Five of Cups
Fixed water: loss, appetites, sacrifice.
FIVE OF CUPS
The Five of Cups contains Scorpio’s watery depths. In the Modern Witch deck there are three cups spilled on the shore, the liquid seeping into the sand. But behind the figure, safely protected by their body, two cups remain upright, intact. Perhaps they are looking wistfully out to the ocean, mourning what has been lost, or perhaps they are calmly watching as the liquid mingles with earth, sea, and sky.
SCORPIO I + FIVE OF CUPS
This card correlates with the first decan of Scorpio. You can learn more about the decans here. And you can find out how I am working with these micro-zodiacal containers here.
This decan is ruled by Mars and it has a very Martial ambiguity between creation and destruction. This is a decan that concerns itself with hunger, instinct, and desire.
This card can indicate emotional confusion and misunderstandings. There can be sorrow. What has been spilled? What is lost?
Yet there is also joy to be found in the celebration of death and the dead in this decan – this is the time of Día de Muertos, Samhain, All Hallows, and Halloween.
In Catholicism, the holy days of All Saints and All Souls fall around this time. These are known as feasts – intended to be a celebration with those who have passed.
Scorpio I is a place of hunger. Hunger as as a Martial force for action and movement and creativity but with the shadow of indulgence and excess.
‘Those who inhabit or travel through this part of the zodiac are faced with the carnal nature of humanity; the urges, temptations and desires that drive us on an animalistic level. These cravings are not always rational, but rather they are instinctual, just like hunger.’
– Kira Ryberg
Hunger is carnal in nature, it provokes cravings and desires. As Kira Ryberg says, it can make us animal, instinctual. What does it mean to feed?
The feast is about contrast and complexity. It is a way to come together to celebrate or commiserate but there is also a darker aspect. Austin Coppock talks about the violence that underlies this decan.
The Picatrix is more direct about the violent potentialities of this face, for it pictures a man holding a lance in his right hand and a human head in his left. While Ibn Ezra’s image shows the satisfaction of feeding hunger, the lance and severed head of the Picatrix show the competition inherent in it. For when many desire the same thing, there will be contention, even violence. The lance, capable of skewering whatever it is pointed at, shows the power necessary to obtain the object of hunger, while the severed head represents the price paid in another’s blood.
– Austin Coppock
The Five of Cups is not just about what is lost but what has been indulged in thoughtlessly. It might ask you to take a moment to understand that you can eat your fill but it will sometimes come at the expense of someone, or something, else.
Finally, T. Susan Chang reminds us that the three spilled cups might represent the tradition of pouring a drink out for our loved ones who have passed. Allowing them to join in the feast.
The 5 of Cups is an excellent opportunity to face our fear of death in the same way as we do at Allhallowtide - to mourn, but also to celebrate. To pour libations out for our own beloved dead, while raising a glass to each other. Three cups spilled; two held in reserve for the living. Give the ferryman his due! for loss is the price we pay for love.
That reminder of loss can be a sharpener to appetite. Time is short. Do you want to be perfect or do you want to be gluttonous for experience, pleasure, and joy?
TAROT PROMPTS
Where are you concentrating on loss in your project?
Where are their hidden protections for your project?
What makes your appetite sharpest when you think about your creative work?
What do you need to mourn and let go back into the ocean?