Six of Cups

The Six of Cups represents nostalgia, innocence, and the joy of simple, heartfelt connections. It often appears when past memories resurface, childhood themes arise, or you’re reconnecting with people or emotions from long ago. This card encourages emotional healing through kindness, playfulness, and looking back with appreciation rather than longing. It can also indicate generosity, reconciliation, or inner child healing.

Key Symbolism & Imagery

• Number: Six – harmony, exchange, memory
• Element: Water – emotion, nostalgia, emotional comfort
• Astrological Association: Sun in Scorpio – emotional depth illuminated, joyful memories, sentimental reflection
• Visual Symbols: Children (innocence), filled cups with flowers (generosity and beauty), simple village setting (comfort and safety), giving gesture (sharing emotions)

Card Description (Rider-Waite-Smith)

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Six of Cups shows a child giving a flower-filled cup to another child, symbolizing pure emotional exchange and nostalgia. The surrounding cups are also filled with blooming white flowers, indicating peace and heartfelt beauty. The simple village scene suggests warmth, safety, and emotional grounding. This card is a gentle reminder of the value in past memories, and the timelessness of sincere emotional bonds.

Common Questions About Six of Cups

Is the Six of Cups about the past?

Yes. It often points to childhood, memories, or someone from your past returning. It can also refer to revisiting old dreams, places, or emotional patterns that shaped you.

Does this card always mean a person is coming back?

Not always. It may mean you're emotionally revisiting the past — through memory, reflection, or inner child work. But it can sometimes indicate someone from your past reaching out.

Can it represent childhood healing?

Absolutely. This card often signals opportunities to reconnect with your inner child, heal old emotional wounds, or restore trust and joy through simplicity and innocence.

Is the Six of Cups a good card?

Yes — it’s a sweet, gentle card. But it also reminds you not to live in the past. Its wisdom lies in honoring memory while staying present to current emotional gifts.

What if I feel stuck in nostalgia?

Then the card is prompting you to bring that energy forward — to create new joy from the old, rather than clinging to something gone. Use the past to inspire, not to escape.

Love & Relationships

Upright: Rekindling romance, sweet emotional connection, nostalgic feelings in love, soulmates from the past, playful affection.

Reversed: Living in past relationships, stuck emotional patterns, difficulty moving on, idealizing what was, emotional immaturity.

Career & Finances

Upright: Supportive workplace, working with children, returning to past career paths, emotional fulfillment in work, job comfort.

Reversed: Lack of progress, feeling emotionally stuck in your role, difficulty leaving familiar paths, disconnection from purpose.

Spiritual Meaning

The Six of Cups invites you to explore your past through a lens of compassion and curiosity. Spiritual growth may arise from reconnecting with your inner child or healing early emotional wounds. Memory can be a sacred tool — not for escape, but for reclaiming joy, simplicity, and your original sense of wonder.