Five Of Cups
Correspondences
Indigo, Deep Blue, Grey, Black
Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood, Cypress
✦ Upright Meaning
The Five of Cups rises from the emotional waters bearing the weight of grief, loss, and the particular sorrow of focusing so intently on what has been taken that we cannot see what remains. This is the card of genuine mourning—the acknowledgment that something precious has been lost and that loss deserves its proper tears. But it is also a card of perspective's power: the three spilled cups are real, the loss is not imaginary, yet the two standing cups are equally real, equally present, equally available to one who can lift their eyes from devastation. You are in a season of grief; the Five of Cups does not ask you to pretend otherwise. But it does ask whether you are honoring grief or imprisoning yourself in it, whether mourning is a passage or a destination.
❤️Love & Relationships
In the realm of love, the Five of Cups speaks the language of heartbreak, relationship loss, and the mourning that accompanies the ending of connection. You may be grieving a relationship that has ended, mourning what a partnership never became, or experiencing the sorrow of love that has been lost to distance, death, or circumstances beyond your control. The three spilled cups represent the love that has been taken—but the two standing cups remind you that your capacity to love and be loved was not spilled, only your experience of it with this particular person. The heart that grieves is the heart that has loved; grief and love are not opposites but partners.
💼Career & Work
The Five of Cups casts its shadow of loss over your professional landscape, revealing a time of career disappointment, professional grief, and the difficult work of processing what has been lost. You may be mourning a job that ended, a promotion that went to someone else, a project that failed, or a professional identity that circumstances have stripped away. The three spilled cups represent real losses that deserve acknowledgment—but the card also gently asks whether your focus on what has been taken prevents you from seeing what remains. Your career is in a season of grief; the question is whether that grief will be processed and integrated or will become a permanent home.
💰Finance & Money
In financial matters, the Five of Cups speaks to the sorrow that accompanies monetary loss, the regret that follows poor financial choices, the grief of resources that have slipped through your fingers never to be recovered. You may be mourning investments that failed, money spent that cannot be unspent, financial security that has been compromised or lost. This card does not minimize these losses but asks whether your focus on what has been spilled prevents you from seeing the two cups still standing—the resources that remain, the opportunities still available, the practical path forward that exists even in the wake of financial disappointment.
🌿Health & Wellness
The Five of Cups manifests in health matters as the physical toll of emotional grief, the way sorrow deposits itself in the body when it has nowhere else to go. You may be experiencing the fatigue of prolonged mourning, the vulnerability that intense emotional states create, or the neglect of self-care that occurs when depression has claimed your attention. This card speaks to the health consequences of unprocessed loss—the immune system weakened by chronic sadness, the body neglected by a spirit too consumed with grief to attend to it. Your health asks for the tender turning toward what remains, including the body that still houses you and requires your care.
🔮Spirituality
The Five of Cups appears in spiritual matters as the crisis of faith that loss can precipitate, the questioning of divine benevolence when life delivers pain that seems undeserved. You may be experiencing the spiritual grief that follows any significant loss—the sense of abandonment by the sacred, the doubt that any meaning exists in suffering, the dark night where prayers seem to echo in emptiness. This card does not promise easy answers but offers gentle reminder: the two cups still standing represent the spiritual resources that loss has not taken, the path across the river that still leads somewhere, the castle that still awaits. Faith deepened by doubt is faith that can weather future storms.
✦ Wisdom & Guidance
Your grief is real, your loss is legitimate, and you have every right to mourn what has been taken from you. The three spilled cups deserve their tears. But grief that never lifts its eyes becomes grief that never ends—and you were not made for endless mourning but for the full spectrum of human experience that includes joy as well as sorrow. When you are ready—and only you know when that is—turn around and see what remains. Two cups still stand. A river still flows to somewhere. A bridge still waits to carry you across. The castle on the distant shore is still home. None of this diminishes what you have lost; it simply reminds you that loss is not the only truth about your life.
"I honor my grief while also honoring what remains. I am learning to hold loss and possibility together, to mourn fully and then to rise. The two cups behind me contain enough to continue; the bridge before me leads somewhere worth arriving."
? Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Five of Cups mean in tarot? +
The Five of Cups represents loss, grief, disappointment, and regret. It shows focusing on what's been lost while overlooking what remains. The card encourages acknowledging grief while recognizing remaining blessings.
Is the Five of Cups a bad card? +
The Five of Cups reflects difficult emotions but isn't inherently bad. It acknowledges necessary grief while reminding us that not all is lost—two cups still stand. It's about processing loss to find hope.
What does the Five of Cups mean in love? +
In love readings, the Five of Cups indicates heartbreak, disappointment in relationships, dwelling on past relationships, or mourning what a relationship once was. It suggests processing grief to move forward.
What does the Five of Cups reversed mean? +
Reversed, the Five of Cups indicates moving through grief, acceptance, finding hope after loss, and focusing on what remains rather than what's gone. It signals emotional recovery and new perspective.