Ace of Cups

From Occult Encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Ace of Cups from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck

The Ace of Cups is the first card in the suit of Cups. It usually stands for joy, nourishment, abundance, and fertility. Inflexible will or law.

General description

In the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, Pamela Colman Smith depicts the Ace of Cups as a hand issuing from a cloud, holding in its palm the cup, from which four streams are pouring. A dove, bearing in its bill a cross-marked Host, descends to place the Wafer in the Cup while the dew of water is falling on all sides.

Divinatory meaning

The Ace of Cups is an intimation of that which may lie behind the Minor Arcana.

This card also suggests inner attunement and spirituality. Cups are the suit of the heart, and the Ace stands for the direct knowing that comes from the heart. It also suggests an outpouring of blessings, like that of divine and unexpected good fortune that comes with sudden rainfall.

If reversed, the card can mean: House of the false heart, mutation, instability, and revolution.


Tarot Topics
Major Arcana The FoolThe MagicianThe High PriestessThe EmpressThe EmperorThe HierophantThe LoversThe ChariotStrengthThe HermitWheel of FortuneJusticeThe Hanged ManDeathTemperanceThe DevilThe TowerThe StarThe MoonThe SunJudgementThe World
Minor Arcana Pentacles AceTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenPageKnightQueenKing
Wands AceTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenPageKnightQueenKing
Cups AceTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenPageKnightQueenKing
Swords AceTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenPageKnightQueenKing
Decks Visconti-Sforza TarotTarot of MarseillesRider-Waite TarotThoth TarotOccult TarotAngel TarotVlad Dracula TarotHieronymus Bosch Tarot