MINOR ARCANA
Four of Cups Tarot Meanings
Usually, with the fours in the tarot, we can expect a bit of relief as things stabilise and we find a rhythm within the suit, however, with the cups, this can often lead to boredom and frustration. Our emotional realm craves excitement so when things get too stable, they can feel stagnant and lifeless. That’s what we’re faced with within the Four of Cups.
Although we’re enjoying some emotional or creative stability, things have become a bit monotonous. Of course, if we’ve just been through the wringer, then a bit of stability in the realm of cups will be well received, but if we’ve been in this space for too long, that’s when we’ll start to see this disassociation start to creep in.
Four of Cups Upright Meanings
In the upright position, the Four of Cups is about finding or dealing with emotional stability and what that means for you as you move forward. Some of the key meanings of the Four of Cups are:
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Apathy
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Reflection
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Boredom
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Disconnection
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Ungrateful
The Four of Cups is a card that for some can be a blessing and others be their worst nightmare. If you crave excitement and drama, then the Four of Cups will be extremely boring and frustrating. If you have anxiety or you hate feeling that constant rush of adrenalin and prefer to keep your feet firmly on the ground, then the Four of Cups is what you’ll be aiming for.
Four of Cups Reversed Meanings
In the reversed position, the Four of Cups can show a keen focus and emotional awareness that helps you to feel completely in control. Some of the main reversed meanings of the Four of Cups are:
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Gratitude
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Acceptance
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Awareness
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Enthusiasm
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Focus
The Four of Cups in the reversed position brings a lot of welcome stability in the emotional realm and helps us to feel truly connected with our intuition and internal world. It can also teach us a lot about what we need in order to feel safe and secure
Reading Four of Cups in a Tarot Spread
When reading the Four of Cups it’s always a good idea to get a feeling for the type of person you’re reading for, as well as what the other cards in the spread tells you about them. This will help you to identify if the Four of Cups is welcome or feared. If you’re reading for yourself, really sit in the energy of the Four of Cups and assess how you feel about it. Does it make you feel disheartened or does it make you feel safe and secure?
The Four of Cups is read from the heart centre, so sometimes to be able to unravel the true meaning of it, we have to tap into our intuition and see what thoughts and feelings come up within it.
Four of Cups as An Invitation
When the Four of Cups shows up as an invitation, we are invited to assess our current emotional state and decide if changes need to be made or if we need to do things to maintain stability.
For Four of Cups, this invitation could be the following:
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An invitation to assess how you truly feel about something
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An invitation to practice gratitude for what you already have surrounding you
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An invitation to spend some time connecting with your internal world
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An invitation to create more focus around the things you feel called to pay attention to
Four of Cups as Sage Advice
The advice that the Four of Cups often offers up to us is around the theme of gratitude and creating emotional stability. Often the two go hand in hand so it can mean taking some time to yourself and really exploring those feelings in a safe space.
Some advice Four of Cups may offer is:
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If we can’t appreciate what we have now, we can’t attract what we want later
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Practising emotional awareness can help to create focus, intention and create harmony within
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If you feel like you’ve lost the connection with your emotional self, what can you do to shake things up?
Four of Cups as a Lesson
The Four of Cups is a lesson in figuring out what we really want, it’s about creating habits, forming routines and taking steps to put our wellbeing first and allowing ourselves space and time to dive into our emotional realm.
Some lessons that Four of Cups may offer you are:
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A lesson in gratitude
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A lesson in connection with the internal world and intuitive self
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A lesson in acceptance of what we can’t control and work with what we can
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A lesson in finding the things in life that spark joy
Four of Cups as a Redirection
As a redirection, the Four of Cups can often show up to tell us that we’re focusing on the wrong areas. It may be that we’ve set our sights on a particular goal, but that tunnel vision is causing us to miss all the amazing things that are still happening around us. The line from John Lennon’s song Beautiful Boy always plays in my head when I get this card, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
As a redirection, Four of Cups could symbolise a need to:
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Look around and see all the amazing things that are already happening to you
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Find new ways to be present and feel connected to the here and now
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Refocus on a different area
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Accept that life throws your way and take control in the areas of your life where you have more control
Cups
The cups refer to our emotional, intuitive and connected selves. They are what allows us to understand how we feel and if we look hard enough, why we feel what we feel.
When we reach the Four of Cups, we are gifted with a great deal of stability within the cups cycle. We have reached a place where we can take a breath and settle. However because the cups refer to the above areas of the self, this can sometimes cause us to disconnect from reality and get lost in fantasy.
Water
The element of air corresponds with all the Swords, which is why we know that the Swords relate to areas of our lives such as communication and intellect.
In the Four of Swords, the element of air becomes a gentle breeze. It starts to calm us, offering us more oxygen to take deeper breaths. It allows us to quieten the mind enough to make sense of chaos and confusion. It offers us a place to rest that feels safe, supported, open and honest.
Fours
The number four within numerology is all about stability and helps to ground the suit it appears in. For the Four of Cups, this is a stability within the emotional and intuitive realm. Although this sounds positive, it can go either way. Too much emotional stability can actually cause emotional stagnation, which then leads to apathy.
When we are in this ‘numb’ or disassociated state, our intuition becomes dampened. It’s harder to tap into the intuition because we aren’t able to feel those intuitive signals.
