5 of Cups is a signal of difficult relationships or unexpected troubles and interference in business. The main thing is grief for the losses. The Five of Cups is a card of sadness, pain, and melancholy.

We have lost something that was important to us for a long time, and our expectations failed us.

5 of Cups emphasises about strong emotions: if can be righteous anger or love suffering. It is very hard to overcome mental pain, an emotional crisis, and depression. Something that once brought joy and delight, today causes pain that is penetrating inside our mind, body and spirit.

5 of Cups is a radical disappointment and now you do not see anything positive. Emptiness eventually will make a room for new filling, but being in the space of the Five of Cups, you cannot yet see good things coming.

This card implicitly contains the potential for new possibilities or a new way of looking at things.

The trap of 5 of Cups is to get stuck in sadness. Who looks only backwards will not notice love, even if it is very close. A deep immersion in thoughts about the loss stops you paying attention to other goals and opportunities – after all, we live in a dual world, where every negative event has a positive outcome as well, and almost every loss can be considered as an acquisition. If we missed some opportunities, we still have to turn the page and continue to move on. Life is not over, even if the grief is great and the losses are significant, but there is more joys and gains ahead.

According to the Five of Cups, we lose something, and are experiencing grief and regret. It can also be some very real thing like a mobile phone – in this case, you will inevitably get a new one, maybe better than the old one…

When we lose something intangible – a dream, an illusion, a feeling … some expectations did not come true, hopes collapsed, we feel really disappointed – what a bummer.

The Five of Cups often emphasizes the desire to redo the past and regret about missed opportunities, internal discord, emotional resistance to change and, finally, humble acceptance of what is happening and the inevitable change of priorities.

By the way, the best thing about this card is that it always says that you are not alone, there are people around who love you, who brighten up your life, provide support at this difficult stage of your journey. These are kind and reliable friends, whose warm participation will help to overcome the crisis and gain confidence in the future.

5 of Cups can be connected to stages of grief, slowly you will admit mistakes, overcome a time of sadness, and return to the flow of life. The card can talk about small failures, transient sadness. By the Five of Cups, you can get a scolding, after which you will have to “wipe your nose”.

The traditional meaning of the card is an inheritance, a gift from ancestors (in the past, funeral mourning was often mitigated by profits, which were symbolized by two bowls behind the back, “happiness in misfortune”). Another traditional meaning is the coming union, perhaps marriage or partnership, but you have to learn to be happy because this is not what you expected.

Personal Feelings

Anger and discouragement. “I want to cry”. You are in a bad mood, and regret about missed opportunities, and resistance to change.

Mental suffering associated with a passionate desire for the impossible and intoxicated self-pity. A sadly disappointed state in which you do not see the good, but only see the bad.

You feel that the purpose of your existence is lost. Painful memories press on you.

We mourn the past, standing with our backs to those life sources that feed our present.

The danger is that, according to the Five of Cups, very deep and very negative subconscious aspirations (up to suicidal thoughts) can develop in the human psyche, the realization of which causes suffering and confusion of feelings.

Self-rejection passes through this card, even hatred directed at oneself, unwillingness to work on oneself, inability to learn from one’s own mistakes, inability to navigate one’s own feelings, emotional dependence.

In rare cases – complete despair, actions in a state of passion.

5 of Cups is a card of sadness and excruciating pain. You have been harmed in some way. You feel regret, disappointment, mourning, pain that cannot be overcome immediately.

As a card of personal growth, 5 of Cups symbolizes the need for freedom and change. As a rule, you have outgrown the current situation, and therefore must move forward, even if it means parting with loved ones or everything that you are emotionally attached to. The questioner, most likely, knows well what he lost and why.

On a Deeper Level

The first decade of Scorpio

Astrological equivalents: Leo, Cancer, Saturn.

Saturn/Venus or Saturn/Moon as a symbol of parting, pain, grief and despair.

Mars in Scorpio, Capricorn.

The card has a Saturnian-Uranian flavor – there is purification of emotions, and the renewal of life.

Like any Five, the Five of Cups symbolizes an attempt to go beyond the rigid quaternary form. The instability that has arisen in the Five knocks consciousness out of the stability of the Four. It makes you feel separated from the source of life. What used to bloom and smell, turned into dust and ashes.

Deep inner feelings have dried up, we suffer from loneliness and longing for what has been lost forever.

5 of Cups may indicate a gift or inheritance in the most literal and direct sense. Leo sign wakes up.

Abandoned and offended, a man in a black mourning cloak stands and stares intently and sadly at three spilled bowls, symbolizing his broken hopes – it seems that he has lost hope or joy. It is generally accepted that overturned cups indicate lost love.

A black cloak symbolizes longing, bitterness and sorrow (in such a cloak a person can go to a monastery, having become disillusioned with the world).

A person does not know that behind him are two filled cups, symbolizing new opportunities and a new way of looking at things.

The lesson of this card is to come to your senses, notice the two bowls behind you and bring them across the bridge to your home, in the visible fortress, to start all over again.

The river on the card symbolizes the flow of time and life. The bridge symbolizes two banks – two periods of life (this can be associated with the sacred duty of the Priest – to be the high priest, the creator of the bridge between the material and spiritual worlds).

The sign of Scorpio symbolizes the development of feelings in depth. The first decade of Scorpio expresses the idea of a passionate and demanding analysis of life and the search for its essence. This decade is ruled by the planet of hidden potential, passion and suffering Pluto (and Mars). This decade is characterized by emotional dissatisfaction, internal uncompromisingness and a desire to remake the world. It is self-sacrifice, contemplation of death and the need to renew life. Destruction does its job, but without life nothing is impossible.

From a magical point of view, this is a card of mediumship, communication with the dead. This is an archetypal journey to the underworld, where the traveler is deprived of all worldly covers and attachments in order to gain true values.

Light and shadow (advice and caution)

Tips: Accept grief, gradually overcome the pain and turn to the positive side of the situation. “Hut-hut, turn to me in front, back to the forest.”

The lost thing will soon be replaced by something else. Your lesson is not to have expectations, so you won’t feel disappointed.

The Five of Cups says that it is in our power to see the good.

The reason for disappointment in many ways lies only in ourselves. It is enough to turn your face to the present, leaving the past behind, and your steadfastness will return.

Everything will get better over time. We must gather strength and not break. Over time, new plans and goals will come.

Warning: don’t try to do something you’ll regret later. Do not dive too deep into dark thoughts – this way you will miss something important.

Inability to deal with your emotions, isolation, a bitter and depressive attitude will hinder the further development of affairs and relationships.

This is a friendly warning: stop beating yourself up. You are doing the best you can with what you have at this time. Leave the past and love the future. Do not give up and cling to your suffering. Don’t wallow in self-pity, it’s like the sea – the further you go, the deeper you sink.

Career

Five of Cups brings failed projects, false promises, unrealistic undertakings, unprofitable enterprises, failure of contracts. This is a situation where all sorts of past shortcomings (for example, failing exams) pop up in a distressing way.

In part, this is a card of indecision, the inability to force yourself to think about some important issues – a person defends himself and runs away from the situation instead of working.

Sometimes portends a change in environment, plans and personal circumstances, because of the desire to avoid these issues.

Unsatisfying work is possible, where talents are either not used properly or do not receive the deserved appreciation.

A temporary state in which a person sees only the minuses and does not notice the pluses.

Perhaps someone did not fulfill their promises (for example, the working conditions were not the same as agreed upon).

The card describes a peculiar state of mind – a person does not notice achievements, does not see anything good in the situation that has been created, and therefore wants to escape from a short-sighted perceived situation instead of working.

This is the presence of a real and at the same time a false problem: the loss of harmony due to a misunderstanding of something important.

Man is his own enemy, he is ready (uncompromisingly!) to exchange the truth for the false. There is a risk, chasing a crane, to lose a very real titmouse.

This card can describe psychotherapists, people whose specialty includes the ability to understand the pain of others, the motives of their behavior, receptivity and the desire to know themselves and others.

Finance and Household

Temporary losses.

Unexpected expenses.

Unfulfilled expectations regarding income or profit.

Traditionally, Five of Cups symbolizes a will, a gift, an inheritance (which does not exclude frustration and emotional damage), inherited property.

Personal Relationships

You are deeply immersed in difficult experiences that do not quite correspond to the real state of affairs.

Nothing particularly tragic happened, except for a terrible confusion within own desires and fears.

You need to pull yourself together, and trust your own will power.

Sometimes this card comes up right after a serious fight or divorce, when the feelings are still exposed, and trying to start something from the beginning seems unthinkable.

When your expectations were too high, and some unexpected event abruptly destroyed them.

The situation is comparable to a slap in the face and what you would not wish for an enemy.

In an emotional sense, Five of Cups indicates the initial stage of trauma and awareness, when feelings are naked, and trying to start something new seems unthinkable.

Five of Cups is a youthfully maximalistic. Your disappointment happened as you were getting rid of delusions. 5 of Cups is cutting off everything superfluous, to feelings at the level of “all – or nothing.”

The great influence of Saturn brings something from the intransigence and uncompromisingness of Capricorn into the action. In essence, Five of Cups is another heartbreak card, along with the Three of Swords.

The Five of Cups is the most informative card for relationships. It is realized through Saturn, bringing with Saturn quarrels, losses, partings, disappointment, grief, a sense of imperfection, despair, grief for the lost.

All the shortcomings in building relationships, all the omissions, contradictions, misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations “emerge”.

Moreover, the disappointment of the Five of Cups is a purely internal, intimate event so to speak. You feel that you “a fool yourself ”.

You have realized that your goals pursued were incompatible with genuine needs (the partner is inappropriate), or that the person is in a relationship that somehow contradicts his moral principles.

One way or another, failures, sorrows and losses occur because you raped yourself in something in between, stepped on your own throat, and now you are surprised that your throat is intercepting.

Yes, it’s a disappointment. “The game was not worth the candle.” “Cheap”. And now it is excruciatingly painful and longing seems deadly. It makes no sense to revel in self-digging and self-pity – this is just the case when everything is clear even without a psychotherapist. You see the situation clearly and eventually you will do something to correct it.

Sometimes this “correction” looks like breaking an unsuccessful connection and starting a new relationship.

Now we are more likely to engage in self-deception when we indulge in despondency

You may want a temporary separation with your partner to see the situation more clearly. But often you know that a continuation of relations causes on you a destructive impact, and you a sacrifice yourself to loved ones.

You have a vulnerable alliance or partnership a fragile friendship, a “failed” marriage without true love, in a higher sense, an unusual or mystical marriage.

The Five of Cups can also indicate a time of mourning, when a person is just getting used to a bereavement, and a state immediately after a breakup or divorce, when it is extremely important to acknowledge the pain.

Situations and conditions according to the Five of Cups can vary from an unpleasant telephone conversation that leaves a transient residue in the soul, to mourning your entire fate, deep grief, in which thoughts of suicide creep into your head.

In relatively mild cases, fear for a fragile union, uncertainty about the future

The mind is now focused on the problematic aspects, flaws and imperfections of this union, but this could be temporary.

A person painfully realizes that he behaved contrary to his beliefs, upbringing, did everything that he considered right. When things failed, this is a very painful life experience, sadness and disappointment – primarily in himself.

If someone had said a month ago that something like this would happen and things would go this far, he would not have believed it.

What happened is an unexpected loss for him and this upsets him immensely.

Pain and longing devour him openly, it is clear that the wound in his soul will not heal immediately. Now he mourns his former life, realizing that all that is left behind and will never return. Sorrow for the lost, pain, despair and facing a difficult emotional test – that’s what 5 of Cups means.

This is a feeling of abandonment, resentment, inner torment (even if the “offender” hugs and whispers words of love – abandonment and deception can be added to this).

This is a genuine emotional crisis, an agony of feelings, the deepest mental pain, pain due to what has gone forever …. but that’s it, that there are two bowls behind your back. They say that you are not alone, – there is a loving person nearby, that you need to get rid of sadness as soon as possible – yes, this pain must be experienced and comprehended in order to lead to further spiritual growth.

For some people, this card literally describes the MYSTERY OF LIFE.

The Great Mystery of this Arcana is that TWO CUPS are MORE IMPORTANT than THOSE THREE in terms of Fate.

You are in the wrong mood, you choose the worst and discard everything positive; in fact, you harm yourself by trying to annoy the other. Happiness and fulfillment of desires have been waiting for you for a long time. Still waiting. Basically, you are trying to escape instead of working on the situation.

Five of Cups teaches that all depends on us whether we see the glass half empty or half full.

If you can see the good side in what you have, you can be happy in your own way. Sometimes the Five of Cups foreshadows changes in the environment as a result of the desire to avoid these issues.

Sometimes the card speaks of marriage not with the one you wanted, and your task of seeing what gold you got, and not mourning the unfulfilled. Yes, it’s not what you expected. You mourn what you didn’t get, and there is a reason. But you GOT! Something you need to learn to appreciate.

Five of Cups simply reacts to a storm in the ocean of the subconscious, when one of the partners wants to cry, he feels vulnerable, but in reality everything is fine, everything is in order, it just seems to him, and the other is ready to calm him down.

One of the hidden meanings of the card is a testament, a gift, an inheritance. It may be related to the karma of love, gifts from a partner who is not around, a mystical marriage with him, which does not correspond to the usual idea of happiness, but may well embody harmony.

Five of Cups can be the mourning of a relationship that is not developing at the moment.

Your relationship cannot develop precisely because of the close attention of others, but if not for this fact, everything would be quite harmonious. Five of Cups can indicate a desire to close from the outside world, fear of emotional exposure.

Perhaps the best thing to do in a Five of Cups situation is to honestly see the essence of torment, learn to forgive and, with full self-confidence, decide what to do. Smile through tears and trust, overcoming the fear of a new life.

Through the Five of Cups, there are genealogies and family histories with lineage heroes and black sheep.

Health

Brokenness. Hangover.

Depression, melancholy, general depression, weakness. Nervous diseases.

Conditions that require the use of painkillers sometimes pass through this map.

Sometimes the card serves as an indicator of problems with conception (but still not infertility).

Abortion, miscarriage.

Hereditary diseases, including mental disorders.

Reversed Five of Cups

Reversed Five of Cups means a new outlook on life, encouraging news, pleasant experiences, new alliances, returning old friends, reuniting with someone.

This is a card for those who are recovering from illness or loss, leaving the past behind and ready to move on. Update, return to normal.

Traditional meanings are news, the return of old friends, union, reconciliation with those who are dear, the resumption of interrupted contacts.

In rare cases – Reversed Five of Cups means denial of problems, a kind of false well-being. Another meaning is a hassle due to the arrival of relatives, who were not expected and domestic quarrels.