Tarot Card Combination
Four of Cups+Five of Cups
聖杯四 & 聖杯五
Two cups of emotional stagnation meet in a quiet pond of regret. The Four's apathetic refusal to engage with offered blessings has led to the Five's mourning of what was lost. This is the melancholy mathematics of emotional withdrawal—first you decline the present, then you grieve the past. The sum is nine: a completion of this cycle of disconnection, urging you to turn from the spilled cups toward the two that remain standing.
These two Water cards together paint a portrait of emotional retreat and its consequences. The Four of Cups shows you in a state of contemplative dissatisfaction, perhaps refusing emotional offerings because they don't match your inner ideal. This refusal creates the conditions for the Five of Cups—where you now stand mourning what you've lost or rejected, so fixated on the three spilled cups that you fail to see the two still full behind you. This combination suggests a self-created emotional drought: first by rejecting what's available, then by lamenting the resulting emptiness. The water element here is stagnant, not flowing—a pond reflecting only what's missing rather than what remains. You're being shown the direct connection between your dismissals and your disappointments.
Elemental Analysis
Double Water creates profound emotional depth but risks stagnation. Like two still ponds merging, there's immense intuitive potential but little movement. The emotional realm dominates completely here—logic and action are submerged. This can mean rich inner life or overwhelming sentimentality. Without Earth's grounding or Air's perspective, feelings recycle endlessly. The challenge is to let these waters flow rather than pool in regret.
Numerology Insights
Four (stability) plus Five (change) equals Nine—the number of completion and wisdom gained through experience. This nine reflects the emotional wisdom earned through this cycle of refusal and regret. It's the sum total of lessons learned from choosing apathy over engagement, then grief over gratitude. Nine suggests this pattern is finishing, making way for new emotional beginnings.
Reversal Meanings
Four of Cups Reversed
Four of Cups reversed breaks the apathy—offers once refused now seem appealing. Stagnant emotions begin to move. You awaken from spiritual sleep, reaching for what you previously ignored. This reversal suggests emerging from self-absorption to recognize available blessings, though the transition may feel abrupt or disorienting.
Five of Cups Reversed
Five of Cups reversed turns from spilled cups to standing ones. Grief transforms into acceptance; regret becomes learning. You begin to count blessings rather than losses. Emotional recovery commences as you release attachment to what cannot be changed and embrace what remains possible.
Both Cards Reversed
Both reversed create emotional thawing—the frozen cycle of refusal and regret melts into movement. You simultaneously awaken to present opportunities (Four reversed) and release past sorrows (Five reversed). This double reversal signals emotional rebirth: waters that were stagnant now flow toward healing and new engagement.
Spiritual Guidance
Spiritually, these cups reveal the cost of refusing grace. The Divine offers continual blessings (Four), but your spiritual apathy or perfectionism causes you to decline them. Then you mourn the resulting emptiness (Five), creating a cycle of self-imposed exile from the sacred. The nine vibration suggests completing this pattern of spiritual rejection and regret. The two remaining cups in the Five remind you that divine connection always remains available when you turn toward it.
Yes/No Reading Guide
Tendency: No. These cards together suggest emotional blockage and regret over past refusals. The energy is stagnant, focused on what's lost rather than what's possible. Until you turn from the spilled cups toward the standing ones, conditions aren't favorable for positive outcomes.
Daily Affirmation
"I release what I refused, and receive what remains."
Practical Advice
Turn 180 degrees. The Four shows what you're ignoring; the Five shows what you're mourning. Between them lies the pivot point—where you choose to face the two full cups rather than the three empty ones. Engage with what remains, not what's lost.
Things to Watch
Beware the melancholy luxury of regret. Your grief over spilled cups may be a comfortable distraction from the harder work of drinking from what remains. This emotional stagnation can become addictive.
Individual Card Meanings
Four of Cups
聖杯四
The Four of Cups shows a person sitting under a tree, arms crossed, looking at three cups before them while a hand from a cloud offers a fourth cup they seem to ignore. This card represents apathy, contemplation, and discontentment with what is being offered. It suggests taking time to reflect on your emotional needs and whether current opportunities truly serve you.
View full meaning →Five of Cups
聖杯五
The Five of Cups shows a cloaked figure mourning over three spilled cups, while two upright cups stand behind them, unnoticed. This card represents grief, loss, and focusing on what went wrong rather than what remains. It suggests a period of mourning and disappointment, but reminds you that not all is lost—there are still opportunities for emotional recovery.
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