Image: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain/CC0)
TL;DR: Waite wrote in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911) that the Queen of Cups is a good, beautiful, honest, devoted woman, with loving intelligence and the gift of vision, along with success, happiness, wisdom, and virtue; the reversed meaning has many variants. In current Tarot reading, this card is deep empathy, strong intuition, caring for those around you with all your heart, while reversed it is being overly sensitive, easily swayed by others' emotions. Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: listen to your own true feelings and set healthy boundaries when needed.
What is the Queen of Cups?
The Queen of Cups is a card in the Minor Arcana, belonging to the Cups suit of the 78-card Tarot system. The Cups suit is often associated with emotional life, intuition and relationships. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck printed in 1909, with artwork by Pamela Colman Smith based on the ideas of Arthur Edward Waite, this card carries the number 13 of the Cups suit.
What did Waite write about the Queen of Cups in his 1911 book?
A. E. Waite described the card and gave his own divinatory meaning in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911). The Rider-Waite-Smith deck was printed in 1909, with artwork by Pamela Colman Smith; the divinatory meanings below are Waite's from the 1911 book, and often differ from how the card is commonly read today.
Waite's description of the image: a beautiful, gentle, dreamy woman, like someone seeing images in a cup. Waite adds that this is only one aspect of her; she sees, but she also acts, and it is her activity that nourishes that dream.
Divinatory meanings Waite lists (upright): a good, fair woman; an honest, devoted woman, willing to serve the querent; loving intelligence, and therefore the gift of seeing; success, happiness, pleasure; also wisdom, virtue; a perfect spouse and a good mother.
Divinatory meanings Waite lists (reversed): Waite notes that the books differ; it may be a good woman; or a woman of distinction but not to be trusted; a wilful woman; vice, disgrace, depravity. He states clearly that this reversed meaning has many variants, so there is no single reversed meaning that he settles on.
In today's Tarot reading, what does the Queen of Cups mean?
In today's Tarot reading, the Queen of Cups is usually understood as deep empathy, strong intuition, caring for those around you with all your heart. Reversed, this card is usually understood as being overly sensitive, easily swayed by other people's emotions. The keywords commonly used are empathy, care, intuition.
A clear distinction is needed: this is today's common reading, and also the meaning that Nhật Nguyệt's card-drawing tool uses, not the divinatory meaning Waite gave in his 1911 book.
How are the card's imagery and symbols understood?
What does the woman sitting by the water say?
Waite describes a beautiful, gentle, dreamy woman, as if seeing images in the cup. He emphasises that she does not only see but also acts, and it is that action which nourishes her dream. The common understanding today often links this image with a rich inner life and the capacity for empathy.
How are the cup and other details understood?
Waite's description focuses on the woman and the cup she is looking at. He does not list details about the domed lid of the cup, the angel figure on the cup, the crown, the stone around her neck or specific waves, so no meaning is assigned to those details here. Those detailed interpretations belong to other modern Tarot authors, and are not part of Waite's original description.
How does the Queen of Cups differ from other cards in the Cups suit?
- Compared with the Page of Cups: the Page is usually seen as someone newly coming into contact with emotions, while the Queen has already been through a process of maturing.
- Compared with the King of Cups: the King is usually seen as controlling emotion through reason and outward calm, while the Queen leans towards understanding and receiving from within.
What is Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion when this card appears?
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: when this card appears, you might spend some quiet time recognising your true feelings before deciding anything important. At work, you might consider listening to intuition alongside objective facts, especially in fields that call for empathy such as care, counselling and creative work. In love, you might open your heart while still being selective and setting healthy boundaries. Regarding health, you might pay attention to your spiritual life through relaxing activities that suit you.
The suggestions above are not predictions of the future, nor do they replace professional advice on finance, health or psychology. The card is only one way of looking at things, for you to compare against your own circumstances.
Quick reference table: Queen of Cups upright and reversed
| Aspect | Content |
|---|---|
| Deck suit | Minor Arcana - Cups |
| Number | 13 |
| Main keywords | empathy, care, intuition |
| Meaning upright | Deep empathy, strong intuition, caring for those around you with all your heart. |
| Meaning reversed | Overly sensitive, easily swayed by other people's emotions. |
The table above gives meanings according to today's Tarot reading, which is also the meaning Nhật Nguyệt's card-drawing tool uses. Waite's original 1911 divinatory meaning was given separately in the section above and differs from this table.
Overview article on the topic: Tarot Basics: The 78 Cards And The Meaning Of The Major/Minor Arcana
