Card 38 • cups

Three of Cups

Brief Description

The Three of Cups celebrates friendship, community, and mutual support, indicating gatherings, celebrations, and shared abundance. It encourages turning to chosen family and networks for solace and help during challenges and emphasizes the rewards of nurturing these bonds. When tensions arise, the card advocates reconnection, amends, and cooperative openness rather than competition. Visually, the card's trio of mugs, teapot, cookies, spoons, and braided hair reinforce themes of companionship, shared burdens and triumphs, and the weaving together of relationships.

three of cupstarottarot card meaningtarot interpretationtarot readingcard symbolismdivinationsuit of cups

Keywords

Friendship, community, mutual support, abundance and enjoyment.

Meaning

Expansion of Partnership

The 3 of Cups broadens on the partnership themes of the previous card, expanding our hearts to include our friend groups, chosen family, and communities. When this card appears in a reading, we may soon have something to celebrate or a reason to gather in fellowship with others in our group.

Turning to Networks

If we’re facing challenges in the moment, the 3 of Cups urges us to turn to these networks of mutual care for support and solace.

Nurturing and Reconciliation

This card reminds us of the immense rewards that come of nurturing our friendships and communities, which support us as we support them. But it’s also important to note that with friends and family, disagreements happen. If the 3 of Cups shows up when not all is good in the neighborhood, it encourages us to reconnect and make amends. It’s also a reminder to join with our circles in a spirit of openness, sharing, and cooperation—there’s no competition here. When we lift each other up, we all rise.

Painting

In our card, two mugs and a teapot are clustered close, each different but united in a cozy trio. Three tea cookies and three spoons suggest a companionable gathering of friends connecting and sharing each other’s burdens and triumphs. Above the scene is a braid of hair, which in its weaving of three sections (and its slumber party connotation) is another symbol of friendship.

Trailing Punctuation

:

Visual Description

A tall glass bottle holds a drooping pink coneflower and is grasped by a disembodied hand at center. Branches with long leaves drape down from the top edges, framing the scene. A small jar tilts in the upper left and a cup or chalice in the upper right drips a single drop. Below, a dark irregular pool of liquid has a bottle bobbing in it, while grasses and a small lid or cap sit near the shore. The cartouche at the base bears the Roman numeral IV.

Get Personalized AI Reading

Want a deeper, personalized interpretation of this card? Our AI tarot reader Elvi can give you a unique reading based on your question.

Try Free in Telegram

Fifth Spirit tarot

✍️ Deck author(s): Charlie Claire Burgess

💜 Please support creators. Buy official decks.

ℹ️ Disclaimer

All card images and descriptions are taken from public sources. They are used for review purposes only. All rights to these images and descriptions belong to their creators. If you believe there is a copyright infringement, please contact us at [email protected].