Start Today with Guidance and a Glimpse of Possibilities

The Four of Cups depicts, in the Rider Waite version of the card, a man sitting with arms crossed, looking fed up and disinterested in life. A hand holding a Cup appears from a cloud - an echo of the suit’s Ace, while three other Cups are lined up in front of the man. Here we see what can happen if Water’s receptivity is not tempered by another element: passivity has turned to apathy.

The Queen of Cups sits on her throne, gazing at the emblem of her suite: in her hands, this Cup has been crafted into an intricate, ornate wonder, symbolizing the transformative power of love, empathy, and creativity. The Queen’s dress flows into the water before her, becoming one with it: here we see the peace and sense of flow that comes with perfect alignment.

The Ten Of Swords is the apex of pain and misery, and nothing can get worse from this point; you have hit rock bottom. This energy is a very heavy one you need to contend with; feelings of betrayal, loss, sadness, and grief are what you are dealing with right now. You may feel like a victim of someone else's wrongdoing or your self-sabotage. 

Life is like a wheel and, sometimes, we need to accept that it will turn, this is the fundamental message of this card. Just as the snake depicted on the card follows the downward slide of the wheel, so the fox ascends with the very same turn. The sphinx that sits on top of the wheel in the Rider Waite version of the card symbolizes both mystery and Horus, the Egyptian God of resurrection. Whereas The Chariot depicted the sphinxes pulling the carriage, facilitating its passage, in this card the sphinx’s position at the top of the wheel, above its relentless cycle, suggests that there are things beyond the turning wheel of life that we can only dimly comprehend but that infuse our existence nonetheless.

Where Wands symbolize the element of Fire, Cups represent Water: receptivity, love, and the inner being are the province of this suit. In the Ace we see the culmination of these things: a hand appears from a cloud holding a Cup -a grail - from which multiple streams of water run into a beautiful pool. This flowing water will never run out: it is infinite, as love is.

Wands relate to the element of fire, and the suit’s Ace represents its essence: drive, action, energy, movement, and opportunity. And yet fire can burn, too; it has the potential to cause destruction, and these things are also represented in the cards of Wands.