ACE OF CUPS (upright)

Receptivity, openness, generosity. Love, passion and spirituality. Deep bonding. The open heart moving from innocence and love. Openness to new relationships and experiences. Conquering mental and emotional obstacles, or old negative patterns. (The card's position indicates the object of the emotions and their present temperament or orientation). New marriages, births or relationships. Elevation. New found creative expression. High productivity. Compassion in relationships.

New cycles spiritually, emotionally, creatively and romantically. Payback for previous sacrifice and faith. Opening of the heart to higher forms of love. Emotional release. Being sustained, filled and complete.

Rules the arts, poetry, theatre, dance, creativity and humor. Creative genius. Return
 

ACE OF CUPS (reversed)

Loss, or lack, of love. Deep inhibitions and coldness.
A closed heart. Spiritual darkness and emptiness.
Resistance. Denial. Psychological immaturity. Emotional or psychic violence. Evil.

Someone indifferent to all that is done in their behalf.
Wasted efforts. Remaining at the lowest level of emotion.

Can ask us to open up and give more. Release fear and apprehension. Can signal that we need to consider the feelings of others.

(Depending upon the question and location, etc., the reversal can occasionally ask us to stop giving out as much and not be so needlessly altruistic.
 

Sharing, mutuality, exchange. Receptivity and reciprocity.
Looking to that which unites. Discovering new areas of intimacy and emotional experience. Giving of oneself. Attracting what we need by giving. Resolution. Putting differences aside. Compassion and understanding. Helping another unconditionally. 

Love, romance, engagement. Marriage. Consummation. Love at first sight. New relationships. Compatibility. Friendship. Platonic love. Good news coming.

Negative: Can fall when we are overly concerned with the senses and personal gratification. An overly naive or romantic attitude or behavior.  Return
 

Loss of true love. Falling out. Unrequited love.
Disappointments. Separations. Incompatibility.
No understanding. Lack of reciprocity.
Difficulties finding the right partner.
Emptiness, dejection. Heart without warmth or love.
Inability to find an area of compatibility or compromise.
Being ungenerous and self-serving. Conditional help or love.
Always thinking that others have vested interests. Apprehensions. In extreme cases, this can represent evil feelings, spite, jealousy or malignancy.

A warning that ideals will be shattered and objects of love found inadequate. Also occurs when there has been no experience of love or care. Can remind us to exercise caution in romantic or relational matters.
 

Dedication. Certainty of heart. Celebration.
Some festivity or honor-giving event. Accolades.
Social gatherings. Award ceremonies, commemorations.
A birth, marriage or engagement. Exhilarating news.
Artistic or musical events. Bestowals.
Sharing with friends or family. Emotional well being.
Closer connection to the emotions and intuition.
Release of tension. Living for the moment. Plenitude, generosity.
The card tells us to keep emotional matters very clearly defined and open. Return
 

An event gone awry. Upset. Inversion of hopes and expectations.
Not being accoladed or recognized for our efforts or creations.
Negative outcomes. Good wishes rejected. Rewards wrongly or falsely bestowed. Decadence, hedonism, extravagance. A failed marriage or engagement. A miscarriage. Family problems or crisis. 

Also the inability to enjoy life or successes, to blend with others or see things positively. Pessimism. Not giving credit where it is due. Bigotry, spite, jealousy, recrimination. The clear rejection of our assistance. Not listening to inner guides. Can indicate severe depression.

Occurs when we refuse to add our energies to better a situation.
Can ask us to give from the heart without expectations or conditions. Return
 

Positively - Balanced, equinamious emotions. Positive relationships. Being filled and not requiring more. Poise and patience. Composure and contentment. Receiving what one needs naturally and without stress or effort. Letting the next step come naturally and being open when it comes. Recognizing and enjoying what one has. Emotional maturity. Not needing to fit in. Staying with our center and with what is. Closing the doors to outward contact while healing is undertaken. Securing oneself.

We seek that which is practical and realizable. We look within ourselves for what is needed. Being content and strong in oneself. Discerning true needs. Taking the best from recent experiences and focusing only on that. Exercising hesitation before committing to new relationships. Reflection on the past, a particular experience needs contemplation. Discovery of what was missing in a previous setting. Mature understandings. A time of relaxation and solitude. The closure of one season of emotional experience, that leaves a good, solid foundation. Finding the way back to our center. The luxury of the simple. A greater rapport with nature and with animals. An enhanced sense of life meaning. A sense of sacredness in all that we do.

Negatively - An overly conservative and fixed emotional nature. Refusal to look within and recognize or change our emotional temperament. Retentive attitudes, unfeeling behavior and a penchant for over-intellectualization. Resistance to the unusual and novel in relationships. Fear, inner inhibition and desire to control domestic and intimate love relationships. Wanting only the ideal emotional fulfillment or gratification, regardless of how impractical. Emotional security but with a price. Conditional security or peace. Other things missing in one's life. Settling for less. Desiring that which has no chance of coming at this time. Resistance. Living in the past. Being caught in memories. Self-absorption. Stagnation. Monotony. Inability to receive what is presented or offered. State of numbness. Feeling left out, despondent or rejected. Emotional incompatibility. Loss of an important  and dynamic relationship, leaving us empty and dissatisfied. Despondency after passing good times. We must not allow past experiences and memories, whether good or bad, to prevent present receptivity. Return
 

Loss of security. Failure to set important emotional boundaries causing upset and loss. Ignorance of the plenitude in life. Ingratitude. Craving more. Looking to desires that are not practically manifested. Forcing relationships to fit artificial ideals and not accepting things as they are. Lack of appreciation for what we have. Impractical demands. No emotional wisdom. Seeking from others what is missing within ourselves. Looking outward for impossible gratifications. Attempting conformity to the world to receive fulfillment. No patience or poise. Loss of composure. Being divorced from our center.

Positively - the letting go of a retentive attitude. Being able to sacrifice temporary emotional security for greater life experience. Not settling for less than we deserve. Being less resistant and more receptive. Letting go of the need to over-contemplate or scrutinize relationships. Letting go of the past, self-doubt, insecurity and fear. The position indicates that spontaneity and openness are the best policy. We should be receptive to what is coming in even if it falls short of an ideal and desist being emotionally demanding, intolerant and fixed. Loosening of restrictive boundaries, which prevent emotions to flow naturally, and which alienate others.

Occasionally, the end of a period of emotional or creative dissatisfaction. Return
 

Disappointment in love. Ending of a relationship or romance attended by great pain and grief. Disconnectedness, dejection. Emotional trauma. Lack of gratification. No optimism. Hyper-sensitivity. Loneliness. Impotence. Ennui and deep sorrow. Also sexual deceit, rejection or infidelity. Someone unable to release the past and move on due to intense pain. Wasted emotional energy. Dysfunctional emotional patterns which stymie proactive attitudes and behavior.

This card also indicates that our emotional being is going through major change. We are passing through a period of perplexity and challenge and must come into greater understanding regarding emotions and their facets. Removal of dead emotional attachments.
 

FIVE OF CUPS (reversed)

In certain cases we may not be able to ascertain the origin of our sadness or depression. Chastening experiences. The card warns against keeping sorrow bottled up. 

This position may also indicate that we have not experienced any real dejection or pain in our lives or that we refuse to empathize and respect the emotional side of things. It can ask us to awaken our emotional sensibilities.

Positively - it suggests the cessation of a distressing time. Better feelings. Recovery. Returning happiness. We need to look on the brighter side of life and develop optimism. Return
 

Emotional connectedness. Readiness for a new relationship. Fair sexual exchange. Sharing the tokens of love. Simple, innocent pleasures. Attraction. Dating. The early stages of a romance, without much depth. Love maturing gradually. Finding out what is common between persons. Mutuality. Unspoiled, genteel love. Remembrances of good things and times. Seeing to the needs of the other. Giving. A time to have pleasure but not commit to anything heavy until sure. Indicates attraction but no deep love. Gratification. One should remember to use intellect as well as emotion to secure their reactions to the other person in their life. Advises one to be natural, open and receptive, to act without role playing or erecting a shield.

Negatively - Being perpetually trivial and superficial in love, relationships, emotions. Inability to express anything deep, serious or intense. Having idiotically shallow desires and attractions. Banality. Sexual and romantic immaturity. Self-serving motives. Self-absorption. Over-sentimentality, false nostalgia. Superficiality. Gratification. The external trappings without anything back of it. Return
 

Reticence in approaching the opposite sex. Fear. Receiving unwanted attention. Being let down. Disappointment. Incompatibility on an emotional and sexual level. Dissatisfaction. Loss of care and sensitivity in relationships. Cooling desires. Partings. Also perversion. Unusual sexual needs or desires. Emotional retardation. Insensitivity to the etiquettes of decent affection. Hostility. Not a time for new superficial relationships.

Can represent relationships where there is no desire for sexual intimacy. There can be real doubts regarding the sincerity of others. Suspicion. We may believe that gratification and envy are behind all human activity.

Occasionally, this shows that we may have retentive ideas regarding sexuality or happiness. One may not see the positive side or be open to new experiences which involve love or caring. One should not avoid simple pleasures, even if they seem pointless or superficial.

Can indicate that we are growing beyond trivial kinds of relationships. Can ask us to recall positive memories, to be optimistic and not be afraid to have pleasurable experiences. Return
 

Positively - Imagination and creativity. Getting in touch with talent, artistry and expression which is free-form, uninhibited and unique. Working on one’s poetic, artistic or literary gifts. Unique artistic visions. The exploration of new emotional and creative avenues.

Negatively - Total inability to know what we want for ourselves emotionally. Arrested emotional or psychological development. Unrealistic hopes, desires and attractions. Occurs when we cannot rationalize our needs or desires. Irrational projections. Not really knowing what we want. Uncertainty. Inability to discern quality. Unconventional sexual or emotional life, bordering on the perverse. Hedonism. Permissiveness, libertinism, licentiousness. Sampling the pleasures of the flesh. The cult of the senses. No emotional control. Moved by shallow, external pleasures. Triviality. Addictions, obsessions. Bad choices. Wanting to have fun and distraction without any deep or lasting commitments. Deceptive people, promises and experiences. Self-destructive lifestyle. Sense of inner confusion. Deception. Debauch. Disarray. Total waste of energy. Avoidance of responsibility for our emotional or sexual immorality. The wilful misuse of artistic or technical talent (or influence) to cause moral decline and/or open debauchery. Return
 

Occurs when we have illusions shattered or when we are growing beyond them. Commitment to make positive changes. Breaking destructive habits or attitudes. The card insists that we come to our senses. We must cease finding personal pleasure at the expense of others. It suggests that the time has come to cease all immature attachments and desires and re-envision the life path along more realistic lines. 

A project which does not make good use of our talents.

Rejecting influences and creations which lower standards, create confusion and instigate moral decay.
 

Indifference and avoidance in emotional, domestic, relational, creative, moral and spiritual matters. Little appreciation for art and beauty. Little concern for how we affect the lives of other people. Emotional disconnection and indifference. Lack of emotional and psychological maturity. Avoidance and superficiality. A dislike of emotional language. We make light of deep matters. We walk away from emotional interactions. Imagining that we are above others because of our under-emotional character. A superiority complex. Contrivance. Lack of cultural and social sophistication.  Seeking experiences which give only lower narcissistic gratification. Living a life with little meaning. Learning nothing of value after our experiences.

Boredom with what we have or with our present experiences. Disappointment after reaching goals. Unfulfilled expectations. Needed changes not made due to lack of courage and apathy. A situation where one element is missing. Settling for less. Despondency. Lack of emotional gratification. Incompatibilities. Staying in relationships which no longer fulfils, for the sake of appearances. Staying with what is safe and familiar. Living in the past. Delaying in order to secure impossible ideals.

Occasionally, depending upon the question, it can ask us to become more indifferent so that we can focus on our own lives with greater lucidity. Return
 

Depending on the question and position, the reversal can ask us to seek for new experiences and to experiment emotionally. Need to move beyond the comfort zone and the past. It falls when we are finally able to seek that which we really desire after a series or cycle of unfulfilling experiences. The end of indolence, reluctance, inhibition and indifference. A more caring and sharing energy towards other people, and towards life.

Contentment, fulfillment, plenitude. Enrichment. Happiness generated from within. Happiness on many levels of being. Inner conviction. Unshakable resolve regardless of external conditions or other adversity. Culmination of a long set of changes. Creativity. Help and assistance. Benevolence. Generosity. Gaining acclaim, recognition, favor. Favourable persons and environs. Composure. Being there for others. A good model. An exceptionally creative person. An actor, painter, dancer, craftsman, musician or aesthete.

Negatively - it means excessive appetite. Hedonism, the crass and objectionable advertisement of our prosperity and well-being causing jealousy. Return
 

Loss of inner resolve and tranquillity.
Our charity and goodness goes to waste.
Fixation on the physical for fulfillment.
Great sorrow entering life. Pain. Loss of equipoise.

Lack of respect or recognition from others whom we have perhaps helped.

Inability to receive the abundance that surrounds.
Not appreciating what we have. No creative outlet.
 

True, complete happiness and enrichment. Happy family life. Spiritual bounty and growth. Enormous creativity. Positive changes in fortune. Inspiration. Spiritual empowerment. Connectedness and passion toward life. Great openness, idealism and hope.

Negative - Lack of rationality. Addiction. Psychic disturbance. Vagueness. Permissiveness. Lack of fulfillment. Dashed expectations. Sorrow. Bad fortune. Can represent that we are overly licentious, with no boundaries. Return
 

A lack of receptivity or worth. Loss of passion and hope. The overturning of our expectations. Hopes dashed. Ideals shattered. Visions unfulfilled.

Severe marital or family problems. Hardness of character. Spiritual and creative debauchery. Spiritual impoverishment. Negativity. Violation. Conscious abuse or neglect of others. No emotion care or remorse. An insatiable and soul-less person. Abuse of spiritual law. Evil.

Can indicate that a time of peace and plenty is coming to an end.

Occasionally, this reversal can ask us to relinquish addictive habits and regain some rationality. It can suggest becoming less inhibited and crystallized