King, Suit of CupsKing of Cups tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedKing of Cups in shortIn short
The King of Cups is calm over deep water. A crowned king sits on a stone throne in the sea, a gold cup in one hand and a short sceptre in the other, a dolphin leaping on one side and a ship sailing on the other. He feels everything and stays steady.
- Calm
- Diplomacy
- Balance
Piece oneThe ship
On the other side a small ship with red sails rides the waves. Waite sets his throne on the sea, ship on one side, dolphin on the other. The ship is work, trade and travel, on the same water as play.
"...his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe ship is the king's working life. It rides the waves beside his throne, carrying trade and travel. The dolphin leaps on the other side, so business and play share one sea. The king sits between them, calm, holding both cup and sceptre.
Piece twoThe dolphin
On one side of the throne a grey dolphin leaps from the waves. Waite sets it there, across from the ship. The sea's playful, living side, right beside the king's stillness.
"...and on the other a dolphin is leaping."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe dolphin is the sea's joy, leaping beside the throne. Across from it the ship works while the dolphin plays. The king sits between them on still stone, so all that motion stays around him while he keeps still. His calm face is the point of the contrast.
Piece threeThe king
Under a gold and red crown, the king looks out with a calm, level face. Waite calls him a fair man of business, law or divinity, responsible and ready to help. People bring him their troubles.
"Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe king is feeling held steady. His face stays level while the waves move around him. Waite calls him responsible and ready to help, the man people bring their troubles to. The ship and dolphin show the sea in motion; the cup and sceptre show he can hold it.
Piece fourCup and sceptre
The king holds a great gold cup in his right hand and a short gold sceptre in his left, as Waite describes. Cup for feeling, sceptre for rule. He holds both and spills nothing.
"He holds a short scepter in his left hand and a great cup in his right..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe cup and sceptre are the king's two jobs. The cup is feeling, the sceptre is rule, and he holds one in each hand, steady. Neither spills or drops. The ship and the dolphin around him are the same two sides, work and joy, on the water.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
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The ship
Red sails, brown hull. The red of the king's crown and collar. Ships come back on other cards of the sea. In the Two of Pentacles two small ships ride high waves behind a juggler. In the Three of Wands a man watches boats sail out across a golden sea. The king's ship sails close, and it's his own.
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The dolphin
A grey dolphin in olive and blue waves. A sea of many colours, layered like paper. The fish in the Page of Cups is the same idea at the start: small, blue, peeking out of a cup. By the king it has grown and leaps in open water. The suit's feelings start in a cup and end in the sea.
Also in -
The king
A red crown over an olive cape: warm on top, cool blue robe below. The blue robe is the sea, calmed and worn. The Queen of Cups wears gold and pale blue too, but she looks into her cup, while the king looks out to the side. The King of Pentacles sits among vines, at home on land the way this king is at home on water.
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Cup and sceptre
Gold on a soft blue-grey robe. The sea's blue, calmed and worn as cloth. The King of Pentacles holds a sceptre too, with a gold coin in the other hand in place of a cup. In the Ace of Cups the same gold cup sits alone on an open palm. Here a grown hand closes round it.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
King of CupsUpright
The King of Cups is calm, kind authority. Waite's words: a fair man of business, law or divinity, responsible and ready to help, plus equity, art and science, and creative intelligence.
He feels deeply and keeps his feelings in hand. Stay steady when the sea is rough, listen, and be fair to everyone.
King of CupsReversed
Reversed, Waite's words are harsh: a dishonest, double-dealing man, roguery, exaction, injustice, vice, scandal, considerable loss.
Calm used as a mask, feelings held in until they burst, charm used to manipulate. Check whether the calm is real.
Yes or noYes.
Yes. Stay calm and fair, and it will go well.
King of Cups in your lifeIn your life
Love
A mature, caring, stable love. A partner who listens and skips the drama.
Work
A calm leader or a good adviser. Law, medicine, teaching, the arts. Diplomacy wins.
Money
Handle money steadily and sensibly. No decisions in a panic.
Health
Emotional balance helps the body too. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Deep feeling held with wisdom. Mentor someone, or practise calm.
Advice
Feel it fully, then answer calmly. Kind and firm can go together.
As a person
Calm, wise, kind. A fair adviser who stays steady in a crisis.
Past, present, future
Past: a calm, wise guide. Present: keep your balance. Future: steady, kind leadership, yours or someone's near you.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Cups
- Element
- Water
- Golden Dawn
- Air of Water
- Court
- King
- Upright
- Fair man
- Reversed
- Roguery
QuestionsCommon questions
Yes. Calm, kindness, fair leadership. Reversed, Waite warns of a dishonest, double-dealing man.
A mature, caring, steady partner, or your own calm, loving maturity.
Yes, above all if you stay calm and fair.
Waite describes a fair man of business, law or divinity, responsible and willing to help, with creative intelligence. Today: anyone wise, kind and steady, the one people turn to in a storm.
Waite sets the king's throne on the sea, a ship riding on one side and a dolphin leaping on the other. He explains that the cup points to water, which runs through all the suit's court cards.
Waite shows a king with a short sceptre and a great cup, his throne on the sea between a ship and a leaping dolphin. The cup points to water, he says, and water runs through all the court cards.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Cups