Queen of Cups is a card of the Minor Arcana, suit of Cups in the Thoth Tarot. In a reading it speaks of reflection, intuition, sensitivity and dream. In the Golden Dawn system it corresponds to the sephirah Binah, the element Water and 21° Gemini – 20° Cancer in astrology.
reflection · intuition · sensitivity · dream · empathy
What does Queen of Cups mean?
Listen to your sensitivity and use it to understand: the answer lies in the reflected emotions.
Everyday meaning
A sensitive, intuitive and welcoming person, or the ability to mirror and understand others. It points to listening, empathy, artistic or mediumistic gifts.
Psychological meaning
The psyche as a mirror: it reflects what is presented to it faithfully, but risks losing its own outlines.
Initiatic meaning
Water of Water, the He of He, referred to Binah: pure receptivity, water that reflects without holding. She rules from 21° Gemini to 20° Cancer, where the mind becomes feeling.
The shadow side
Ill-dignified, she is dependent, easily influenced, lost in fantasies, unable to tell her own feelings from those of others.
Queen of Cups reversed
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading:
Emotional confusion, weak boundaries, excess of sensitivity or fantasy.
Queen of Cups in love, work and spirit
In love
A sweet, intuitive partner; a deep love that asks for protection.
At work and career
Caring roles, counselling, art; the ability to understand the needs of others.
In spiritual practice
The purity of the mirror that reflects divine light without distorting it.
Kabbalah, astrology and the Hebrew letter of Queen of Cups
Binah · Water · 21° Gemini – 20° Cancer
Crowley on Queen of Cups
The Queen of the Thoth deck is almost invisible, wrapped in veils of light and reflected in motionless waters, with an ibis and a lotus: pure receptivity, a perfect mirror.
Frequently asked questions
What does Queen of Cups mean in the Thoth Tarot?
Listen to your sensitivity and use it to understand: the answer lies in the reflected emotions.
What does Queen of Cups mean in love?
A sweet, intuitive partner; a deep love that asks for protection.
What does Queen of Cups mean for work and career?
Caring roles, counselling, art; the ability to understand the needs of others.
What does Queen of Cups mean reversed?
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading: Emotional confusion, weak boundaries, excess of sensitivity or fantasy.
What are the Kabbalah and astrology correspondences of Queen of Cups?
In the Golden Dawn system Queen of Cups corresponds to the sephirah Binah, the element Water and 21° Gemini – 20° Cancer in astrology.
