Four of Cups
The 4 of Cups represents emotional stability, consolidation, and the comfort that comes from routine and domestic life. Ruled by Jupiter, the card conveys both power and a jovial ease of mind that follows from security and quiet. While this stability offers respite and fulfillment, it also carries the danger of stagnation, satiety turning into ennui, and becoming stuck in a rut. The card’s imagery of pewter tankards and butterbeer emphasizes both the warm communal comforts and the risk of using comfort to dull deeper emotional needs.
Keywords
Title
4 of Cups – Comfort
Correspondences
Moon in Cancer
Keywords
Security, stability of feeling, satiety, domesticity, calm, fulfillment
Meaning
The 4s of all the suits carry a measure of crystallization, of hardening and consolidation of the creative flux of the previous cards. The planetary ruler of the 4s is Jupiter, the old Roman ruler of the gods, but power is only one aspect of this dominance, the term "jovial" also derives from it, and so the cards tend to show also a certain mental relaxation and ease of mind that comes with stability and quiet. The number 4 gives you the four points of a square, one of the most stable geometric shapes of all.
Emotional Effects
Emotional stability gives us comfort; we settle into routines, we enjoy quiet domesticity, but all of that comfort—or "Gemütlichkeit," as it is so nicely called in German—bears the danger of being stuck in a rut, of getting so settled and so comfortable that our satiety turns to ennui.
Exploring the Card
The image for this card shows four nice fat pewter tankards ready for a round of butterbeer among friends. What could be more comforting? But Winky's choice of using butterbeer to dull her emotional pain shows the underbelly of this kind of comfort very well. This is a card that can offer respite if a situation is well controlled and if it’s enjoyed in moderation, or get us stuck in a quagmire if it isn't.
Visual Description
Four metal tankards hang and rest against a weathered wooden board, some tilted as if recently handled. Two dark bottles stand behind them; one label clearly reads "BUTTER BEER" and shows three small owl drawings. Swirling decorative flourishes frame the scene, a small crescent moon appears near the top, and the bottom border reads "4 Comfort" while a Cancer-like glyph sits at the top.
Harry Potter tarot
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