Five of Cups Tarot Card Meanings

Here we see a cloaked figure looking despondently at three cups which have toppled over.  Behind him, two cups are still standing, but he does not appear to notice them.  Across the river we see a castle to one side and a bridge on the other.

The hunched shoulders of the cloaked figure seem to suggest abject misery and despair.  The content of the three fallen cups has spilled out on to the ground and the man seems to be mourning the loss of the contents.  No matter how long he stands there and stares at the fallen cups, they will not be restored. 

The story I see in this image is that there are feelings of regret and of being so focused on something that one perceives to have gone wrong that remaining opportunities may be missed.  The figure in the image is evidently upset about the three cups that have fallen.  However, he still has two cups remaining, but he has his back to them and does not see them or even cherish them.  He could pick up the remaining cups, cross the bridge and head to the castle in the distance.  But instead he stands there feeling remorse for the fallen cups.  ‘No point crying over spilt milk’ comes to mind.  It would be much better to acknowledge what has gone, but then realise that all is not lost and to cherish that which remains and move forward.

These are the Five of Cups tarot card meanings we use in the Free Readings on Aquarian Insight:

You may find yourself struggling with feelings of loss and regret. The sense that there is some opportunity that you have missed. Rather than dwelling on what has passed and cannot be changed, this card urges us to look to the future as all is not lost. If the figure in the card were to just turn around, he would notice that while three cups may have fallen, two still stand.