← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 40/121
Four of Cups
The Four of Cups is the card of emotional stillness that has gone flat. After the celebration of the Three, something has lost its taste. It is often read as apathy, dissatisfaction with what is already there, or a withdrawal into one's own thoughts — and as a reminder that something new may be on offer if one looks up.
The image
A young man sits under a tree with his arms folded, looking at three cups on the grass before him. From a cloud, a hand offers him a fourth cup, which he does not seem to see. The three cups are usually taken as what life already holds; the offered cup as a fresh possibility; the folded arms as a closed mood.
Upright
Weariness, discontent and reflection. Waite writes of "weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations". The card can describe needing time alone, or being stuck in a mood that makes good things look dull. It is not always negative: a pause to take stock can be exactly what is needed.
Reversed
Waite reads the reversal as presentiment, novelty and new relations. Modern readers often see the person beginning to look up — accepting the offered cup, coming out of a slump — or, less often, a withdrawal that has hardened. Some readers do not use reversals.
Correspondences
The Four of the suit of Cups, element water. The Golden Dawn, whose attributions most English-language decks follow, calls it the Lord of Blended Pleasure and gives it the Moon in the third decan of Cancer, 20°–30°. On the Tree of Life it sits in Chesed, the fourth sephirah.
In a reading
In the past, it can describe a period of disengagement. As an obstacle, it often points to not seeing what is offered. As advice, it can mean taking a quiet pause, or ending one. Beside the Ace of Cups it is often read as a gift being overlooked.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Decan: Moon in Cancer, 20°–30°
Element: Water — the element of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces
Mode: Cardinal — Cancer is a cardinal sign