Cup symbol tarot quiz: how the cups tell the story
What the cup means in tarot, why the suit belongs to water, and how full, spilled and lidded cups tell the story. Five questions per round, explained.
- 5 questions
- ≈ 2 min
- +5 bronze keys for a flawless run
What does the cup symbolise in tarot?
The cup, or chalice, is the core sign of the suit of Cups. It is a vessel, so it can be filled, overflow, tip over or be closed with a lid. Feelings behave the same way, which is why the suit belongs to water: love, friendship, intuition and imagination. This quiz checks how you read that symbol across the cards.
Most questions ask you to pick the card where the cups stand, lie or float in a particular way. Others are about the symbol itself: what it means overall, and why the number of cups says nothing about joy on its own.
How the cups tell the story of the suit
On the Cups cards it matters not only how many cups there are but what state they are in. On one card a cup is offered from a cloud and belongs to no one yet. On another some are knocked over while others survive. Elsewhere cups stand in neat rows while their owner walks away, or line up along a rainbow above a family.
For the court figures the cup reveals character. The Queen's is closed with a lid and held carefully in both hands. Above the King's a wisp of smoke curls while his other hand holds a sceptre. Even without knowing the meanings, one look at the cup tells you a lot.
Read the cup as a heart in the picture: full, spilled, offered, forgotten or kept safe. That way of looking brings a spread to life.
How to play
Each round brings five questions out of twelve, with an explanation after each. Answers are final, and you can replay as often as you like. Tayna keys go to a round without mistakes, and every explanation links to the card it mentions, with a full look at its artwork.
All questions and answers
Open after you play: the full question set with right answers and explanations.
1. Which element belongs to the suit of Cups, and why?
Right answer: Water: feelings flow
Water takes the shape of its vessel, flows and reflects, just like feelings. That's why Cups rule love and intuition.
2. On which card does a hand from a cloud offer a cup to someone who isn't looking?
Right answer: Four of Cups
The Four of Cups: three cups stand on the grass, and a fourth is quietly offered from a cloud, a chance easily missed.
3. What does the cup symbolise in tarot overall?
Right answer: A heart that fills up
The cup is a vessel for feelings: it fills, overflows or empties like a heart. Hence the suit's love, friendship and intuition.
4. On which card are some cups knocked over while others still stand?
Right answer: Five of Cups
The Five of Cups: three cups are spilled and two survive behind the figure. The card is about turning toward what's left.
5. The more cups on a card, the happier its meaning.
Right answer: Myth
Not so: the Five has more cups than the Ace and a sadder meaning. What matters is their state: full, spilled or ignored.
6. On which card do the cups meet at exactly the same height, neither one above?
Right answer: Two of Cups
The Two of Cups: the cups are level, and that's the point: in this bond nobody stands above the other.
7. On which card are the cups stacked in two neat rows while their owner walks away?
Right answer: Eight of Cups
The Eight of Cups: the neat rows stay on the rocks, left behind because they no longer fill the heart.
8. On which card do the cups line up along the arc of a rainbow?
Right answer: Ten of Cups
The Ten of Cups: the cups shine on a rainbow over a couple and their children, a fullness with room for everyone.
9. On which card do the cups hang in the clouds while someone only reaches toward them?
Right answer: Seven of Cups
The Seven of Cups: the cups on the clouds are full of visions, and none is in hand yet; it's all still imagination.
10. Whose cup is closed with a lid and held carefully in both hands?
Right answer: Queen of Cups
The Queen of Cups holds a lidded, handled cup and gazes at it thoughtfully: her depth is something she protects.
11. Above whose cup does blue smoke curl, with a sceptre in the other hand?
Right answer: King of Cups
The King of Cups: a smoking cup and a sceptre amid the waves, feeling deeply while holding the course.
12. On which card does a hand from a cloud hold the cup, with no people at all?
Right answer: Ace of Cups
The Ace of Cups: a hand from a cloud holds a cup with five streams pouring out; the gift comes from above.