Element: Water
Imagery: A seated figure beneath a tree, focused on three cups while a fourth is offered by a divine hand.
General Themes: Emotional withdrawal, dissatisfaction, introspection, and gratitude.
Four of Cups Upright
Upright, this card asks—no, BEGS—you to re-enchant your life! It’s easy to get stuck and feel like your life is going nowhere fast. What’s needed is a change in perspective. Instead of fixating on what you don’t have, take a breath, look around you, and notice what you do have.
Look at the figure in the card. His arms are crossed and he’s looking away from three golden cups right in front of him. He doesn’t even notice the fourth cup, a divine offering, practically falling into his lap. He’s miserable!
And to think, if only he’d look up. Take a deep breath. Uncross his arms and look around. He’d see that the world is conspiring in his favor. If this isn’t an invitation to practice the art of joy and curiosity, I don’t know what is.
Consider where you put your time and energy. Also consider where your mind goes most often. Are these thoughts generative and life-affirming? Or do they restrict flow?
Take a moment. Look up. And be open to everyday magic and synchronic happenings. Seems like a better way of going about life than always looking for what you lack.
Four of Cups Reversed
Reversed, this card offers an opportunity to clear through stagnation and old perspectives. Step back and look at your life. Really look. Don’t just look for what’s missing. Notice what’s there, especially the things that enhance the quality of your life. Make a list if you need to. You’ll find you have rather a lot more than you realized.
New opportunities and energetic shifts will come from this pause.
At its most magical, this card is about shifting out of scarcity into an abundance mentality. Pure gratitude floods your heart and you’ve learned not to take your life and healthy relationships for granted. This shift is everything. Suddenly, you can enjoy the bounty of the three golden cups before you and trust that the fourth one will find you when you’re ready.
You’ll be surprised how magnetic gratitude can be. It’s revitalizing. It’s contagious. It’s an invitation for good things to come into your life.
The Bruja’s Guide to Tarot is the divination sister to the scholarly The Bruja Professor, a witchy take on literature, the occult & pop culture, and Enchantment Learning & Living, an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you.
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