Tarot card meanings › Cups
King of Cups Tarot Card Meaning
The King of Cups tarot card means emotional balance, calm and wise counsel. Calm, steady feelings.
Upright
- Emotional balance
- calm
- wise counsel
Reversed
- Moodiness
- bottled-up feelings
- manipulation
Yes or no
Yes
The King of Cups is one of the 14 cards in the suit of Cups. Cups are the suit of water: feelings, love, friendship and intuition.
What the card shows
A king sits on a throne that floats on a rough sea, holding a cup in one hand and a sceptre in the other. A fish leaps on one side and a ship sails on the other.
This is the card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is in the public domain.
Upright meaning
The King of Cups is read as feeling deeply and staying steady. The sea is rough and he is calm. The card points to emotional maturity, diplomacy and good advice.
King of Cups reversed
Reversed, it is read as feelings bottled up until they spill, or using emotion to steer other people.
Yes or no?
In a yes or no question, the King of Cups is usually read as a yes. Readers differ on some cards, so treat this as one common reading. You can ask a yes or no question and draw a card for it.
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More Cups cards
Ace of CupsTwo of CupsThree of CupsFour of CupsFive of CupsSix of CupsSeven of CupsEight of CupsNine of CupsTen of CupsPage of CupsKnight of CupsQueen of Cups
‹ Queen of CupsAll 78 cardsAce of Swords ›
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