The Five of Cups ~ Letting Go of Expectations
Tarot Tuesday! The card for the week is the Five of Cups, representing: Disappointment, emotional loss, and unfulfilled expectations. In numerology, the number five holds the vibration of change. When combined with the watery and feeling-orientated suit of Cups, it can be experienced as emotional loss. If we keep in mind that change, and its shadow, loss, is all a part of the continuum of life, then we can embrace the emotional release, the letting go that this card encourages.
The image here resembles an old, faded photograph. A photograph of the past; holding memories and expectations, some fulfilled, some not. The Five of Cups tells us that if we get lost in the past, we are not free to move onto new experiences. We may stubbornly hold on, because we don’t want to experience the grief that loss ultimately entails, but grief is an important part of healing process and moving forward.
More than anything, this card encourages a time to let go of old expectations and ideals. The Five of Cups warns of getting caught up in bitterness or disappointments about what “should have been”. The past is the past, if there is anything you need to do resolve or free yourself, then this is the time to do so. Forgive and forget. Or speak your truth, then get on with it.
There is a hopeful light to this card. Even a happy ending of sorts. By embracing your “empty cups”, and freely letting go, especially emotionally, then your cups are open to receiving anew. Without expectation or past baggage. Like the Humphrey Bogart character (Rick) says to Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) in the movie Casablanca, “We’ll always have Paris.” And so it is.
Wishing you a week of emotional openness!