Four of Cups
A young man sits under a tree with folded arms, ignoring the cup offered from a cloud: apathy, discontent, and an overlooked opportunity.
Cups, IV
Upright keywords
- apathy
- contemplation
- discontent
- boredom
- missed opportunity
- withdrawal
Meaning when upright
The Four of Cups shows emotional stagnation, the stability of four hardening into a rut. The seated young man has plenty before him yet feels nothing, and he is too absorbed in his discontent to notice a new cup being offered from the cloud. Waite describes weariness, disgust, aversion, and imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had brought satiety only. The card can also describe healthy introspection, a pause to reassess what truly matters. The risk is that boredom and self-absorption blind you to a genuine opportunity.
On the card
- young man seated with arms folded
- a closed, defensive posture; withdrawal into himself
- legs crossed as he sits on the hillock
- stasis and resistance to movement
- three cups standing on the grass before him
- what he already has, now taken for granted
- hand from a cloud offering a fourth cup
- a new opportunity or spiritual gift that goes unnoticed
- large tree at his back
- shelter and rootedness, but also being stuck in one place
- downcast gaze
- attention turned inward, blind to what is being offered
In Waite’s words
A young man is seated under a tree and contemplates three cups set on the grass before him; an arm issuing from a cloud offers him another cup. His expression notwithstanding is one of discontent with his environment.
- Divinatory meaning
Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had caused satiety only; another wine, as if a fairy gift, is now offered the wastrel, but he sees no consolation therein. This is also a card of blended pleasure.
- Reversed
Novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations.
- Additional meaning
Contrarieties. Reversed: Presentiment.
Correspondences
- Element
- Water
- Astrology
- Moon in Cancer
- Sephira
- Chesed (4)
- Golden Dawn title
- Lord of Blended Pleasure
- Decan
- Jul 12 – Jul 21
- Number
- Four brings structure and stability, which in the fluid suit of Cups can harden into emotional stagnation and apathy.
To reflect on
- What am I taking for granted because I have grown used to it?
- Is there an offer or opportunity I have dismissed without really looking at it?
- Is my current dissatisfaction asking me to rest, or to change something?
In your readings
Hasn’t appeared in your readings yet.
Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.