Four of Cups tarot card from the Simply Tarot deck

Four of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

The Disaffected

✦

Withdrawal • Apathy • Reflection

You’re bored to the point of being apathetic about a particular situation or relationship. The Four of Cups shows your attitude and mind-set aren’t helping. Try to understand what you are feeling and why you are feeling it, so you can start to address your needs.

The Subject has become disillusioned within a relationship. Either they are unsure about its sincerity and depth, or they’re just less interested in the other person than they were before. The Subject’s attitude is affecting their behaviour towards the other person and this is just going to generate more issues and insecurities.

It seems unlikely that the Subject really has lost all hope, or else the Eight of Cups would have appeared. With this card there is a sense that not everything is known. To take action, or make a real judgement, based on what they’re thinking would probably not be the right thing to do just now. The Subject needs to dig a little deeper, to see what lies beneath the surface. If there’s hidden potential then great, but if not, the Subject has learned about what they don’t want from a relationship.

⌵

❦

Love & Relationships

Emotional withdrawal clouds the heart’s ability to recognise what is already present. Someone may be longing for a feeling, person or fantasy so intensely that genuine affection nearby struggles to reach them. Discontent often grows where gratitude quietly disappears.

◈

Material Life

Dissatisfaction clouds the ability to recognise what is already stable or sufficient. Someone may feel emotionally disconnected from the life they have built, even if practical needs are technically being met. Security loses meaning once numbness replaces gratitude entirely.

✎

Notes from the Artist

Whilst four Cups sit comfortably within the arcing branches of the tree, the water only flows separately through the top Cups to the Cups below suggesting a lack of unity. Whilst there is still foliage and blooms there does not appear to be the abundance of happiness and sharing in this image. Something is not quite right.

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From the archive

The Original Artwork, Reimagined

Before Four of Cups became part of the Simply Tarot collection you see today, it was drawn and painted by hand for the original 2011 Tarot House Deck. The style has evolved, but the meaning and character of the card remain at its heart.

Original hand-painted Four of Cups tarot card by Patricia House from the 2011 Tarot House Deck — 2011 **Original 2011 artwork Four of Cups** Hand-painted by Patricia House

Four Cups neatly arranged in the branches of the tree in two rows - two Cups with two directly below. Water flows from the top Cups, not in one stream but separately. Foliage and blooms do not indicate further growth though all is stable. — Today **Four of Cups reimagined** The current Simply Tarot artwork

The original first edition

Buy the Original 2011 Deck

The card shown above is part of the original 78-card Tarot House Deck. Every image was drawn and painted by Patricia House before the deck was professionally printed by Cartamundi in the UK. A limited number from the original print run are still available.