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The suit of water

The Suit of Cups

People hope for Cups in a love reading, and romance does turn up on a few of its cards, but most of them deal with other feelings, like grief and nostalgia, boredom and contentment.

The number cards open with feeling given and shared, from the Ace's overflowing cup to the Three's dance. For the next four cards, the trouble is where someone is looking. On the Four, a figure broods over the cups already in front of them and misses the one being offered. On the Five, the mourner keeps looking at what spilled. The Six looks back to childhood, and the Seven up at a sky full of visions. The Eight's figure finally looks away from the cups and goes. The Nine and Ten are the suit's two happy endings. If you draw one of the middle four, ask what you've been looking at, and what you've stopped seeing.

Water runs through every court card in Cups. The Page stands on the sand a step or two from the sea, and the Queen's robe trails off into the waves at the foot of the throne. Only the King is out in open water, farther from shore than anyone else in the suit. Rank here measures how much feeling a person can take on without being swept off.

Updated October 2026·14 cards·Little Grimoire card reference

The suit · Ace to King 14 cards · ten and four

The numbered cardsA—10

What becomes of a full cup.

• Ace of CupsLove that asks nothing back
• Two of CupsEquals choosing each other
• Three of CupsBelonging, celebrated out loud
• Four of CupsNumb to what's offered
• Five of CupsGrief that hides what's left
• Six of CupsWarmth borrowed from the past
• Seven of CupsDaydreams crowding out a choice
• Eight of CupsLeaving what's good enough
• Nine of CupsWishes granted, quietly enjoyed
• Ten of CupsHappiness the whole family shares

The courtPage to King

From the shore out to open sea.

• Page of CupsOpen to strange new feelings
• Knight of CupsHeart-led and never rushed
• Queen of CupsFeeling everything, showing little
• King of CupsComposure in rough water