Five of Cups
The Five of Cups signifies themes of regret, sorrow, loss, and the emotional weight of unfulfilled possibilities. It embodies the grief of what could have been, often reflecting on past relationships and missed opportunities. However, it also encourages a shift in perspective to recognize the remaining positives and the potential for a new beginning. Ultimately, it invites individuals to embrace the present and move toward a more hopeful future.
Keywords
Introduction to the Card
I call this card the MaybeLife card.
Emotional Impact of Lost Potential
I talked with a friend who said that his high school sweetheart was pregnant with her first child and that it completely emotionally devastated him. He said that he felt stupid, since it’s been almost twenty years since he loved her, but that it hurt like he loved her and lost her just yesterday. I got a little affronted at his dismissal of this love. It’s real, it existed, and it probably still exists in some form. I don’t know that it was the love that hurt him, either. I think it was the death of the MaybeLife. Twenty years ago, he saw in her his future—his children, his home, and his forever. He watched himself grow old and die with her by his side. Even though life stepped in and separated their paths, that MaybeLife was still breathing—just a little, until her path shifted just enough to make the MaybeLife completely impossible. There would be no heartfelt reunion, no shared children, no home, no future. Not anymore. Not this time around.
Carrying Moments of Loss
The child that wasn’t to be, the friendship that dissolved, the loved one who died so quickly and so soon … We carry these around in ourselves, and when we’re feeling like right bastards, we hold them up against our lives to see what would be different. Would I have more security, would I have joy every day, would I be loved more, touched more, appreciated more?
The Fear of the Unknown
The time doesn’t matter. If it’s twenty years later or one year later, you can remember that shift inside of you. That moment that you know in your heart that the marriage isn’t going to work, that you’re stuck in this goddamned town for a few more years, that that one job would have been it for you if you’d only gotten through the second interview. You can feel the split in your path from what should have been to the unknown, and that is scary as hell. As a tarot reader, I can tell almost daily how terrifying the unknown is to my clients. As a person, it wakes me up in the middle of the night and leaves me breathless and anxious. What if I’m doing it all wrong? What if I made a mistake?
Comfort of the MaybeLife
When you have the comfort of the MaybeLife, you have the comfort of a soft place to land. You know that even if you jack up all of your life decisions, if the stars align properly and you ask nicely, maybe, maybe you’ll land back where you were. If not too much time has passed, you can tell yourself that you can pick up where you left off and everything will be fine.
Change in Perspective
The problem with this thought process is that you are not the same. In A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett wrote, “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” You are not the same person that you were, so your rationale behind these decisions shifts as well. (We always forget that part.)
Representation of the Card
The Five of Cups in tarot is pretty much defined by MaybeLifes. The person is staring intently at the three cups that have spilled and is completely ignoring the two cups behind him. We tend to look back blissfully at the maybes and forget about the arguments in the relationship, the growth that we needed to experience, the choice that seemed so clear at the time. Going through that, losing that love, moving forward alone—all of that pain, really—forged us into who we are now. And who we are now is perfect. It’s so much closer to the whole self that is waiting down the road.
Imagery of Regret
In this card, I imagine the person crying until their eyelids are swollen. Taking a few deep, shuddering breaths and wiping their nose on their robe. The shoulders go back and the sunlight starts to burn their eyes a little. They’ve probably got the whiffles (when you cry so hard you can’t catch your breath) and won’t be able to stop shaking for a bit. They turn around and nearly walk into the full cups that were behind them. They pick those up, drink deeply from one, and then walk away toward that bridge in the background, carrying the other so carefully to avoid spilling a drop. Walk respectfully away from the past. Drink in the present. Walk so carefully toward your precious future.
Core Themes of the Card
The Five of Cups is about regret, sorrow, loss, and pain.
Five of Cups Inverted
I think that the Five of Cups doesn’t turn over very easily. It’s a process card, so the end of the movement is release and moving on, which would be inverted. One could imagine the three standing cups washing away the past and giving you a new start.
Deck Of Luminaries Tarot
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