Your Daily Reading:
Five of Cups
The Five of Cups represents loss, regret and the importance of new hope. A young man stares down in despair at three cups of wine, completely oblivious to the two that remain upright. It implies that you're more concerned with what you've lost than with what you still have. Someone may have disappointed or disappointed you. Alternatively, you may have done something you have come to regret and are unable to go forward.
You must have the courage to shift your attention away from the things that have gone wrong in your life and focus on the positive things that remain.
This card is often a sign or omen for something dark or challenging that is on the horizon. It is linked to your emotions, just like the rest of its suit, and it comes with a warning of regret, loss, and disappointment. Expect a life setback, most likely an emotional one. While this may be emotional, and it may be a project or aim in which you have a strong emotional attachment, you will be disappointed. In certain cases, it may also allude to previous occurrences that continue to bring regret or sorrow. The only answer is to be optimistic; this, too, will pass, and you will soon be able to go on.
We are often trained in our culture to conceal our "bad" feelings. We are only permitted to vent our anger, sorrow, and grief in the privacy of our own houses. This creates a sense of guilt surrounding these emotions, leading us to suppress or conceal them even in private. We lose out on a lot of what goes on around us when we retreat into our own caves to vent our sorrow (or wish it would just go away). In moments of grief and sadness, we often feel as though we are marooned on an island, cut off from connection. But this is an isolation of our own creation when we repress our negative emotions. This is what the Five of Cups represents and the energy it carries.
Remember to Look on the Bright Side
This card also represents not being able to see the positives that remain after loss. The man's gaze is fixed on the ground in front of him, where the three cups have spilled, and he is in sorrowful contemplation. However, immediately behind him, two cups remain upright and full. The sadness he is experiencing over his loss has blinded him to the two cups that are still full. Often when disaster strikes we find it very difficult to look on the bright side. If you have drawn this card, it is critical you don't forget this important lesson. Just as the phoenix rises from the ashes, you too can find healing, growth and spiritual renewal from reflecting on the good that remains.
While the Five of Cups may indicate any type of loss, this card usually pertains to emotional loss. This may imply the end of a relationship, the loss of a friend, or the loss of a lover. Of course, although death may be a part of this loss, it is more frequently a case of sorrow caused by more traditional methods. A divorce, a separation, or just not being permitted to see that person for whatever reason are all possibilities. Do not dismiss the possibility of losing anything more tangible, such as a vehicle, job, or house; if you have a personal, emotional attachment to these items, you will still experience an emotional loss when they are taken away.
The mourning process is an unavoidable part of the grieving process for everyone who has experienced a loss, therefore it's no wonder that the Five of Cups symbolises both sorrow and loss. The Five Stages of Grief have been shown to be a step-by-step process: denial/isolation, anger, bargaining, sadness, and finally acceptance. This card may indicate that you need to embrace the mourning process and start going through the phases.
Finally, this card represents remorse. When someone loses something essential to them, they often express regret for not doing anything while they still had it. For example, they will wish they had spent more time with a loved one who has gone away. This feeling is regret, and it lasts far longer than we expect. This card indicates that you may be regretting something, and that it is time to confront it and move on.
Try asking yourself these questions when you draw the Five of Cups in your readings. What have I recently lost or watched fade away? Am I accepting this loss? Have I gone through the grieving process? How would I respond if I lost someone important to me? Is there something I wished I would have said? Would I have any regrets? Is there anything I can do to prevent that regret?
Take time to reflect on what stage of the grieving process you are in and remember the importance of finding a glimmer or hope in whatever loss you are currently experiencing.
How the Five of Cups Influences your Love Life and Relationships
The Five of Cups in love often speaks to heartbreak, regret, or disappointment that still weighs heavily on your heart. You may be focused on what went wrong, what you lost, or what never had the chance to become what you hoped. This card validates your pain and acknowledges that something has genuinely hurt you, whether it is a breakup, betrayal, unrequited love, or a pattern of letdowns that has left you feeling emotionally drained and alone.
Yet within this sorrow, the Five of Cups also gently reminds you that not all is lost. Even if you cannot see it clearly right now, there are still cups standing, still connections that can be healed, and still possibilities for new love or deeper understanding. It encourages you to slowly lift your gaze from the spilled cups and notice the love that remains around you: friends who care, inner strengths you have discovered through hardship, or a partner who is willing to work through the pain alongside you.
For existing relationships, this card can point to a period where old wounds, misunderstandings, or unspoken resentments need to be acknowledged and grieved before true repair is possible. For singles, it asks you to tend to your heart and process your sorrow so you do not carry yesterday’s hurt into tomorrow’s love. The Five of Cups ultimately invites you to honor your sadness, then choose, step by step, to open again to trust, connection, and the possibility that love can grow from what you have learned.
Five of Cups’ Connection to your Higher Self
Loss has visited you, and grief has become your companion for a time. The Five of Cups appears when your soul is moving through the heavy waters of disappointment, regret, or sorrow. On a soul level, this card asks you to honor your pain while also gently questioning whether it has become the only thing you can see. Your spirit needs to mourn what has been lost, but the Five of Cups teaches that sorrow can become a prison if you refuse to eventually turn around.
This card teaches that what remains is often overlooked when we are consumed by what is gone. Where have you been so focused on your losses that you have forgotten the blessings still present in your life? Where has regret kept you anchored to a past you cannot change? Your soul is inviting you to grieve fully and then, when you are ready, to shift your gaze. The Five of Cups asks you to consider that even in the midst of disappointment, something has survived, and that something may be exactly what you need to begin again.
The Five of Cups is a card of spiritual grieving and the choice to eventually move forward. You are learning that loss is part of life and that your capacity to feel pain is connected to your capacity to feel love. Your spirit will not be destroyed by this sorrow, though it may be transformed. Trust that what still stands holds enough to sustain you, and that turning toward it does not dishonor what was lost. Grief has its season, but so does renewal, and your soul knows when it is time to walk toward the bridge that leads you home.
What the Five of Cups Means for You Today
You have experienced a profound loss in your life recently. This could be the loss of a relationship or loved one, or perhaps a business opportunity. Often, the Five of Cups appears when you have experienced a metaphysical loss: of trust, of optimism, of dreams and ambitions. Yet the message of the card is crystal clear: in this loss you must find the glimmer of hope. As hard as it might be to see, there is always a light opposite the shadow. You can find the positives and cherish that which you still have. Look for your blessings in places you wouldn’t normally think to, and the Universe will provide them.