Six of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

The Six of Cups tarot card description is but one of many tarot cards, yet it holds specific meanings. When upright, the card can indicate pleasure, comfort, and healing, often associated with nostalgia, sentimentality, old memories, and familiarity. Conversely, the card reversed might represent the theme of independence and leaving home, or the struggle between moving forward and being stuck in the past.

A General Description

When you look at the Six of Cups, you can see a young person (a boy) who is leaning down. He’s passing a cup full of flowers to a girl even younger than him. This girl is looking up at the boy with a mix of respect and love while he’s offering her flowers.

This boy’s gentle act radiates with the essential elements of this card. They include harmony, love, and cooperation. The two young children in this image are also representative of childhood memories.

There is more in the background. If you look, you can see an older gentleman walking away off in the distance. This suggests you don’t need to worry about adult issues right now. Just live in the moment. Be free once more, enjoying youth and innocence again.

The two children also seem to be in a big home’s courtyard. This is thought to symbolize safety, security, and comfort.

The foreground has four more cups that also have flowers. A fifth cup is sitting behind the boy on a pedestal.

Six of Cups Upright

Picture of a young child giving cup to another child with all cups filled with flowers.

Six of Cups Tarot Card Meanings (Upright): When the Six of Cups minor arcana card appears this card should be one that reconnects you with happy memories of years past. These might be childhood memories, but they can also include memories from your teenage or young adult years.

You might be just revisiting such memories in your head, but you might also reconnect with childhood friends or travel back to a childhood home you once lived in. Past relationships or teenage sweethearts might reappear, an old friend might find you on Facebook, or you might attend a school reunion.

Such connections can provide you happiness and joy as you remember all the good times you had with each other. Use this moment in life to see if you still have enough in common to continue relationships at this point in your journey.

Love – Upright

The Six of Cups tarot card often indicates higher levels of cooperation and harmony in your personal relationships. You’re in a position to both give and receive at the same time, and you’ll do so without expectation. This card can also represent a past lover coming back into you life.

You’re also in relationships where each person is willing to give the other a lot of their trust. This is because you are past the challenging emotions. The time has come to start anew with more positivity.

Career – Upright

The career connection with the Six of Cups might seem counterintuitive given its themes of healing, memories, and inner child. However, it’s an invitation to look behind you so you can remember the path that brought you where you are now.

It might be a sign that the work you have done in the past still holds powerful lessons you can use while laying out your future path. Reflect on the things you did right, and be sure you aren’t repeating past mistakes. You might want to reconsider the direction of your career and possibly even resume a position you once held.

Money – Upright

In terms of finances, this card can indicate goodwill. There might be donations, gifts, or sharing of various resources. Given the themes of home and childhood, the sharing headed your way might be from people in your family. Maybe you return to the home of your parents. Spending time there could mean saving more money of your own while being in the comfort of people who love you. Alternatively, you might welcome family into your own home whom you share your own resources with.

Reversed Six of Cups

Six of Cups Tarot Card Meanings (Reversed): If the Six of Cups reversed shows up during your tarot reading, you need to inquire whether you are losing touch with your present reality. You might be clinging to your past.

Things like nostalgia and reflection can bring up things, and these can be good or bad. However, if you discover that you long for how life once was instead of being in the present, then you’re missing out on great things right around you today.

Occasional indulgence in past reminiscing is understandable, but you need to remember that fundamental and effective change only happens in the here and now. The Six of Cups is actually an invitation to be at peace with what’s done so you can live in the present.

Love – Reversed

If the Six of Cups reversed shows in a love tarot reading you might have a past relationship holding you back from becoming open to love or creating space for someone else in your heart. You might even think that you’ll never again meet someone who is like your former lover.

You might even think your past love was legendary. Living this way can not only block possible partners but be unfair to current ones. It’s easy with an ex to fall into a trap of only remembering the good things. You should let it go. If not, you’ll never again enjoy the power of love you are reminiscing about so much right now.

Career – Reversed

When the Six of Cups reversed shows in a career reading, this card might signify that your work is stale and your career suddenly has no progress. Being stifled can frustrate you enough that you look for something more enticing in terms of employment.

While your present position might give you comfort and security, you find yourself longing for more, even if you can’t bring yourself to get up and do it. There’s even a danger of being so comfortable with the familiar, regardless of how uninspiring you find it, that you risk repeating past mistakes.

Money – Reversed

The Six of Cups reversed indicates it’s time for you to strike out on your own. This is a frequent card for those who are still living at home but have reached a point in life where it’s time to move out on their own. The symbolism is that of financial maturity.

If you’ve spent time living with your parents or other people, then you have hopefully learned how to save money and manage your finances. This discipline becomes the freedom to make your own life. It’s intimidating, but it’s also crucial to your growth as a person.