1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. Five of Cups

Minor Arcana · Cups

Five of Cups

• something remains over
• two are left
• inheritance

Upright meaning

Disappointment, but Waite insists something remains over: three cups are spilled, two are left. A card about turning to what is still here.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite reads news, alliances and return: reconnection is possible.

• news
• alliances
• return

Symbolism

A cloaked figure looks at three spilled cups; two stand behind him, and a bridge leads to a house.

Group

Minor Arcana · Cups

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part III §2 (The Lesser Arcana). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.