Four of Cups
The Four of Cups signals emotional stagnation, where feelings have become stuck and may lead to dissatisfaction, boredom, or depression. It urges a check-in to locate blockages and restore the natural flow of emotions rather than remaining shut down. The card's imagery—three neglected vessels and a fourth offered with fresh water and a daisy—symbolizes available opportunities for emotional renewal if one is willing to accept them. The guidance is to investigate the causes of discontent, appreciate what is present, and open oneself to new possibilities for fulfillment.
Keywords
Title
Four of Cups
Keywords
Depression, dissatisfaction, boredom, a rut. Contemplation, introspection.
Meaning
Emotional Health
When the 4 of Cups appears, it urges us to check in with our emotional health, which may—without our notice—be going flat, tilting toward despondency, or even sinking into depression. Emotions are cyclical; they ebb and flow, but in this card, they get stuck. The stability of the number four becomes stagnation, and stagnant water starts to stink. When this card appears, we need to find the blockage and restore the flow. Otherwise, we're likely to remain in a funk, shut down to new connections and possibilities.
Dissatisfaction
In the 4 of Cups, dissatisfaction is often the culprit. We may be feeling unfulfilled by our circumstances and relationships or jaded with life in general. The important thing to do here is investigate why, to go scuba diving in that murky water and find out what's down there in the muck, blocking the flow. We may be so focused on what we don't have that we have forgotten to appreciate what we do.
Imagery
Our imagery shows three vessels in various sad states: one upturned and empty, one almost dry, and one bobbing in the tarry pool of our misery, framed by mournful willow branches. But none of these vessels are cracked or broken; they're all fully functional. As in the Ace, a hand offers a fourth bottle, a new possibility for emotional fulfillment—if we can stir ourselves to accept it. This fourth vessel contains fresh water and a daisy, a promise of rejuvenated emotional life.
End Marker
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Visual Description
A simple wooden house sits partially surrounded by a pool of inky black water that fills the lower half of the image. A small sailboat drifts on the dark surface amid swirling current lines, flanked by tall flowering stalks with yellow blossoms on both sides. Above the roof, an assortment of emptied or damaged vessels — a crushed tin can, a broken bottle, a dripping mug, a teacup and a drinking glass — hover in an arc. A faint watermark reading "DEATH SPIRIT © CLAIRE BURGESS" is visible across the lower center, and a Roman numeral V appears at the bottom of the card.
Fifth Spirit tarot
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