This Is The Mother Of All Tarot Cards—Here’s How To Interpret It

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September 7, 2021 — 12:27 PM

The Queen of Cups is a very intuitive figure that carries a mothering, nurturing quality, tarot reader and author of The Big Book of Tarot Readings Sam Magdaleno tells mbg. “She’s very supportive, guided by her heart, and sometimes she can represent psychic abilities, too,” she adds.

The Cup suit in tarot is connected to water, Magdaleno explains, which is all about rebirth, emotion, and intuition.

She notes that in the traditional Rider Waite Smith deck card, you can see the Queen sitting right on the edge of water, with one of her feet on the pebbles and one in the water, representing that she’s balanced in what she does. “She’s obviously very influenced by her emotions and intuition—but she’s grounded at the same time,” Magdaleno says.

Notably, the Queen of Cups is also the only card with a cup that is closed. “In all the other suits and cups, the cups are open,” Magdaleno adds. “Hers has angels on it, suggesting she’s really in tune with her spirituality—but the lid means she keeps things more to herself, and those emotions she’s led by are pretty contained,” which helps her lead with a steady and grounded approach, she explains.

If you’ve pulled the Queen of Cups upright in a reading about love or relationships, take it as a good sign. “Oftentimes when we pull the court cards (Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages), they tend to represent people in our lives,” Magdaleno says.

And with the Queen of Cups representing your partner or love interest, “that’s a really good sign it’s going to be a nurturing and intuitive partner, someone who’s in tune with your wants and needs, and the relationship as a whole is very caring and loving,” she adds.

In reverse, the meaning isn’t necessarily so positive. Magdaleno explains that upright, the Queen of Cups is very sensitive, but reversed, it can hint that you’re being overly sensitive, as well as holding onto insecurities and ignoring your intuition.

Perhaps insecurities are coming up in the relationship, or you’re questioning the relationship in general but won’t listen to your gut.

“It’s telling you that you probably already know the answer, you’re just not looking for it because you’re hoping something different is going to come up—but you really just need to listen to your intuition,” Magdaleno says.

This card in reverse can also indicate you could be overly mothering a partner, she adds.

Generally speaking, this is a positive card for both career and finances, suggesting you’re “in tune with yourself, have a good work-life balance going on, and overall a positive job experience,” with money flowing like water to you, she says.

But because the Queen of Cups is associated with emotion and intuition, pulling the card in a career reading could also mean that you should consider a more creative career.

And again, because the court cards often represent people, the Queen of Cups in a career reading could also represent a mentor or coach, and this card could be encouraging you to take that person’s guidance.

If you pull the Queen of Cups in reverse, Magdaleno says you could be feeling really overwhelmed at your job, and/or not really being true to yourself about whether it’s the right role for you.

“It can also represent a career where you’re always taking care of others and it’s starting to burn you out and you feel like you have nothing left for yourself,” she adds.

Similarly, when it comes to finances, you could be ignoring your intuition when it comes to money matters. You could also be financially supporting other people “and that’s leaving you with your cup kind of drained and not very abundant,” Magdaleno adds.

If you’ve asked the cards about challenges you’re currently facing or may face in the future, Magdaleno says this pull is generally pretty positive. In the imagery of the card, “the sky is clear in the background, so it suggests a clear path for you,” she notes.

As always with this card, the key here, she says, is to “be sure you’re listening to your intuition as you make decisions along the way.”

Pulling the Queen of Cups in reverse in a reading about challenges suggests you could have some overwhelm or insecurities on the horizon, according to Magdaleno.

While these emotions are challenging, the nice thing about tarot is it gives you a bit of a warning or signal so you can adjust accordingly and take the necessary steps to work through them.