Six of Cups Suit of Cups · tarot card meaning
- Decan
- Sun in Scorpio
- Title
- Lord of Pleasure
- Yes or no
- It depends
Six of Cups upright
The Six of Cups carries happiness from the past into the present. Memory, childhood, or an old kindness returns with feeling attached. The cups hold flowers rather than wine, keeping the pleasure gentle and already familiar.
Yes or no: It depends on the past behind the question. Two figures trade cups in an old garden, and the answer favors what is familiar.
Six of Cups reversed
Reversed, the Six of Cups turns toward the future. Tradition gives renewal and what will happen soon, not a past that refuses to release its hold. Memory remains present, but the movement now points ahead.
Yes or no: Yes. The reversal turns toward the future, renewal, and what is ready to develop next.
The card at a glance
- Attribution
- Sun in Scorpio · Lord of Pleasure
- System
- First printed
- Themes
- feeling, connection
What is shown
Two children stand in an old courtyard among six flower-filled cups. The taller child offers one cup to the smaller. Large buildings enclose the garden. An adult carrying a spear walks away along the left side. A heraldic shield marks the stone pedestal.
- Suit
- Cups
- Yes or no
- Yes
Six of Cups upright
Six cups repeat in balanced rows around a continuous floral axis. The card represents durable bonds, family continuity, and recurring patterns.
Yes or no: Yes. Six of Cups supports continuity and a bond able to endure.
Six of Cups reversed
Reversed, continuity becomes monotony. The same emotional trap can repeat across time or generations without producing growth.
Yes or no: No. Reversed, the same unhelpful pattern is repeating again.
Six of Cups follows the Marseille method: rank 6 restoring paired symmetry after the Five's break, carried by the card's own connecting stem rather than an RWS remembered scene.
The card at a glance
- Catalogue title
- Six de Coupes
- Printed numeral
- VI
- Layout
- Three balanced pairs
- Edition
- Themes
- feeling, connection
- Deck
- Tarot de Marseille: Six of Cups (Six de Coupes)
What is shown
Six cups form three horizontal pairs around a narrow central plant. Its flowers change from dark red above to pale blue at mid-card. A red trunk and small hanging bloom complete the axis.
- Attribution
- Six of Cups
- Yes or no
- It depends
Six of Cups upright
Six cups build a tower around three nude children whose bodies occupy its supports and openings. The structure depends on vulnerable participants.
Yes or no: It depends. Six of Cups can hold, but its balance relies on vulnerable participants.
Six of Cups reversed
Reversed, the arrangement uses people as supports or disguises instability as play. The structure's balance costs its most vulnerable members.
Yes or no: No. Reversed, the structure is distributing its burden unfairly.
Six of Cups uses its Sola Busca scene as primary evidence. The shared cups-6 slot is for navigation, not an RWS meaning equivalence.
The card at a glance
- Attribution
- Six of Cups
- Workshop
- First documented
- c. 1491
- Themes
- feeling, connection
- Deck
- Sola Busca: Six of Cups
What is shown
Six cups build a sculptural tower around three nude children. One child lies across the top, another climbs or reaches through the middle. A third emerges among the lower vessels.
Questions
What does Six of Cups mean?
The past returns with feeling attached. The Six of Cups carries happiness from the past into the present.
What does Six of Cups mean reversed?
Reversed, the Six of Cups turns toward the future.
Is Six of Cups a yes or no card?
It depends upright, yes reversed. On the past behind the question.
What is shown on Six of Cups?
Two children stand in an old courtyard among six flower-filled cups.
