King of Cups

Quick answer

The core meaning of King of Cups is Mastery in the realm of Emotion. Upright, it usually points to Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the; reversed, it may suggest Dishonest, double-dealing man; roguery, exaction, injustice, vice, scandal, pill.

Card imagery

He holds a short scepter in his left hand and a great cup in his right; his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding and on the other a dolphin is leaping. The implicit is that the Sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards.

Upright meaning

Upright keywords: Emotion: Mastery. Waite gives the upright divinatory meaning as: Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent; also equity, art and science, including those who profess science, law and art; creative intelligence.

Reversed meaning

Reversed keywords: Emotion: Mastery (blocked). Waite gives the reversed divinatory meaning as: Dishonest, double-dealing man; roguery, exaction, injustice, vice, scandal, pillage, considerable loss.

Love, Career, Money and Growth

Love

In love, King of Cups tends to show up as closeness, how things get said, and how feeling is answered. Upright it usually means emotional balance, tolerance, and steady care; reversed it tends to suggest suppressing feeling, manipulating emotion, or dodging vulnerability.

Career

In your career, King of Cups tends to show up as team atmosphere, trust between collaborators, and creative feel. Test "emotional balance, tolerance, and steady care" against the real state of your project, your responsibilities and what has actually been said.

Money

On money, King of Cups is a reminder about separating spending driven by mood from the quality of life you actually value. It stands for emotional balance, tolerance, and steady care, but it is no substitute for a budget, a contract and a risk assessment.

Personal growth

For self-enquiry, King of Cups points at sitting with a feeling rather than rushing to label it right or wrong. Make the decision criteria public, and invite one stakeholder to argue the other side.

Yes or No

Upright

Yes

Reversed

No

This is our own quick read, based on which way the card’s meaning leans. Traditions disagree about individual cards, and an "Undecided" needs to be weighed against the position in the spread and your actual situation rather than taken as a one-word answer.

Waite’s Original Text (1911)

Additional Meaning

Beware of ill-will on the part of a man of position, and of hypocrisy pretending to help. Reversed: Loss.

Quoted from A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. The text is in the public domain.