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Ace of Cups, Rider-Waite-Smith deck

Minor Arcana · Cups

Ace of Cups

A feeling that wants to overflow.

An opening of the heart. Welcome kindness and emotional renewal.

  • openness
  • new feelings
  • compassion

Element: Water

What the card shows

A hand from a cloud holds a cup, from which five streams pour into a pond covered in lilies. A dove carrying a small wafer descends toward the cup.

Aces are the seed of their suit. Water is feeling, so this is the opening of the heart. Overflowing water shows abundance, the lilies show calm, and the dove adds peace and grace.

▲Upright

A new emotional beginning: love, compassion, creativity or connection.

Lightopenness, compassion, new love
Shadowfeeling that is not acknowledged
LoveA fresh start in love or deeper closeness.
WorkPassion for work that fits your values.

What would I let myself feel if I were not guarding it?

▼Reversed

Feelings are held in, blocked or poured out unseen.

Blocked: closed off emotionally.
Excess: overflowing with no direction.
Inward: feelings kept private.

What feeling am I keeping from myself?

Ace of Cups in a reading

In love

A fresh start in love or deeper closeness.

Reversed: Feelings are held in, blocked or poured out unseen.

At work

Passion for work that fits your values.

Its shadow side: feeling that is not acknowledged.

As one of the Cups

Feelings, love and relationships. The suit's element is Water. It shows where in daily life the reading plays out.

All Cups

Related cards

The other aces, and The Magician, Major Arcana card 1: the same stage of a story in other parts of life.

Read it with other cards

Questions about Ace of Cups

What does Ace of Cups mean in tarot?

A new emotional beginning: love, compassion, creativity or connection. Keywords: openness, new feelings, compassion.

What does Ace of Cups mean reversed?

Feelings are held in, blocked or poured out unseen. Blocked: closed off emotionally. Excess: overflowing with no direction. Inward: feelings kept private.

What does Ace of Cups mean in love?

A fresh start in love or deeper closeness.

What does Ace of Cups mean for work?

Passion for work that fits your values.

What question does Ace of Cups ask?

Upright: What would I let myself feel if I were not guarding it? Reversed: What feeling am I keeping from myself?

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