The Eight of Cups is one of the most important cards of the Minor Arcana.
Below you will learn everything about its meaning both in the upright and reversed position.
In addition to the general interpretation, the topics of love, health, career, finances and destiny are also explained in detail.
Table of Contents
The Eight of Cups Keywords
Upright: Powerless, Seeking, Disappointment, Escape
Reversed: Endurance, Aimless, Dogged, Vitality
The Eight of Cups Tarot Card Description
The Eight of Cups Tarot card shows a man turning away from eight piled-up cups and walking away.
The cups are arranged very systematically and convey in the top row that one cup is missing symbolizing feelings of longing and imperfection.
The person appears exhausted and powerless, so he has to lean on his staff to move forward. At the same time, his body is very bent, expressing deep despair and disappointment.
The man’s expectations regarding relationships or projects in his life, expressed by the Cups, have not been fulfilled, so he searches for new experiences that will allow him to feel a sense of satisfaction and unity.
Near the man, a river flows along, expressing that we must leave past failures behind and move on to gain new experiences.
Furthermore, the water disappointment symbolizes the hopes and expectations of the man, which now flow away.
The mountains, which he turns towards, promise a new beginning since no one knows what is hidden behind them. But the way up and through the mountains is stony and will cost a lot of strength and endurance.
The mountains are also a suitable place of refuge, where the man can meditate in peace on a new beginning.
The moon watches the scenery and gives light to the hiker on his path into the mountains. The moon admonishes us to look carefully at our expectations and not to be blinded by them.
Upright Eight of Cups Tarot Card Meaning
The Eight of Cups Tarot card symbolizes a turning away from and disappointment in professional or personal goals. We may have put a lot of time and energy into a project or relationship, only to find that our expectations are not met.
According to our expectations, we want everything to succeed and we don’t want to suffer any setbacks. But just when the negative effects clearly exceed the benefits, it is time to turn away and use our energy for new goals.
At first, you may find it hard to deal with the disappointment, but you will feel that a burden has been lifted from your shoulders that you may not have been aware of, and your path is suddenly much easier.
Another meaning of the Eight of Cups is that we spend too much in one area of our lives and feel exhausted and powerless.
In our professional and private everyday life, we often want to be perceived as self-confident, strong and persevering. Therefore we set ourselves unrealistic goals which we can only reach with difficulty.
Due to the inner pressure we feel, we invest all our energy in our everyday life to meet our expectations and those of our fellow human beings. At a certain point, we have no more energy to fall back on and burn out.
Avoid such burnout by allowing yourself not to be perfect and paying attention to a good balance between regeneration and our demands.
The Eight of Cups reveals that something in our lives is not yet complete and we need to look for the missing piece.
In our environment, this can be a sign that, for example, professionally we are looking for a new challenge where we can develop our abilities to the fullest and thus gain more satisfaction in our job.
Considered as an inner state, the Eight of Cups is often a feeling of loneliness and emptiness. A place in your heart is empty, leaving a deep hole. When you search for new acquaintances and friends, you have the opportunity to fill this void again.
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Upright Eight of Cups Tarot Love Meaning
Single
In a love tarot context, the Eight of Cups reveals an escape from your own feelings related to another person. As a single, you may have met someone and deeper feelings have already developed between you.
But you don’t let these emotions grow because of past disappointments in love and you fear being hurt again.
Don’t let past hurts stop you from finding new love again, but use your experiences to better evaluate and judge your relationships in the future.
Rejection and disappointment are part of love and help us to develop a better sense of sincere love.
The Eight of Cups signals that you are very exhausted and have little strength to commit to a new relationship right now.
Rest and gather new energy first because love sometimes demands a lot from us. However, do not remain in resignation, but search for a new relationship after sufficient regeneration.
Relationship
The Eight of Cups symbolizes that your relationship life is disturbed due to a deep-seated disappointment. Such a disappointment may stem from the fact that your partner has lied to us or let us down, which has severely disturbed the common basis of trust.
Depending on whether such breaches of trust are part of your relationship or only one-time events, you should weigh up for yourself to what extent such a partnership makes you happy in the long run.
Explore your feelings and look inside yourself, which feelings for your partner are still present. Then decide if and if so how you want to continue the relationship.
The Eight of Cups shows you as a couple that your relationship is threatening to fall asleep and has little energy between you. Unfortunately, it often happens in everyday life that each partner starts to lead his own life without the other. You see each other only briefly in the morning or evening.
Due to the little time spent together, the partnership loses its energy, which causes the feelings towards each other to steadily decrease.
To prevent this process, consciously take more time for each other by sharing a common hobby or simply cozily watching a favorite series together.
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Upright Eight of Cups Health Meaning
For your health, the Eight of Cups means that you feel very powerless and depressed right now. You have hardly any energy left to pick yourself up, so the days are just passing you by.
Set yourself goals again in life for which you burn and draw new energy from them. In the beginning, it can also be helpful to get support from friends to get back on your feet.
Furthermore, the Eight of Cups expresses a deep disappointment related to your recovery
process from an illness.
You may have placed high expectations on a healing method that did not materialize. Don’t give up hope and look for alternative ways to treat or at least alleviate your symptoms.
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Upright Eight of Cups Career Meaning
Professionally, the Eight of Cups represents a serious disappointment at work. You may have been passed over for a promotion or received little appreciation for your accomplishments.
In such cases, it is good to consider looking for new career opportunities where your talents and work performance are appreciated.
Another aspect of the Eight of Cups is that you have alienated yourself from your job. Inwardly you have already quit and are thinking about how to escape from your job.
Take some time off from work (vacation, sabbatical) and think about what your professional future should look like. Set appropriate goals and plan your new career path.
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Upright Eight of Cups Finances/Money Meaning
For your finances, the Eight of Cups means that you are very disappointed with a financial product. Your investment has not paid off and may even have brought you a loss.
Use this experience to be more careful with money transactions in the future. Separate yourself from unprofitable contracts and financial advisors who have offered you such investments and take your finances into your own hands again.
The Eight of Cups shows that you are looking for new opportunities to increase your income.
Inform yourself over the Internet and with people you trust which possibilities there are for a sideline for you. Beware, however, of alluring promises that will guarantee you a large fortune in a short time without any effort.
Do you want to know how your financial situation is developing? Draw your Finance/Money Tarot Card now for free!
Upright Eight of Cups Destiny Meaning
For your destiny, the Eight of Cups means that you will experience great disappointment. But instead of mourning the event, you should turn to new things.
A disappointment is something positive because it literally frees you from an illusion. Use the experiences you have made to avoid the same disappointments in the future.
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Upright Eight of Cups Personality
The Eight of Cups reveals a personality that prefers to flee from unpleasant things in life. As a result, numerous problems accumulate over time, which can be overwhelming.
Likewise, the card can indicate a person who gives up even at small obstacles and turns away disappointed without trying any further.
Upright Eight of Cups Tarot Past/Future
Past
You are fleeing from an important matter from your past. Face it because sooner or later, it will catch up with you.
Disappointments from past years have left their traces. You have less confidence in yourself. But you can give your destiny a positive turn.
Future
You are facing a phase of exhaustion. Many simultaneously challenges will rob you of a lot of energy. Therefore, be sparing with your forces.
In the future, you will go in search of new life content. Be careful not to give up too quickly.
Upright Eight of Cups Tarot Card – Yes or No
Your question has been tormenting you for a long time. No matter how you turn it around, you just can’t find a satisfactory answer for yourself.
You would like to flee from the upcoming decision. Therefore, the Eight of Cups encourages you to choose a no so you can calm down a bit.
Reversed Eight of Cups Tarot Card Meaning
The Eight of Cups Reversed indicates that to achieve one of our goals in life, we need to put in a lot of perseverance. Nowadays, we often wish that every endeavor would succeed as quickly as possible and without resistance.
But such expectations often lead to disappointment, especially with difficult challenges and life goals. At the smallest obstacles or delays, we would like to discard our goal and turn to something new.
Learn to persevere and not let yourself be dissuaded from your plans despite obstacles and delays that arise. You will then realize your goals in the long run and develop a high degree of self-efficacy.
Another aspect of the Eight of Cups Reversed is that we are currently in a period of great strength and vitality.
We are at a point in life where we are bursting with energy and have found good ways, like through meditation or sufficient rest periods in everyday life, to maintain this energy level.
Use your vitality to tackle previously postponed or new challenges in your life and grow from them.
Especially in phases where we feel healthy and powerful, we better clear obstacles out of the way without the danger of burning out. With all the drive, remember to be mindful of your vitality and regularly replenish your energy reservoir.
The Eight of Cups Reversed Tarot card reveals that we are currently wandering aimlessly in our lives.
Especially after heavy blows of fate, such as the death of a close person or a separation from a partner, we feel empty and burnt out and often do not know where to steer in our lives.
We question ourselves about what is really important in life and can’t find a clear answer.
Regain a goal or a perspective for your further life by talking with friends about your feelings. Think back about all the things in life that gave you joy in the past and take a new direction in life.
Reversed Eight of Cups Tarot Love Meaning
Single
The Eight of Cups Reversed reveals to you as a single that you are too dogged in your search for a partner and thus miss your chances of finding true love.
By clinging too tightly to a person from the beginning and giving them little freedom to make their own decisions, they will feel constricted and pressured, causing them to pull away from you again.
Especially at the beginning of a love relationship, we often want to spend the whole day with our new love. But respect the need of your counterpart to let the love first slowly mature and get to know you better, then the chances of a common relationship will increase significantly.
As a single, the Eight of Cups Reversed shows you that you must continue to persevere in your search for a partner to suit you.
Setbacks and rejections in the search for a partner often give us the feeling of not making progress or being lovable at all. On the other hand, if you show perseverance and learn from your setbacks, you will flirt much more confidently and soon find yourself in a relationship.
Relationship
The Eight of Cups Reversed Tarot symbolizes high vitality and strength in your partnership. You have a strong bond with your partner and constantly try to bring new impulses into your relationship life.
The resulting vitality enables you to safely and confidently overcome most challenges in everyday life or your partnership and grow from them.
As you continue to enrich your partnership with new joint ventures and positive experiences, it will be a continuing source of strength and energy for both of you.
The Eight of Cups Reversed can be an expression that you lack common goals and perspectives at the moment. A partnership without common goals will only last in the short term, as neither partner will see fulfillment in it.
By regularly sharing your dreams and desires, you will create common goals that bring you closer to each other.
Reversed Eight of Cups Health Meaning
The Eight of Cups Reversed expresses a strong vitality that you enjoy. Especially in times when your health is strong, you should already take preventive measures for worse phases of life.
Use your energy to live more health-conscious and to integrate appropriate routines into your everyday life (diet or sport plan).
In addition, the Eight of Cups Reversed encourages you to take care of your health regularly. As soon as we are careless, eat worse or move less, this harms our body.
Set long-term goals for your health that you can achieve every day. Then you will stay fit and healthy into old age.
Reversed Eight of Cups Career Meaning
The Eight of Cups Reversed encourages you not to slacken your efforts to achieve a professional goal. Even if you received a rejection when applying for a better position, you should learn from this experience and try again soon.
With enough patience and perseverance, you will be able to achieve any of your goals, so don’t give up too soon.
Another meaning of the Eight of Cups Reversed is that you have no concrete career goals for your future. Should you stay in your company or venture into self-employment?
Discuss such questions with good friends or a counselor and develop new perspectives to help you set a direction for your professional future.
Reversed Eight of Cups Finances/Money Meaning
The Eight of Cups Reversed encourages you to be persistent in your investments. Especially stocks or time deposit interest, take a while until they yield some profit.
Even if you need money in the short term or are afraid of falling yields, you should not hastily cancel contracts invested for the long term. After all, long-term investments will only yield good profits after an appropriate investment period.
In addition, the Eight of Cups Reversed may indicate that you have not yet set any financial plans. It is always advantageous to work towards a goal that will ensure your prosperity in the short or long term. Ask your friends and family what goals they have and let them inspire you.
Reversed Eight of Cups Destiny Meaning
The Eight of Cups Reversed means for your destiny that you should not let a failure throw you off track right away.
Before you reach a goal in life you will have to go through some failures. But if you learn from them and persevere, your life’s dreams will come true.
Reversed Eight of Cups Personality
The Eight of Cups reversed represents a character who doggedly pursues his goals in life. He overcomes even bigger obstacles with a lot of perseverance to realize his dreams.
Furthermore, it describes a person who radiates high vitality. Due to their vitality, they defy any adversity and can go their way undisturbed to the end.
Reversed Eight of Cups Tarot Past/Future
Past
In the past, you wandered aimlessly through life. Do not make the same mistakes again, but actively look for goals.
You have devoted yourself doggedly to one thing lately. Thereby you have learned how important it is to stay on the ball and not give up.
Future
You will need a lot of perseverance in the near future. Keep in mind that your energy reserves will not last forever.
You will have to refill them again and again. Very soon, you will feel yourself bursting with vitality. Use this power to advance important projects.
Reversed Eight of Cups Tarot Card – Yes or No
The matter has been bothering you for quite a while. You have been searching doggedly for the right answer and are now very close to it.
Everything in you is crying out for a yes, which will bring you forward in any case. However, you will need some perseverance for your choice to bear fruit.
The Cups Tarot Card Meanings
- Ace of Cups Meaning
- Two of Cups Meaning
- Three of Cups Meaning
- Four of Cups Meaning
- Five of Cups Meaning
- Six of Cups Meaning
- Seven of Cups Meaning
- Eight of Cups Meaning READING NOW
- Nine of Cups Meaning
- Ten of Cups Meaning
- Page of Cups Meaning
- Knight of Cups Meaning
- Queen of Cups Meaning
- King of Cups Meaning