Element of Water · Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces

The Suit of Cups

The Suit of Cups is the emotional heart of the tarot. From the overflowing Ace to the rainbow of the Ten, these fourteen cards tell the story of love, friendship, grief, longing and joy. If you're asking about a relationship or a soulmate connection, Cups are the cards you'll want to understand first.

Cups are the suit of water. They describe feelings, love, friendship, intuition and the inner world. In a reading, many Cups often mean the heart of the matter is emotional: how you feel, how others feel and what your relationships need.

How to read the Cups by number

  • Ace of Cups: Aces carry the pure, undiluted energy of their suit. They are seeds and doorways: an offer, an opening, a first spark.
  • Five of Cups: Fives introduce disruption. They are the challenge in the middle of each suit's story, and they ask you to adapt.
  • Ten of Cups: Tens complete the cycle, sometimes as fulfillment and sometimes as a burden that must be released.

The four court cards, the Page, Knight, Queen and King of Cups, can describe real people in your life or parts of your own personality.

Ace of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Ace of CupsTwo of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Two of CupsThree of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Three of CupsFour of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Four of CupsFive of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Five of CupsSix of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Six of CupsSeven of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Seven of CupsEight of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Eight of CupsNine of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Nine of CupsTen of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Ten of CupsPage of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Page of CupsKnight of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Knight of CupsQueen of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)Queen of CupsKing of Cups tarot card (Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909)King of Cups