Five of cups Tarot Card Meanings

Minor Arcana Tarot

Five of cups Tarot Card Meanings

Upright Card Meaning

There is melancholy in the air when the Five of Cups appears. You have been through a great loss. Perhaps a relationship has not worked out the way you expected or you have lost some money or a professional opportunity. What you have once dreamed of now seems permanently out of reach. You may have also lost confidence in your own abilities, it is difficult to feel the same way you always have once you suffer such a significant setback. This is a time of mourning, it is alright if you are feeling sad or discouraged.
However, the card is asking that you be clear-eyed about what it is exactly that you are mourning. Is the loss quite as great as you thought it was? If you look closely, there might still be something left to salvage out of the destruction. Or, you are so focused on that which you have lost that you do not see the myriad other blessings that still surround you.
It is alright not to feel grateful all the time, life is often sad and we cannot be expected to constantly feel boundless optimism. However, do not allow yourself to slip too deep into self-pity.

Minor Arcana Tarot

Five of cups Tarot Card Meanings

Reversed Card Meaning

The wounds in your heart have slowly begun to heal as shown by the Five of Cups reversed.
The Five of Cups reversed does not represent a life that has been free from suffering. On the contrary, you have known great loss and disappointment, perhaps even in the very recent past. However, you have been able to dust yourself off from these defeats. You have accepted that which you have lost and may even have mourned it for a period, but now you are slowly finding peace within yourself and moving on to different projects. Your past and your inherited traumas affect you, but they do not have to define you forever.
The Five of Cups Reversed is not telling you that you have to forgive and forget, some wounds may never heal perfectly. The card is encouraging you to find new joys in life and seek out good news. You do not need to let the pain win.