The Suits
To work successfully wth the Minor Arcana it is vital to develop a clear understanding of Tarot's four suits and what they represent.
Mystical Meanings
Antoine Court de Gébelin, who is credited with first connecting Tarot with esoteric ideas, claimed the four suits represented the four classes of ancient Egyptian society. Alchemically, the suits relate to the four elements: Earth (Pentacles), Air (Swords), Fire (Wands) and Water (Cups). The qualities of each suit share characteristics related to their element.
Pentacles can be thought of as blossoming like a garden while Swords move fast like winds. Wands are explosive in a similar way to flames and Cups are fluid like rivers.
This system will help to quickly and easily decipher the meanings of the cards.
Cups
Element: Water
Roles: Receptive, Feminine, Adaptive, Reflexive
Keywords: Emotions, Feeling, Love, Senses, Intuition, Empathy, Sentiment, Psychic Ability, Knowing, Caring, Thoughtfulness, Consideration, Sentimentality, Art, Loyalty, Affection, Sensitivity.
The Suit of Cups reveals the spiritual and emotional reality of a person. The suit represents intuition, feelings and the deepest, most evocative places in someone's soul. It stands for the entire emotional span, from the highest peaks to the lowest lows. The Suit of Cups is associated with art, music, vision, empathy and love.
Cups intertwine with the realm of intuition and psychic powers. They express the ability to communicate on an emotional level, without resorting to - and sometimes ignoring - language and reason. Cups indicate what we feel and why we feel it. They symbolise instincts, emotions, sentiments, empathy, intuitions and perceptions. Cards of this suit are associated with the element of Water, the colour blue, our emotional sphere, relationships and the season of Summer. When lots of them appear in a Spread they can indicate that an introspective journey is necessary. An absence of cups suggests separation, coldness or boredom and a need for personal connection.
Intuition
Cups can provide spontaneous and sudden insight offering Reader and Querent moments of deep clarity. and understanding. They are the suits of the inner emotional life. Cups are how we communicate without language or articulation because sometimes the greatest truth cannot be spoken. These truths are rather seen, felt and known. This truth is expressed in the Suit of Cups, which is why it is connected to arts, music and love.
Decision-Making and Thinking
When they appear in a Tarot reading, Cups can also encourage a person to act out of instinct and follow their feelings - rather than overthinking and ending up stuck in a state of procrastination. Cups require us to pay attention to subjective perceptions. They ask us to relate to others through empathy rather than judgment.
A Comparison of the Cards
The Cups are also known as Chalices or Vessels, which clearly express the receptive power of the Suit. In its relationship with Water, Cups express the ability to flow clearly and gently envelop all things.
Getting to know Tarot's four suits - Cups, Pentacles, Wands and Swords - is a crucial element in hning your skill with the cards.
Here we will take a closer look at the suits of Cups and Pentacles, explaining their meanings and associations.
Newcomers to tarot may assume that the suits are similar to the hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades that are found in a traditional deck of cards. However, historical esearch reveals that playing cards ad Tarot decks evlolved separately alsongside one another.
Various theories exist about what Tarot's four suits represent. They may have initially been connected with the four social classes of medieval Europe. In this scenario, the Wands are te peasants who worked in the fields and forests, Cups represented the clergy. Swords reflected the nobility and Pentacles were linked with the merchant class.
Updated
1 January 2025 at 17:51:46