VIII, Suit of CupsEight of Cups tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedEight of Cups in shortIn short
The Eight of Cups is walking away. A man in a red cloak turns his back on eight gold cups and climbs into the hills under the moon. Something that mattered no longer holds him, so he goes looking.
- Walking away
- Search
- Moving on
Piece oneThe mountains
Behind the cups the land climbs into steep green mountains around a dark inlet. That is where he is going: rough, uphill, unknown. Waite leaves the landscape out; our picture adds it to show the road.
Why it is hereThe mountains are where he's going. Steep, green and dark, they stand against the night sky and promise nothing easy. The cups he leaves sit on flat sand; the road ahead is rock. The moon above lights just enough of it to start. The climb is the choice the card is about.
Piece twoThe moon
A gold moon with a sleeping face hangs over the scene, a crescent tucked into its edge. Waite says nothing about it. You can see he leaves at night, by a quiet light.
Why it is hereThe moon tells you he leaves at night. Its face is asleep, so no one watches him go. A crescent nests in the full disc, the moon in two phases at once, the way he's caught between staying and going. Its gold matches the cups below, the last shine he takes with him.
Piece threeThe traveller
A man in a red cloak climbs the rocks with a staff, back to us, head bowed. Waite calls him dejected. He walks slowly, as if the choice cost him.
"A man of dejected aspect is deserting the cups..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe traveller is the card's decision, walking. His back is to us and to the cups; his staff and his feet point uphill. Waite calls him dejected, so the choice is hard, and he makes it anyway. He leaves the gap in the top row behind, and the mountains and the moon are all he has ahead.
Piece fourThe eight cups
Eight gold cups stand in two rows on the shore, five below, three above, a gap in the top row. Waite calls them the cups of his happiness and his work. He leaves them anyway.
"...the cups of his felicity, enterprise, undertaking or previous concern."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe eight cups are everything he built. Five sit below, three above, and the gap in the top row says something was missing. They're still upright and whole, so the leaving is a choice. Nothing broke. The traveller walks away from all eight toward the dark mountains.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
-
The mountains
Moss green and cold blue. Cups is the water suit, and here the water lies behind him, in shadow. Mountains wait in the distance through much of the deck. The Fool walks toward bright jagged ones at the start of his journey, light and careless. The Hermit stands on snowy rock at the end of the climb, lamp raised. This man is somewhere between them.
Also in -
The moon
Gold on night blue. The moon matches the cups he leaves. On The Moon the face is the same calm, sleeping kind, hanging over two towers, a dog and a wolf, and a crayfish crawling from a pool. In the Two of Swords a thin crescent hangs over the sea behind a blindfolded woman. Here the moon only lights the road.
Also in -
The traveller
A red cloak, darker red boots. He is the only warm thing moving through a cold night. The staff in his hand comes back with The Fool, who sets off with a bundle tied to one, and The Hermit, who leans on his at the top of a mountain. This man's walk sits between those two: past the start, short of the end.
Also in -
The eight cups
Gold cups on a brown shore. The gold was precious; the ground under it is what stays when the shine goes. In the Five of Cups three cups have spilled, and a mourner stands over them. In the Four of Cups the cups stand in a row, ignored by a man who won't move. Here the cups are fine, and the man walks.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Eight of CupsUpright
The Eight of Cups is walking away from something that once made you happy. A job, a relationship, a plan: it still has value, and it no longer feeds you. Waite says the card shows a matter in decline, or something you thought important turning out to weigh little.
Sad, and still hopeful. Admit you have outgrown this place, then go and look for what you need, even before you can name it.
Eight of CupsReversed
Reversed, Waite flips it: great joy, happiness, feasting. The cups fill up again and you stay, glad of it.
It can also mean you fear leaving something you know is over, or you go back to what you left. Check whether joy or fear is keeping you there.
Yes or noNo.
No, not this way. Someone is leaving here, and what you ask about may not be worth staying for. Your answer lies further on.
Eight of Cups in your lifeIn your life
Love
A relationship that has run its course, or a quiet choice to leave. Sometimes you want something deeper than what you have.
Work
You have lost interest in work you built. Change direction, even if it looks like success from outside.
Money
Let go of a plan that no longer pays. Stop pouring into it out of habit.
Health
Step away from what drains you and rest. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
You are searching. The old answers no longer satisfy, so you go looking for your own.
Advice
If it no longer feeds you, you can leave. Go gently. Don't look back too long.
As a person
Restless, searching. Leaves when something stops feeling true.
Past, present, future
Past: something you left behind. Present: a choice to walk away. Future: a new road and a search for what matters.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Cups
- Element
- Water
- Astrology
- Saturn in Pisces
- Sephira
- Hod
- Upright
- Decline
- Reversed
- Great joy
QuestionsCommon questions
A sad card, and a useful one. You leave something that no longer serves you, and that often opens the way to something better. Waite even records readings of joy and mildness.
Leaving a relationship that stopped feeding you, or wanting more depth.
No, not on this path. It points away from what you ask about.
Waite calls him dejected, deserting the cups of his happiness and his work. He says the card shows a matter in decline, or one that turns out to weigh little.
Saturn in Pisces, in the Golden Dawn system. Element Water, sephira Hod.
Waite says the card speaks for itself: a man leaves the cups of his happiness. Most often it shows a matter in decline, or something that turns out to matter little.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Cups