More meanings to the 5 of cups

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

casia	22 Nov 2003
Hi everyone Itīs the first time I write, I hope I make some sense. Some time ago I gave a friend a reading. She was some married manīs lover and she had terrible issues about her relationship. In the reading several cards came up, it was a long time ago and I didnīt write it all down, but I remember clearly the five of cups came up in the final outcome position. To me that meant that she was going to go through and important loss, probably that their relationship was going through a break up, but that there was light at the end of the tunnel and that she would over come this. Months later her boyfriend, 47 years of age, had a masive heart atack and died. THAT WAS REALLY SPOOKY. I donīt know if I read correctly or not but its been haunting me since. I have the Medieval Scapini tarot and the 5 of cups is a man in his death bed, or so it seems, with several servants holding full cups around him. Only one of them is a young boy who spilled his cup, and next to him is an old man writing something on a paper, a testament maybe? could this card mean death? Casia

Kiama	22 Nov 2003
I have sometimes seen this card given the interpretation of 'grief' and 'loss', and I suppose that a death could be the cause and precursor of the grief. Kiama

Rusty Neon	22 Nov 2003
This card in the Etteilla deck (pre-20th century) had the meaning "Patrimony, Inheritance". (Interestingly too, the reverse meaning for this card per Etteilla is "Relatives".) For there to be an inheritance, logically there had to be first a death, and normally grief. The Golden Dawn meaning for the card include: "Death or end of pleasures. Disappointment. Sorrow and loss in those things from which pleasure is expected." These 'new' meanings are fitting in the respect that emotional states (e.g., grief, sense of loss) are within the conventional scope of the Cups suit. (Etteilla meanings didn't often make much sense suits-wise.) The card image in the Rider-Waite deck marries both the Etteilla and GD meanings. As Waite writes: "It is a card of loss, but something remains over; three (cups) have been taken, and two are left; it is a card of patrimony, inheritance, transmission ..." In this case, the illustration in the Scapini card also seems to marry the Etteilla and GD meanings. Personally, I don't imagine any card in any deck ever causing or predicting a death.

Dark_angel	22 Nov 2003
I believe it is possible to 'sense' death, although I don't think there are cards which automatically predict it. I suppose it depends on whether you read intuitively or focus on the cards.

skytwig	22 Nov 2003
Welcome Casia! :) The card does indicate a heavy sadness, grief and , even, misfortune...... Interestingly, as the outcome, maybe it was also indicating a long involvement with sadness, a grief for a relationship that was never truly free.... a grief that was a reality even when he was alive...... The cards were probably pointing toward that living grief, that reality, more so than to a death of a person........

casia	23 Nov 2003
Thank you all for your feedback. I agree that this is not a card that can predicts death, it was a coincidence that it happened that way. I do think the woman in my reading, even though she misses him alot, in a way she is relieved that it is over. It was, as Skytwig said, a relationship full of sadness and grief. In a way it is also a card of hope, some of the cups are spilled, and some people are grieving but others remain over, so that is the inheritance, what is passed over. I guess you should take the best out of all the experiences you go through.

ros	23 Nov 2003
One thing on my list for 5 cups is seeing the glass as 1/2 empty But if the person leaves their grief & travels up the card to the bridge & cross over the river (emotions) he would learn to see the glass as 1/2 full, grief that can turn to into happiness (change of the #5)

The More meanings to the 5 of cups thread was originally posted on 22 Nov 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.