit of Cups represents love and emotions. The Cups here are raised quite high and the fact that they are raised over the heads of each of these three revelers might be a small warning. Emotions often get the better of us and we submit to them even when we can logically determine that the emotional choice might not be the best thing. Often we are weakened when emotions come into the picture; when feelings are put in a higher position than the common sense of our heads. The joy of belonging to a group or bonding with some friends is so intense that we mindlessly conform in order to maintain our status in that clique. Amidst the joy of the celebration in the Three of Cups, a lack of thought and planning may be present despite such a good time being had by all.

Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions

Every Tarot reading is divided into three sections. Cards are dealt into your past position, your present position and your future position. When the Three of Cups is in the past position, you can look back fondly on a wonderful time in your life when you felt secure and part of a group of friends going places. If you are depressed presently, perhaps you can use the fact that you have experienced this type of joy before to understand that it could come around again in your life. If you are doing well right now, there is a good chance that the Three of Cups in the past position is the foundation of your present comfort. It could illustrate a blissful childhood or underscore your elation at a successful stint in a sorority back in your college years. If the Three of Cups appears in the present position in your Tarot reading, you are running with a good crowd, and any stress in your life is likely to dissipate when you spend time with your close friends. A new club, church or other social organization could be dominating your life and making you feel like you finally have a place to belong. When the Three of Cups is dealt into the future position in your Tarot reading, good times are coming your way. If you can get past any trust issues, there are people who will truly warm up to you and include you in their way of life.

Card Combinations

Your Tarot reading is not a set of cards that mean things alone. The cards near each other in a reading combine to illustrate more complex visions of your life and your potential. The cards around the Three of Cups will let you know what kind of friendships the card is illustrating and whether they will be as deep and joyous as possible.

When cards of other suits that are also numbered Three appear alongside the Three of Cups, your reading is definitely about groups and friendships. The Three of Pentacles indicates in-laws or other family will have sway over your life. The Three of Swords confirms that a tragic event will unite you with some people with whom a strong bond can form. The Three of Wands indicates that a good business or creative climate is impending and that a few other people with whom you are working will help get a project right and make it profitable.

These Minor Arcana cards are all lower echoes of the Major Arcana cards that carry the number Three with them: The Empress (Tarot Card #3) and Death(Tarot Card #13). The Empress represents the self-fulfillment aspect that the Three of Cups finds in groups. Meanwhile Death represents the power of transformation to completely alter one's existence. The Three of Cups echoes this in the ecstasy of the three women in joyous abandon, transformed in spite of any demands of the real world.

When there are many Cups cards in your reading accompanying the Three of Cups, the emotional connection that you make with your new friends will be deeper and more satisfying, although you will also be risking more of revealing the real you. When a reading featuring the Three of Cups also has many cards revealed from the suit of Swords, the issue of commitment and following a strict philosophy begins to take shape. Are your new friends followers of a particular guru whose guidance has made them better and happier people? Be careful not to give blind obedience in exchange for friendship and acceptance.

When the suit of Wands is featured prominently in a reading with this card, look to find creative inspiration from the people around you. This is a card combination that one might see when starting a class in art or business. The Three of Cups is in a treacherous Tarot reading when there are many cards from the suit of Pentacles present. Pentacles represent material reality and create a multitude of reasons for people to be around you. Friendship for the sake of friendship should be the case and the lust for wealth is the thing that most clouds and corrupts this simple truth.

The Two of Cups Tarot Card

When you are falling for someone, look for the Two of Cups in your Tarot reading. When you don't notice when other people walk in the room because the two of you are talking, the Two of Cups is waiting to jump out in a Tarot reading for you. This is the card of knowing that a bond is forming between you and someone else, be it a truce with a sworn enemy or a kiss with a future soulmate. But it is a weak card. The cards around it in your reading hold great sway in determining the outcome of this relationship that is quickly deepening.

A woman and a man are standing, looking into each other's eyes. Behind them is a serene, cloudless blue sky. Rolling hills are below that sky and the foreground is a plot of golden earth on which they stand. They each hold a gold cup. The woman holds hers with two hands, the man with one as he reaches toward her. She is wearing a robe and laurel crown, he has on some fashionable attire found on the "Mister Rights" of centuries ago. Superimposed onto the idyllic scene is a winged lion's head with a staff holding intertwined snakes coming in between our lovers and their cups.

The glyph that hovers above and between the lovers is a stylized rendering of the caduceus. This is an ancient Greek affirmation of the merging of masculine and feminine natures into one derived from the myth of Tiresias, who was turned into a woman for seven years. The staff with two snakes represents this merging of two natures around a solid core and the lion's head with wings illustrates two natures as well. This seal is an abstraction within the image on the card. The lovers depicted in the card don't even seem to notice that this floating amulet is there. This is why the Two of Cups is so dependent on the cards around it – the experience is so dependent on another person and chance that the slightest influence could come in to dominate the situation of a person receiving this card in their Tarot reading.

Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions

The Tarot reader spreads the cards into sections detailing the past, the present and the future. Where a card is dealt is the time of your life that it describes.

When the Two of Cups lands in the past position, this indicates that you had a great, warm relationship that was the foundation of everything you have become. Regardless of how it ended, evolved or changed, the Two of Cups in this position affirms and acknowledges that this great connection did occur and had a life-lesson impact on you both.

In the present position, the Two of Cups confirms that a union is being born or reconciliation is occurring. Often this card appears in the present position as the person receiving the reading is about to go to a high school reunion or a family gathering. It confirms that the time to bury that hatchet or pursue passion has arrived.

When this card appears in the future position, a good outcome is almost guaranteed. The Two of Cups is a card that allows you to peer into where the subtlest energies between you and another person are going. This card's appearance in the future position signals that those energies are about to become amplified into full-fledged infatuation, partnership or a deep commitment between you and this other person.

In the future position, the card is a definite answer of "Yes" to any questions about finding a soulmate, pursuing a crush, mending a fence between you and a friend or getting back together with a lover.

Card Combinations

A reading of Tarot cards always considers how the cards interact. The closer two cards are to one another, the more they inform that part of the reading.

The Two of Cups has a pair of higher echoes in the Tarot's Major Arcana: The High Priestess and The Hanged Man. These cards are numbered 2 and 12 respectively. They are very passive cards in the deck and rely heavily on the other Tarot cards in your reading to give a complete picture. The Two of Cups indicates a great coupling, but with whom? If there are many cards from the suit of Pentacles in your reading, you and your new partner are sure to share the wealth. Lots of other Cups indicate deep emotions. If there are lots of cards from the suit of Wands, you might serve as this person's muse, or be inspired by a new love to express yourself artistically to great success.

The suit of Swords is a special case when combining with the Two of Cups because Swords represent ideas and words. There is the possibility that a passionate response on your part might be met with some pleasant discussions, perhaps a little pillow talk, but the relationship ahead might be one that seems like a better idea in advance than it was a relationship in hindsight.

The coming partnership foretold by the appearance of the Two of Cups will have the personality of your soon-to-be partner described simply by examining any Major Arcana cards that are in the reading along with it. The Devil card will bring a domineering new boss or a lover who is a heavy drinker or is involved with drugs. The Emperor will bring a man who has a set way of doing things, but who is deeply attracted to you as you are "his type."

The Hierophant pairing up with the Two of Cups signals a brush with someone of status and accomplishment. If you are entering into a love relationship under this type of pairing, there will be an initial excitement of entering into a glamorous world previously out of your reach. But this card warns you to assert your independence in this relationship and not be a servant to a master who controls you.

The Lovers Card, of course, is the indicator that a soulmate situation has arrived when it is paired with the Two of Cups in your reading. This is perhaps the most classic Tarot combination of all and indicates that the love relationship of your lifetime began melting your heart as these cards were dealt.

The Five of Cups Tarot Card

Some cards in the Tarot deck have to be the ones to break the bad news. But ask most Tarot card readers if they rue seeing the Five of Cups appear in a reading and most will not see it is an upsetting event. When this card appears, most people receiving the Tarot reading are already aware of their sorrow. This card often simply confirms that things are not going too well.

Description

Under an empty gray sky and a deserted landscape, a cloaked figure turns away, hiding his or her face. The black cloak obscures everything but this person's boots and the back of his or her hair, with just a slight part of the side of the face exposed, although no features can be made out. That the person pictured in it is hiding the face in a sort of shame indicates that the person receiving this card may have been complicit in a tragedy. The biggest tragedy of this card just might be the guilt factor.

The bleak landscape features a brook running by to the viewe's left. In the distance a simple stone bridge crosses it, and the outskirts of a town are beyond. At the figure's feet are five cups. Three of them are lying on their sides and the contents of them are spilled out, wasted. Behind this sorrowful person stand two upright Cups.

Deeper Meanings

There is a lot going on in the card that is overt, and yet quite a bit of the imagery is a subtle push for optimism. Obviously the black cloak and gray sky, the spilled cups and the overall isolation of the figure ensure that this card is about heartache, loss, sorrow, isolation and mourning. And yet the card gives its recipients hope amidst the gloom. There are still two cups standing. This indicates a hope for the future. The river is a symbol of all things moving on. The bridge and town mean that there will be other times and places for life to go on, far away from the current misery.

Placement

Each Tarot reading features cards spread out in one of three positions: the past, present or future. Where a card lands describes the time in your life when events occurred that match the feelings and meaning of the card. When the Five of Cups lands in the past position, it points to some old trauma as the core foundation of your current situation. If you had a bad breakup with a lover last year, that would explain why this card was in the Past position. If you had a childhood with great losses no child should have to endure, the Five of Cups will show that who you are now comes from resolving this pain.

If the Five of Cups is in the present position, you are probably in the middle of a tough time. A separation that you do not want to occur may be happening with a lover. A recent death of a good friend or relative brings this card up. Depression, foreclosure of a loved property, divorce, a good friend and you fighting... all of these are situations expressed by the Tarot with the Five of Cups. If there is nothing in your present life that you can remotely relate to in this card and it is in the present position, the Tarot deck could be warning you of an impending spate of bad news. Many Tarot readers complain that people who see this card appear in the Present position remain in denial about a tragedy that is occurring or seems inevitable.

The symbols of hope that are on the periphery of this card's illustrated scene are important to note if you get this card in the Future position. Preparing for a tragedy before it occurs will likely make it all the more bearable. In the Future position, this card could be telling you to look more closely at the things in your life that would break your heart were drastic change to occur.

Combinations

While this card makes the excitement of a Tarot reading turn into a feeling of dread or at the very least, disappointment, the cards that are nearest to it can often describe the situation being addressed by the Five of Cups.

If there are a lot of other Cups cards in your reading, your emotional responses are at the core of your current situation. If there are many Wands surrounding this card you may be wallowing in self-pity instead of finding a creative outlet. A Tarot reading that features the suit of Pentacles and the Five of Cups indicates that financial pressures are driving you to feel sorry for yourself. Too many Swords in Tarot cards around the Five of Cups mean that your current depression or sorrow is based more in arguments and disagreements than it is in a truly tragic occurrence affecting you.

Paired with the Lovers card, look for a breakup to be devastating. You might be planning on dumping a lover and didn't realize that he might take it so hard. Will you be the person cloaking a face in shame or are you the one who kicked over the Cups and spilled their contents? Cups are the Tarot's symbol of emotions; a spilled cup really is something to cry over.

The Emperor or Empress paired with the Five of Cups indicates the death of a parent or some other separation. Many young people who are financially dependent on their parents see such combinations in their Tarot readings around the time word comes from mom and dad that the days of paying all the bills are over.

Some Major Arcana cards can take away much of this card's gloom. The Sun appearing with this card is the Tarot's way of telling you that there is a great opportunity waiting to help you turn the corner. Strength is a Tarot card that allows you the individual resolve to make a tragedy a growth period of time. You may not be able to control the flow of bad news, but you can control your response to it.

Cards in the Major Arcana that combine well with the Five of Wands are The Star, The Moon and The Sun. These cards reinforce that you should enjoy the frivolities of life and find a way to incorporate them into your definition of a full and successful existence.

The Ace of Cups Tarot Card

When you have found an emotional plateau, you will see the Ace of Cups in your Tarot reading. This card represents the culmination of a sacrifice that has been rewarded with satisfaction, contentment and a deep, lasting peace. This is the Tarot deck's card of true love and it would be hard to imagine a soulmate Tarot reading without the presence of the Ace of Cups.

From out of a cloud appears a hand holding a Cup balanced on its palm. From this gold chalice emanates four plumes of water, which steadily pour down into a lake populated by floral lily pads. A white dove holds a communion wafer in its beak just above the rim of the Cup. The white hand glows and the wispy cloud from which it comes is silver-gray in tone. The Cup is engraved with a "W" in some Tarot Decks, an insignia for Arthur Edward Waite, the father of the modern tarot deck.

The Christian ritual of communion is a re-enactment of Christ making the ultimate sacrifice for his followers. When the Ace of Cups appears in a Tarot reading, there is the feeling that a love is so deep that one partner would be willing to die for the other. This is not a harbinger of any such passing, just a metaphor for the depth of the love that is being expressed here. Aces are the culmination of a suit's meaning and Cups represent emotions. The dove, of course, is a symbol of peace; the peace that such love brings a person and the peace that one is able to thus send out into the universe.

Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions

When a Tarot Reading begins, the cards are dealt into areas regarding your past, present and future. Where each card lands is the area of your life story that it will help describe. When the Ace of Cups is in the past position, you have a lover of great importance in your past. Were you dumped and the tale became sad after such a wonderful peak? On a better note, the Ace of Cups here often serves as a foundation to the reading and informs the Tarot reader that you have a sophisticated mastery of your emotions.

When the Tarot spread reveals the Ace of Cups in the present position, you are probably getting the reading because of a new love interest in your life. Perhaps you have a strong intuition that "the one" is near. A certain lack of anxiety will bring you a sense of happiness when this card arrives in the present position.

The Ace of Cups in the future position indicates that you are pursuing love as a goal in this lifetime. This is not necessarily a great position for this Ace as it questions your motivations. Is love something that you pursue in order to justify a lousy current situation? Are you too picky about who you date out of some misguided desire to "have it all" or have a mate who shows that you won some abstract contest to rein in a millionaire stud who worships you? The Ace of Cups in this position confronts you that an idealized notion of love off in the distance is a poor substitute for the real thing.

The Hovering Ace

Many Tarot readers prefer to pull any of the Aces off the table and hold them above the reading, an act referred to as exalting the Ace. Aces are considered so powerful that they cannot mix freely with other Tarot cards and therefore serve as a subtitle for your entire reading. If your Tarot reader follows the tradition of allowing the Ace to hover above the reading, the lessons about love and emotional maturity will be all the deeper and more meaningful for a full understanding of your situation.

Card Combinations

Each Tarot card in a reading informs the interpretations of the other cards. If your Tarot reader leaves the Ace of Cups in the Tarot spread before you, the cards around it gain an influence over the meaning of this special Tarot symbol.

When paired with another Ace, the mastery of emotions will be complete and lead to success in a definite avenue of your life. When The Emperor or The Magician are in your reading accompanying this card, look for a position of authority to give you great satisfaction. Power and influence require a stable base from which to judge and the Judgment card near the Ace of Cups indicates you are making great life decisions. Temperance is a card where the main character seems to be using the Ace of Cups to stay on the stable and sane path. So accept the Tarot's message of stability when this card appears.

If Death is drawn in a reading that features the Ace of Cups, look for your loneliness to be the thing that is dying. An emotional stability that comes with being accepted by a partner is on its way.

When there are lots of other cards from the suit of Cups in a reading with their Ace, the emotional foundation for growth and leadership is truly present. If the reading with this card also has many cards from the suit of Wands, a business idea you have could be just what is needed in your chosen field. A fortune could be bubbling over.

When the Ace of Cups combines with many cards from the suit of Pentacles, you must ask yourself if your love of material possessions is getting in the way of a love of yourself and those around you. With the suit of Swords combining with this card, you have an opportunity to use verbal communication to get a deeper understanding of your feelings. Have you met a soulmate who actually understands your deepest desires and hopes?

When the Ace of Cups is in the same reading as The World, look for some of those deepest hopes and desires to be more than just understood; this card combination is like bulldozing a trail straight to your life's goals. It is one of the magic moments in all of Tarot reading.