ShenTarotGet the app
  1. Home
  2. Card meanings
  3. Cups
Six of Cups, Rider-Waite-Smith deck

Minor Arcana · Cups

Six of Cups

Warmth from the past.

Memories and gentle generosity. Revisit the past with warmth.

  • nostalgia
  • innocence
  • kindness

Element: Water

What the card shows

In a courtyard of a village, a child hands a cup full of flowers to a smaller child. Other cups with flowers sit around, with a guard in the background.

Six is the number of harmony. The childhood scene points to innocence and old bonds, with flowers as a gift. Nostalgia is the theme, along with simple kindness.

▲Upright

Memory, simple kindness and old connections.

Lightnostalgia, kindness, innocence
Shadowliving in the past
LoveReuniting with an old friend, or sentimental tenderness.
WorkReturning to what you used to love doing.

What from my past is worth bringing forward?

▼Reversed

Stuck in memories, or letting go of the past.

Blocked: unable to leave the past.
Releasing: moving on from old patterns.
Excess: idealising what was.

Am I remembering the past, or hiding in it?

Six of Cups in a reading

In love

Reuniting with an old friend, or sentimental tenderness.

Reversed: Stuck in memories, or letting go of the past.

At work

Returning to what you used to love doing.

Its shadow side: living in the past.

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 sixes, and The Lovers, Major Arcana card 6: the same stage of a story in other parts of life.

The LoversSix of WandsSix of SwordsSix of Pentacles

Read it with other cards

Card combinations

Pick a second card and see how Six of Cups reads with it.

Combine

Elemental dignities

See which neighbours strengthen or weaken Six of Cups.

Check

Yes or No tarot

Draw three cards for a yes or no question.

Ask

Questions about Six of Cups

What does Six of Cups mean in tarot?

Memory, simple kindness and old connections. Keywords: nostalgia, innocence, kindness.

What does Six of Cups mean reversed?

Stuck in memories, or letting go of the past. Blocked: unable to leave the past. Releasing: moving on from old patterns. Excess: idealising what was.

What does Six of Cups mean in love?

Reuniting with an old friend, or sentimental tenderness.

What does Six of Cups mean for work?

Returning to what you used to love doing.

What question does Six of Cups ask?

Upright: What from my past is worth bringing forward? Reversed: Am I remembering the past, or hiding in it?

ShenTarot for iPhone and Android

Read your own cards

Scan your Rider-Waite-Smith deck or draw on screen, ask your question and get a reading you can keep asking about.

Coming soon toApp StoreComing soon toGoogle Play