Six of Cups: Tarot Card Meaning
Minor Arcana, suit of Cups
Upright keywords
- nostalgia
- childhood
- innocence
- kindness
- simple pleasures
Reversed keywords
- living in the past
- idealising
- growing up
- letting go
In short
- Upright
- Warm memories, simple kindness and a meeting with the past: a time to give without keeping score and to recall what used to delight you.
- Reversed
- The past is taking up too much room: nostalgia, idealising “how things used to be”. It’s time to keep the warmth and let the longing go.
Six of Cups: symbolism and imagery
On the Rider–Waite Six of Cups card, two children stand in the courtyard of an old house. The taller, in a red hood and blue tunic, bends to the smaller and holds out a cup with a white flower. Four more such cups stand in a row in front, and one on a stone pedestal bearing a shield. Behind rise a tower and a steep-roofed house; on the left a figure with a spear walks away up some steps.
- The cup with a white flower
- A gift with no strings attached. The white star-shaped flowers stand for innocence and joy given for its own sake.
- The older child bending to the younger
- Care, patience, mentoring, and an adult meeting the child within, past and present face to face.
- The pedestal with the shield
- On the stone is a shield with a white diagonal cross. Family and roots: what passes from one generation to the next.
- The old house and the tower
- Familiar, safe walls: a childhood home, real or remembered.
- The figure with a spear walking away
- Adult worries and guards are left behind. In the courtyard no one needs protecting, and children can simply give each other flowers.
Six of Cups upright
The Six of Cups is a card of memories, childhood and kindness given without calculation. After the bitterness of the Five, the light softens: someone holds out a cup of flowers simply to give pleasure.
It often speaks of meeting the past: a call from a school friend, a trip to your home town, a rediscovered photo album, a hobby that once filled every weekend. Or simply of a day when the plainest things feel most precious: a cake from your grandmother’s recipe, a walk round a familiar neighbourhood.
The Sun in Scorpio lights up the depths: in its glow, memories stop being mere nostalgia and reveal what matters most, whatever made you who you are. Ask yourself: what did I enjoy as a child, before “no time” became my refrain? What part of that lightness could return today? Six is the number of harmony and exchange, so giving and receiving both matter here.
This card is also about care between older and younger: parents and children, mentors and newcomers, the adult in you and the child in you. The older child bends towards the younger: attention, patience, a gift. Sometimes it suggests becoming the giver: helping a beginner, phoning your grandmother, sharing what you know. The Six’s kindness is quiet, without grand gestures — and that is its strength.
Six of Cups reversed
The reversed Six of Cups speaks of a past that has taken up too much room. Nostalgia becomes a trap: “things were better before”, today loses out to a retouched picture, and you long to bring back what has already changed (an old relationship, old friends, a town as it once was). And sometimes childhood wasn’t a warm place at all, and memories wound rather than comfort.
The card suggests separating warmth from longing: keep what is valuable (friends, skills, the things you believe in) and let the rest be the past. Growing up doesn’t mean betraying the child within; it means looking after that child as an adult. If old memories weigh heavily, talking them through with a psychologist can help.
Six of Cups in love: the tenderness of simple gestures
Upright
In a relationship
Tenderness shows in small things: tea brought without being asked, a note on the fridge, a walk to the spot of your first date. Remember what you loved doing together at the very beginning and bring some of it back. It’s a good time to be playful together, setting serious household talk aside.
If you’re single
Someone from the past may reappear (a classmate, an old friend), or a new acquaintance may feel like someone you’ve known forever. Let things unfold at their own pace: warmth and trust matter more right now than passion.
Reversed
In a relationship
Comparing the present with how things were “at the start”, or with past partners, can hurt what you have now. The relationship has changed, but that doesn’t mean it has got worse. Get to know each other afresh: who you are now and what matters to each of you today.
If you’re single
Perhaps your heart is still holding on to an old story or waiting for an ex to come back. Ask yourself honestly: do I miss the person, or the time when everything felt simpler? The answer may free up room for new meetings, and you can keep the warm memories without going back.
Six of Cups at work: old connections and mentoring
Upright
Old connections and long-held skills may come in handy: a former colleague might recommend you, a forgotten hobby might become a work project. A good time for mentoring (teaching or learning) and for a team where people help without keeping score. The card favours work connected with children, education and family.
Reversed
Clinging to old methods and past achievements (“we’ve always done it this way”) can hold you back. Look at what in your experience really works and what has become mere ritual. If you’re thinking of returning to a former workplace, weigh it up soberly: a lot has changed there too.
Six of Cups and money: generosity within your means
Upright
Gifts, help from family or the repayment of an old debt are possible: kind gestures in money matters. You may want to be generous yourself: supporting loved ones, giving presents, helping younger relatives with studies. Be generous within your means, and discuss and cost larger family arrangements in advance.
Reversed
Spending driven by nostalgia (collecting things “like when I was a child”, trying to buy back the past), or money habits from your childhood home that no longer suit you. Work out which money rules are truly yours and which you inherited, and go by today’s figures.
Six of Cups and health: strength from simple pleasures
Upright
Strength returns through simple pleasures: walks, games, a favourite food from childhood, time with loved ones. Allow yourself rest that doesn’t have to be useful; sometimes that supports you better than any plan.
Reversed
Old habits or longing for the past may be draining your energy. Gently update your routine to fit your needs today. If something has bothered you for a while, don’t put off seeing a doctor hoping it will “sort itself out”.
This isn’t medical advice: for health questions, please see a doctor.
The card’s advice
Upright
Remember what brought you joy as a child. How might you offer yourself a small piece of that today?
Reversed
Which memory have you been carrying for too long? Perhaps it is time to thank it and set it down.
Six of Cups: yes or no, upright and reversed
Upright
Yes
Yes, especially if your question involves the past, family, old friends or a sincere gesture. The card speaks of warmth and mutuality: what is offered from the heart is likely to be received in the same spirit.
Reversed
Likely no
Likely no, if you’re hoping to bring everything back as it was: the past has changed, and so have you. But if the question is about taking the best from the past and moving on, the answer is softer.
Six of Cups as your card of the day
Six of Cups in spread positions
In the past position
The roots of the situation lie in childhood or earlier experience: warm memories, family habits or an old friendship still shape your choices.
As an obstacle
Looking backwards gets in the way: comparing the present with an embellished past, or hoping to restore what has changed.
As advice
Turn to simple kindness: give, help, remember what once delighted you, and bring a piece of it into today.
As the outcome
The situation may lead to a warm reconciliation, a meeting with the past or a sense of home, calm and trusting.
Example
A four-card spread about moving back to a home town after ten years in the capital: “what draws me back”, “what keeps me here”, “what I fear”, “advice”. The Six of Cups falls in the first position. It isn’t only the streets of childhood that pull, but also being among people who have known you since childhood. The card asks you to work out what you’re returning to: the people or the past.
Six of Cups: combinations with other cards
A brief look at what two cards mean side by side in one spread (in the upright position). Select a card to open its meaning.
With the Major Arcana
With the Cups
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Interpret my spreadCorrespondences
- Element
- Water
- Astrology
- the Sun in Scorpio
- Number
- 6: harmony, exchange, mutual care
- Suit
- Cups: feelings, relationships, intuition
Frequently asked questions
What does the Six of Cups mean in tarot?
It’s a card of warm memories, childhood and kindness given for its own sake. It may point to a meeting with the past (an old friend, familiar places, a hobby you once loved) and to the value of simple pleasures.
What does the reversed Six of Cups mean?
Living in the past: idealising “the old days”, trying to restore what has changed, or painful memories. The card suggests keeping the warmth, letting go of the longing and looking at what is here now.
What does the Six of Cups mean in relationships and as feelings?
Tenderness, trust, playfulness and a return to the roots, sometimes a meeting with someone from the past. Reversed, the card warns against comparing your current relationship with earlier ones. As feelings, it points to tender, nostalgic affection: someone feels safe and familiar with you, sometimes because of shared memories.
Is the Six of Cups a yes or no card?
Upright, it’s a yes, especially in questions about family, friendship and the past. Reversed, it leans towards no if you’re hoping to bring everything back as it was.
Does the Six of Cups mean an ex is coming back?
Not necessarily. The card speaks of the past in a broad sense: people, places, feelings. If a former partner does reappear, ask yourself what draws you: the person or the memory of that time.
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Interpret my spreadFrom the blog: How to read tarot cards · Tarot questions to ask
Related cards
The same card in the other suits, plus the Major Arcana card with the same number.
