Tarot Anatomy

IV, Suit of CupsFour of Cups tarot card meaning

Upright and reversed

Four of Cups in shortIn short

The Four of Cups is the offer you miss. A young man sits under a tree, arms crossed, staring at three cups on the grass, while a hand from a cloud holds out a fourth. Boredom, discontent, and a gift you're too tired to notice.

  • Apathy
  • Discontent
  • Missed offers
Yes or noNot now
Distant blue hills, a round green bush and a grassy slope under a pale blue sky

Piece oneThe quiet hill

A green slope, a round bush, soft blue hills under clear sky. The world around him is fine. Waite calls it a card of blended pleasure too. The quiet hill is the pleasure he ignores.

"This is also a card of blended pleasure."Waite, 1911

Why it is hereThe hill is everything he's missing. Green grass, a round bush, soft blue hills: a good afternoon, and he won't look at it. It spreads behind and around him, so the world stays open while his arms stay folded. The hand from the cloud reaches across the same sky with one more offer.

Piece twoThe tree

The brown trunk of a tall tree with clusters of green leaves above it against a blue sky

His back rests against a tall tree. It gives him shade and support, a place to withdraw. It also keeps him in one spot.

"A young man is seated under a tree"Waite, 1911

Why it is hereThe tree holds him in place. He leans his back on it, which gives him rest and an excuse to stay put. Its leaves hang over the hand in the cloud, so the offer has to reach in under them. Shelter and stuck look the same here.

Piece threeThe young man

He sits cross-legged, arms folded, eyes down. His whole body is closed. Waite says his face shows discontent with everything around him.

"His expression notwithstanding is one of discontent with his environment."Waite, 1911

Why it is hereHe's the closed door at the centre of the card. Arms crossed, legs crossed, eyes down: every line of his body shuts out the three cups in front and the fourth held out beside him. The tree behind him props him up. Nothing on the card is wrong except his mood.

A young man with messy black hair sitting cross-legged under a tree, arms folded, eyes lowered, in a red shirt, green vest and blue trousers
Piece threeThe young man

Piece fourThe three cups

Three gold cups stand in a row on the grass in front of him. He has them, and they don't satisfy. Waite says the wine of this world has left him full and tired.

"contemplates three cups set on the grass before him"Waite, 1911

Why it is hereThe three cups are what he already has. They stand on the grass in a neat row, close enough to reach. The fourth cup floats in from the cloud at his side, so the card shows two offers: one he's tired of, one he hasn't noticed. Both get the same blank look.

Three golden cups standing in a row on the green grass

Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes

  • The quiet hill

    Pale blue over soft olive. Restful colours, a calm afternoon he is too closed in to enjoy. The same gentle green rises behind the couple in the Two of Cups, where two people meet on it and share. In the Eight of Cups the land turns into steep dark mountains, and a man walks away from his cups into them. This hill asks for nothing.

    Also in
    Two of Cups cardTwo of CupsEight of Cups cardEight of Cups

  • The tree

    Bark brown and leaf green, quiet colours of rest. Nothing here moves. Trees in the deck often stand beside a choice. In The Lovers a fruit tree rises behind the woman, a snake wound up its trunk. This tree offers only shade, and the young man treats that shade as a reason to sit.

    Also in
    The Lovers cardThe Lovers

  • The young man

    A red shirt under a dull green vest, blue trousers. The red is there, buried. Crossed arms come back twice. The man in the Nine of Cups folds his arms the same way, but he grins, pleased with all he has. The woman in the Two of Swords crosses hers over her chest, blindfolded, holding two swords and refusing to choose.

    Also in
    Nine of Cups cardNine of CupsTwo of Swords cardTwo of Swords

  • The three cups

    Dull gold on olive green. The cups on the grass share their gold with the one in the air. The offered cup comes from the Ace of Cups: the same hand out of a cloud, holding out a cup. There the gift fills the whole card. Here it hangs at the edge, waiting, while he stares at the grass.

    Also in
    Ace of Cups cardAce of Cups

Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.

Four of Cups card, upright

Four of CupsUpright

Weariness and discontent. Waite's words: weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations. You have enough, maybe more, and it gives you no pleasure. He also calls it a card of blended pleasure.

Someone offers you a new chance, and you may be too bored or too sulky to see it. Look up. Some offers are bad; this one deserves a look.

Four of CupsReversed

Waite's words: novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations. The young man finally looks up.

You wake from a slump, say yes to something new, or meet new people. Take the cup this time.

Four of Cups card, reversed

Yes or noNot now.

Not now. You're in no mood to see the offer. Look again first, because something good may be waiting.

Four of Cups in your lifeIn your life

  • Love

    Boredom or withdrawal, or ignoring someone who's interested. Look at what's on offer.

  • Work

    A job that no longer excites you. A new chance may be close, so don't wave it off.

  • Money

    Stable and stale. Check offers before you turn them down.

  • Health

    Low mood and tiredness colour everything. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor, and talk to someone.

  • Spirituality

    Withdrawal and meditation. The answer may come from where you aren't looking.

  • Advice

    Lift your eyes. Count what you have, then look at the offer.

  • As a person

    Thoughtful, withdrawn, hard to please. Sometimes stuck in a mood.

  • Past, present, future

    Past: boredom, or a chance you let pass. Present: discontent and an offer you haven't seen. Future: a new opening, once you look up.

Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.

Distant blue hills, a round green bush and a grassy slope under a pale blue sky
[ Four of Cups ]

Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance

Suit
Cups
Element
Water
Astrology
Moon in Cancer
Sephira
Chesed
Upright
Weariness
Reversed
Novelty
Related cards
Three of Cups cardThree of CupsFive of Cups cardFive of CupsNine of Cups cardNine of Cups

QuestionsCommon questions

Waite describes a man tired of the wine of this world, offered a new wine like a fairy gift, and finding no comfort in it.

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911

Card 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