Three of Cups meaning in the tarot (2024)

In the world of the Tarot, the Three of Cups is usually considered to be a card highly favorable to the emotional life of those who have the luck to draw it. As you saw earlier, the Ace of Cups represents the purest form of emotion associated with this suit. The Two of Cups is linked to the progressive germination of feelings. On the other hand, the Three of Cups is a truly active card, that corresponds to the liberation of accumulated energies.

From a visual point of view, the card features three golden cups with open tops. Two are on the bottom half of the card. The third, above them, is surrounded by two leaves, folded as if they wanted to protect the contents of the cup. Their stems are growing from a solid pillar located between the two bottom cups. Together they form a heart which recalls the emotional characteristics of this card.

Symbolically, this complex structure conveys great gentleness. Because of the way the card should be read (from bottom to top), the upper cup should be considered as the result of the union of the two lower cups, like the fruit of a true love, or the birth of a child.

You should also note the white background that some tarot versions have. This obvious emblem of purity suggests that when searching for a soul mate the seeker can consider all possibilities.

That thing which is more complicated and astonishing than the harmony of the spheres: a couple.

The Three of Cups is an active card linked to relationships and the sensitivities that all human beings share. In this way it greatly promotes harmony within a group of friends. The obligations of everyday life sometimes make you forget the importance of your friends and family and the role they play in your well-being. However, the Three of Cups encourages people to get together. It is a sign that the seeker is now in the right frame of mind to enjoy harmonious relationships and is also ready to help when one of their circle needs them. In order to learn how to develop your friendships you have to accept that it means being part of a group and understanding the common values that connect you to others. This is not really a question of the simple, small pleasures of life but more about the quest for unity that is fundamental to human beings.

And, of course, the seeker's emotional being is strongly influenced by the Three of Cups. Just as it promotes harmony in friendship, so the card promotes harmony within a couple. It can, for example, announce the end of a conflict, whether it was internal or external to the seeker, and a favorable outcome. All the ingredients to create a long-term relationship have now been assembled. They will provide the seeker with tenderness, the ability to listen carefully, and immense amounts of support.

Sometimes the Three of Cups also conveys the idea of evolution. It is likely that having overcome their emotional trauma, the seeker finally feels able to open their heart again and commit to a serious relationship. Because, after all, what's better in life than loving and being loved?

While it is difficult to precisely analyze the influence of the Three of Cups without taking into account the other arcana in the draw, it is possible to highlight two extremely frequent cases.

Sometimes the inverted Three of Cups testifies to the seeker's difficulty in forging lasting relationships with their circle of friends. If they are under the influence of the Suit of Pentacles, for example, this difficult situation is most often the result of being too involved in their career accompanied by a rigidity of behavior that is not very compatible with the world of relationships.

In other situations, the Three of Cups can signify that a third person is involved in the seeker's romantic life. This means that the desire to become one that is inherent in a couple is undermined by the nascent feelings of one of the two partners for a person outside the relationship. To prevent the situation from escalating, they will need diplomacy and to try to understand together the reason for this bad patch. In this situation communication will play a crucial role.