The Spiritual Meaning of the Four of Cups Tarot Card

In most decks, the Four of Cups tarot card depicts someone sitting by a tree, looking distant, disappointed, or apathetic. There are three cups at their feet—sometimes depicted as full, sometimes empty—and a fourth cup offered by a disembodied hand, referencing the image of the Ace of Cups. The general sense is that there are opportunities, new options, or new places to go for the person sitting by the tree, but there is also a disaffected mood, a refusal of the offer, and a sense that the cup is probably just filled with the same old bitter stuff.

Fear or Excitement About the Unknown

In the Tarot, the fourth card of every suit invites us to ask the question: Is this safe or is it a trap? Fours are very stable, like the shape of a square or a house. When we’re in a “four moment” in the journey through the Tarot, we may be happy to stay where we are, keeping the status quo, or we may be clinging to that status quo for fear of what is outside of it.

The cup being offered by the disembodied hand in this particular card feels mysterious—anything could be in there. It could be an exciting blessing or it could be a mouthful of more pain. The person on the card is not ready to taste whatever might be in there.

Cups are about emotional energy. As we move through the minor arcana in the suit of Cups, we are on a journey of discovery in terms of emotional energy, love, and connection. The Ace of Cups invites the pure energy of emotion; the Two of Cups can bring love; and the Three of Cups can bring collaboration. But by the Four of Cups, we’ve gotten a bit stuck. We’re not quite ready to move toward the Five of Cups—which is about grief and heartbreak.

When the Four of Cups arises in my readings, I want to know why the person represented here is not able to look at the cup being offered. Apathy can be a trauma response—a way of freezing internally, slowing things down so that nothing can change. If someone is hurt, heartbroken, confused, traumatized, or afraid, a new cup could simply feel scary. Apathy can be a way to shut down and avoid feeling for a little while. What happened before this new opportunity arose? Does this person need more rest, more recovery? A safe place to process what happened? Have they forgotten that joy is possible, even after heartbreak?

Refusing the Call of the Holy Grail

The cup being offered is the Ace of Cups. A hand appears from the clouds, and a beautiful golden cup is overflowing with five streams of water, representing the five senses and the waters of intuition and the unconscious. The pond depicted below the cup is dotted with lotus flowers, a symbol of enlightenment. The dove flies down into the cup holding a communion wafer in its beak, representing purity and love; a religious “food” of healing and hope.

This cup is the mythic Holy Grail. The stories of the Holy Grail originate in the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, when Christian beliefs and symbols were interacting with the older folkloric beliefs of the Celtic people. The Otherworld, also known as the sidh, was a magical place where mysterious beings called the fae resided. The fae could enter the human world and provide blessings or curses, somewhat unpredictably. The Holy Grail was (perhaps still is) said to be hidden away in the Grail castle somewhere in the Otherworld.

The Grail represents a quest—in some interpretations, an impossible quest. Many knights attempted to find the Holy Grail, but most ultimately failed. Great lessons and experiences can be gained through a quest, even when the prize is not achieved. The Ace of Cups is inviting us to begin a quest to learn love, emotion, and the secrets of our own Otherworld—the unconscious. This can be a beautiful journey, but there’s no guarantee of a happy ending. Romantic love has no satisfying end—we could fall in love, and then we must face the challenges of long-term love. We could get married, and then meet all the challenges of that quest. We can only enter this journey if we are willing to take the risk that we could fall out of love, be abandoned, rejected, or betrayed, or our love could die on us. There is no guarantee with the Grail.

So, the Ace invites us to drink from the waters of our deepest emotions, knowing that, like the Grail knights, we’re taking a risk without knowing how it’s all going to end. The Four of Cups, however, represents a moment of resistance, a refusal to the call of action. And yet the cup is waiting for us to take a breath, turn our heads, and see what’s being offered. Are you willing to reach out and feel, or will you stay safe in the stable container of avoidance?

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