A cloaked figure grieves over three spilled cups while two still stand: a card of loss and what remains and, reversed, of news and returns.
Card art by Pamela Colman Smith (1909), public domain
Upright
Yes / No: Maybe
The Five of Cups speaks of loss, while reminding you that something is still left standing. Waite links it to inheritance and to what is handed down, though not in the form that was hoped for, and some readers see in it a union touched by bitterness. What remains alongside what is gone?
loss
what remains
inheritance
unmet expectations
bittersweet union
Reversed
Yes / No: Maybe
Reversed, the card turns toward connection and roots: Waite lists news, alliances, affinity, blood ties, ancestry and return. He also includes false projects. Which plans rest on solid ground, and which bonds or homecomings feel meaningful to you now?
news
alliances
kinship
ancestry
return
false plans
Love & relationships
Upright, the Five of Cups reflects grief, regret or disappointment in a connection, the sense that something hoped for did not happen. Yet the card also notices what still stands. Give the sadness its place, and turn, gently and in your own time, toward the care, friendship or self-respect that remains with you.
Reversed, the Five of Cups suggests a return or reconnection: news from someone, a renewed alliance, or old family and emotional ties coming back into view. It also carries a caution about plans that may not hold. Does a homecoming feel meaningful, or does it rest more on hope than on solid ground?
The image
A figure in a dark cloak looks sideways at three cups lying overturned on the ground. Two more stand upright behind him, and in the distance a bridge leads to a small fortified house.
Symbolism
Waite frames the card as a simple sum of loss: three cups are gone, but two remain. The dark cloak gives the figure a somber, grieving air, and the upright cups behind him are easy to miss as long as he faces the fallen ones. Waite mentions the bridge and the small keep beyond it without explaining them, so their meaning is left open. Because this is a Cups card, the loss shown here is one of feeling and expectation.
In a reading
When the Five appears upright, acknowledge the disappointment while noticing what is still in your hands. Reversed, it brings family, old alliances and returns into view, along with an honest look at any plan that may not hold up.
The yes / no answer is our editorial reading of the card’s overall tone, not a prediction.
For self-reflection and personal insight. Not a prediction and not a substitute for professional medical, legal, financial or mental-health advice.
