Wish of Cups

Element: Water

Upright

·wish fulfilled
·contentment
·satisfaction
·gratitude

Reversed

·dissatisfaction
·material excess
·smugness
·unfulfilled wish

Upright

A figure sits back in the warm lamplight, arms folded, nine full cups arced on the shelf behind, and for once there is nothing to reach for. This is the wish granted, the contentment of holding the thing you wanted. The card honors the having. Stay in the room, drink slow, let some of life just be the part where you've already arrived.

Reversed

The nine cups are still on the shelf but the warmth has gone out of them, the wish that came true and somehow left you hungry. Sometimes it's the smugness of nine cups and not one of them shared, sometimes it's a full table with a hollow underneath. Ask what you were really thirsty for, it may not have been the cups.

In the imagery

Nine golden cups stand in a gentle arc along the dark wood, polished and glowing in the candlelight, and a satisfied figure sits before them with arms crossed. The whole scene is hearth-warm, deep green and soft gold, a room that has everything it needs. The painting shows the quiet pleasure of a wish fulfilled, the rare stillness of wanting nothing more right now.

Draw a one-card reading →Read this with Dylan

Others in the cups