Often a fairly dark looking card, the five of cups represents sadness, loss, disappointment, pain and grief. Cups have been knocked over, their contents spilled, but if the figure in the card chooses to look up and about themselves, they would see that two of the five cups are still standing and there is a way forward out of their misery, typically depicted as a bridge over a river, leading to a safe haven. These three artists have depicted three totally different scenes, yet the meaning still shines strong through all of them.

Our first five cups drawn by artist Charlie Claire Burgess in the Fifth Spirit Tarot, shows a crushed can, half a broken glass bottle, an upside-down empty mug, a full cup of tea and a full glass of water. Cups represent emotion and this variety of drinking vessels represents the whole emotional spectrum. The cups are drawn around a cosy looking house that is up to its windows in a black swirling body of water. Floating atop the water is a tiny ship with a sail - the escape route from the storm, if you care to notice it. Yellow flowers in bloom surround the water. A storm can be destructive, yet it can still water the seeds. Storms, floods and bad things can happen to us all, we can choose to stay in the house and dwell on the damage, or take the boat, ride the waves, feel the feelings and know that it will pass. It is up to us to decide which of the five cups we want to see - the crushed empty can or the warm mug of tea? 

The next five of Cups, entitled ‘Disappointment’ from the Urban Tarot by Robin Scott, presents us with a scene inside a house, looking up from the floor into an open china cupboard, its contents destroyed, shards of broken glass and china lay scattered across the scene. Five tea cups remained unharmed, hanging from the hooks at the top of the cupboard. Whatever just happened here to cause the destruction had been fuelled by pain, although it’s in the past, it still feels raw. The cupboard doors are open wide and at the back is the image of a raw piece of meat, blood red and vulnerable, as if someones chest has been ripped open, revealing their heart. This pain feels sudden, deep and angry, but those five cups are still hanging undamaged and the flowers on the floor are still blooming beautifully, despite the broken vase. 

In Kristoffer Hughes Celtic Tarot, illustrated by Chris Down, we see a more traditional interpretation of the card with a dark robed figure, head down standing by a river. Two broken and empty cauldrons stand in front of him, with a third tipped over, spilling a blood red liquid. The figure appears to have been grieving here for a long time, their robe blends with the grass they stand on. They fail to see the two shining cauldrons that stand upright full of water behind them. The boar to their right, a symbol of strength, looks like it is trying to get the figure to look in his direction and see the full cauldrons and the rainbow behind them. There is no physical bridge to guide the figure to the other side of the river, but the rainbow is there signalling that it is with the mind that the crossing to a better place away from the pain needs to made.

It is inevitable that we will all experience moments like this, it is part of the human experience. If we love, then we will one day feel loss. We will grieve, the pain will at first cut deep, there’s no saying for how long, or how often we will revisit it, but we can find the strength to look for that boat, let the water from the storm fill up our empty cups and choose to see the rainbows. It will pass and new opportunities will arise, even bad experiences are ones we can learn and grow from. So is your cup half empty or half full?