- Home
- Card meanings
- Suit of Cups
- Six of Cups
Six of Cups Tarot card meaning (หกถ้วย)
The Six of Cups is warm memory, innocence, childlike kindness and returning to people or places from the past. It is a card of healing through tenderness, giving without expectation, and the roots that made you who you are.
On this page
- Upright meaning
- Reversed meaning
- Imagery and symbols
- Details most readers miss
- History and origins
- The story of the card
- Element and elemental dignities
- Sign, planet and timing
- Key of Life: number, birth cards and quintessence
- Path on the Tree of Life
- Uranian astrology connection
- Related cards
- Frequently asked questions
- Try a reading
| Number | Six |
|---|---|
| Arcana | Minor Arcana Cups |
| Element | Water |
| Astrology (tropical zodiac) | Sun in Scorpio (decan 2) |
| When the Sun passes through | 2 Nov – 11 Nov |
| Sephirah on the Tree of Life | 6 Tiphareth · Beauty |
| Yes or no | Upright: Yes, clearly / Reversed: Undecided; it depends on what you do |
| Uranian factors | Cupido, Kronos |
| Birth-card constellation (Key of Life) | Constellation 6 |
Upright meaning
In general
Happy memories, returning to people or places from the past, kindness received or given. Warmth and simplicity heal now. You may meet an old friend or rediscover something you loved as a child.
Love
Gentle, innocent love; reconnecting with an old flame, or an old friend becoming more. A relationship full of attentiveness.
Work and study
Work with children, education, caring and crafts, or returning to a former job. Help may come from an old acquaintance.
Money
Gifts, a small inheritance or help from family; generous giving with no expectation of return.
Health and vitality
Resting the heart with comforting things, familiar food or a visit home. Scorpio rules the reproductive and eliminative systems.
Inner life and growth
Healing the inner child; reconnecting with simple joys you had forgotten.
The card's advice
Get in touch with an old friend or relative you have not spoken to for a while, or do something that made you happy as a child.
Reversed meaning
In general
Stuck in the past, longing for old days so much that you cannot enjoy the present, or remembering the past as rosier than it was. On the other side, leaving the past behind and growing up.
Love
Not over an ex, comparing a new partner with an old one, or a relationship that refuses to grow up.
Work and study
Clinging to old ways of working and not adapting to the new.
Money
Spending on nostalgia, or depending too much on family.
Health and vitality
Sadness from dwelling on the past; try making new good memories.
Inner life and growth
Childhood wounds that still need care.
The card's advice
Thank the past for what it taught you, then plan one new memory to make this week.
Imagery and symbols
A boy offers a cup filled with flowers to a smaller girl in an old courtyard, more flower-filled cups around them: childhood memories, innocence and simple tenderness.
- An older child giving a cup of flowers to a younger oneKindness, caring for someone more vulnerable, unconditional love.
- Star-shaped white flowers in the cupsPurity, innocence and the simple beauty of childhood.
- An old courtyardThe childhood home, the past and the roots we come from.
- A guard walking away behindSafety under someone's care; some read it as adults leaving and childhood ending.
- A shield with an X-shaped crossA saltire, the cross of St Andrew, read as protection and faith guarding this memory.
Details most readers miss
- All six cups hold flowers, not water or wine. The pleasure here is not indulgence but the joy of small, beautiful things.
- The older child bends toward the younger. The card is not only about looking back but about passing kindness on to the next generation, or caring for the child within.
- Looking at the past fondly is good, but if this card keeps appearing in questions about the future, it may signal longing for the past that keeps you from moving forward.
History and origins
The Golden Dawn named this card the “Lord of Pleasure” and gave it the second decan of Scorpio, ruled by the Sun. Sunlight reaching into Scorpio's deep water warms hidden feelings and brings the joy of deep attachment.
Smith drew two children in an old courtyard, the older offering a cup of white flowers to the younger. Waite calls it a card of the past and of memories, of happiness coming from yesterday, from childhood and from things that have vanished. This is Smith and Waite's own reading, different from the Golden Dawn title, which stresses present enjoyment.
The story of the card
After the grief of the Five, the heart shelters in happy memories: people once loved, homes once lived in and kindness received as a child. That tenderness heals the wound.
Looking forward again, the next card, the Seven of Cups, shows many dreams and illusions floating in the clouds; the heart must learn to choose.
Element and elemental dignities
This card belongs to Water, the energy of emotion, love, relationships and intuition.
Under the Golden Dawn rules of elemental dignities, Water is friendly with Earth and opposed to Fire. Beside cards of the same or a friendly element this card grows stronger; beside an opposing element it weakens or shows its harder side.
| Relation | Major Arcana in this group |
|---|---|
| Same element (strengthens) | The High Priestess, The Chariot, The Hanged Man, Death, The Moon |
| Friendly element (supports) | The Empress, The Hierophant, The Hermit, The Devil, The World |
| Opposing element (weakens) | The Emperor, Strength, Wheel of Fortune, Temperance, The Tower, The Sun, Judgement |
When Water dominates a spread: sensitivity and emotional decisions — you may drown in feelings or fantasy. When it is missing: Add Water by naming your feelings, listening to people close to you and giving time to relationships.
Sign, planet and timing
This card rules decan 2 of Scorpio (10°–20° Scorpio), ruled by Sun in the Chaldean order. The Sun passes through it around 2 Nov – 11 Nov each year, so in a reading the card can point to timing.
Its meaning blends Sun (identity, success, recognition, vitality) with Scorpio, a fixed Water sign. The Major Arcana card of the same sign is Death, and the card of the same planet is The Sun.
Key of Life: number, birth cards and quintessence
Minor cards numbered 6 belong to constellation 6 with The Lovers, The Devil, the chooser who learns about love, desire and what binds the heart. This card shows that constellation's energy in the realm of Water. The number itself means harmony, healing and giving.
On the Tree of Life the number corresponds to sephirah 6, Tiphareth · Beauty: harmony, the centre of the self, in Briah · world of creation and feeling.
Path on the Tree of Life
Minor cards sit on the sephiroth rather than the paths. This card is placed at sephirah 6, Tiphareth · Beauty — harmony, the centre of the self — on the Middle Pillar of Balance. The Cups suit belongs to Briah · world of creation and feeling, so this card is the force of Tiphareth working in that world.
Uranian astrology connection
Uranian astrology (the Hamburg School) uses eight hypothetical points beyond Neptune alongside the real planets. This card resonates with Cupido and Kronos.
- Cupido (Cup)Cupido, the first point proposed by Alfred Witte, describes people coming together: family, marriage, associations and society, and the art that grows out of shared feeling. Keywords: family, marriage, groups, community, art, belonging
- Kronos (Kro)Kronos is the top of the hierarchy: rulers, experts and the ability to stand alone. It reads as rank, credibility and decisions made from above. Keywords: authority, high office, expertise, law, independence
This match comes from the element of the Cups suit and the decan's planet, Sun.
This correspondence is TarotMod's own synthesis from the meanings of the Hamburg School factors; it is not part of traditional tarot. Cast your Uranian chart
Related cards
- Six of WandsSame rank
- Six of SwordsSame rank
- Six of PentaclesSame rank
- DeathSame sign
- The SunSame planet
- The LoversSame constellation
- The DevilSame constellation
Frequently asked questions
What does the Six of Cups card mean?
Warm memories and the sweetness of the past return — an old friend or flame, or simple kindness. Innocence heals. Keywords: nostalgia, childhood, innocence, sweetness of the past, giving.
What does the Six of Cups reversed mean?
Clinging to the past keeps you from moving forward, or the past is idealised; bring its lessons into the present. Keywords: stuck in the past, refusing to grow, idealised memories, moving forward.
What does the Six of Cups mean in love?
Gentle, innocent love; reconnecting with an old flame, or an old friend becoming more. A relationship full of attentiveness.
Is the Six of Cups a yes or no card?
Upright it leans "Yes, clearly"; reversed, "Undecided; it depends on what you do". Always read it together with the other cards in the spread.
Which zodiac sign is linked to the Six of Cups?
Sun in Scorpio (decan 2); the Sun passes through it around 2 Nov – 11 Nov.
Does the Six of Cups mean an ex will come back?
It often appears when someone from the past re-enters your life, whether an ex or an old friend. How well it goes depends on whether both of you have grown; check the other cards.
Is the Six of Cups about children or having a baby?
With its children and innocence, it may relate to children in the family, work with children or a wish to care for someone, but it is not a prediction of pregnancy.