Notes on: The Five of Cups
(Youth is Wasted)
Artist’s Notes:
The actress bemoans her lost youth. In her mind, all that’s left of her is her pale reflection in her makeup mirror. The fact that this shows a handsome woman of a certain age is lost in her fears and anguish of the years that have flown by her. The young ingenue in the picture beside the mirror has been lost to time. She drinks her wine in sorrow and solitude not knowing that with a slight change of attitude (and a bit less alcohol), the best years of her life may still lay ahead.
Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions.
About the Archetype:
Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions.
Fives stand for conflict, change, and breaking through to higher thought. If the four of cups talked about how we look at something new on the horizon and our expectations, then the five of cups show how we handle things when things don’t live up to those expectations and we end up meeting with disappointment. One may ask in colloquial terms what appointment is it we have made that has been dissed.
Most of the time when we enter into a new situation be it a relationship or a new social group or job, we can quickly size up where the problem areas lay and indeed with a little bit of reflection can see exactly how it will play out and yet even when the outcome is likely to be negative, we follow down the path anyway, perhaps because we realize we need the experience and accompanying lesson to be driven home. The biggest lesson of the five of cups is not that we have suffered setbacks because that is inevitable in life. What is it that we have gained in the process and what are we left with becomes paramount. Because quite often, if we are not wasting time ‘crying over spilt milk’, it is that which is the gift.
Astrological Correspondent:
Mars in Scorpio – The Mars in Scorpio energy loves to test itself. It throws itself into a situation head-on often overlooking the emotional ramifications of it. Quite often people with this energy can see through facades and manipulate others in any situation. Quite often this can result in manipulating and fooling themselves as well.
In a Reading:
When the five of cups turns up in a reading, it is usually referring to a recent loss or disappointment. Depending on other cards in the reading, the person may be ‘crying over spilt milk’, choosing to look at what has been lost rather than what they still have or what they may have gained from the situation.
When the five of cups is reversed or badly aspected, the person is looking at their loss with more equanimity. Perhaps they have friends who are talking them through it or perhaps they have discovered gratitude for that which they have left and that which they gained from the experience. It may also refer to remaining open and vulnerable to new experiences despite that which may have been lost in the past.
–GAR
Fate’s Whisper:
History is littered with spoiled monarchs and ungrateful tyrants. The loss of power has caused some of the greatest temper tantrums. In the eyes of Time, every ruler and subject are no different. Both oppress when things don’t go their way. This has never really changed. Is it part of the balance that is up to the ones who read this. When you hear the word “no” how do you deal with that bitterness? Would you take responsibility or are you complaining about things that are better left alone?
Energy’s Will cares little for either response as both have a consequence. Even if you do what is “right” you still have to deal with the backlash. However, those who fight it tooth and nail to avoid it, well let’s say Time likes to ensure they fall. Entitlement turns to poverty in the blip of a passing decade, a once pure body is now tarnished in the eyes of the holder. Maybe then you will realize you are at fault for your actions.
–NF