Four of Cups

Minor Arcana · Cups · number 4 · Quattro di Coppe

Upright

The Four of Cups is a young man sitting under a tree, arms folded, three cups before him and a fourth offered from a cloud: and he does not see it. Weariness, boredom, an aversion with no real reasons. If these days everything seems bland, love, work, friends, it is no accident: you are sated, not unhappy. Waite warns that a new gift is being held out to you right now, and you risk not noticing. It is also, says Waite, a card of blended pleasure: joy and boredom in the same glass, sweet and bitter together. The practical advice: look up. Accept the invitation you were about to turn down, answer the message you ignored. The fourth cup is a hand’s breadth away.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage

«Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had caused satiety only; another wine, as if a fairy gift, is now offered the wastrel, but he sees no consolation therein. This is also a card of blended pleasure.»

Reversed

Reversed, the Four of Cups wakes up: novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations. The satiety passes, and the world starts offering you things that spark your curiosity again. If these days you feel the urge to go out, to learn, to meet people coming back, it is no accident: the cup you could not see is finally in your hands. In love it may be an unexpected encounter; at work, a course, a change of role, a new colleague bringing fresh air. The practical advice: say yes to one thing you have never done, within the week. The presage comes true only if you move.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage

«Novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations.»

Source

Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) Part III, § 2, The Lesser Arcana, Four of Cups https://archive.org/details/a.-e.-waite-the-pictorial-key-to-the-tarot