The Three of Cups stands for contexting on the creative level of human expression. Three of Cups upright: configuration. Three of Cups reversed: misconfiguration.
According to the Tree of Life framework, the Three of Cups is the mother of the suit of cups and hence the mother of creativity. That’s why most tarotists consider the Three of Cups the most creative card.
The respective root power is understanding. Understanding always pertains to context, either the understanding of an existing context or the creation of a new context. Since we are on the level of human creativity, the Three of Cups stands for the creation of contexts, aka contexting or frameworking.
Frameworking draws boundaries — the boundaries within which a creator creates. Frameworking also defines the audience and hence, the usefulness of a creative idea (Two of Cups).
Binah specializes and restricts creative ideas. Without specialization, a creative idea would drift into the nirvana of idle daydreaming.
A creative idea(Two of Cups) is a subjective matter. By giving a creative idea a context, Binah adds objectivity. The moment we understand who will profit from our creative idea marks a turning point in a creative undertaking. From here on, the audience owns her creation, and the creator will collaborate with the world to bring it about.
Let’s take Alexander Graham Bell as an example. He started as a teacher of the deaf. One day, when he visited his hearing-impaired mother, he conceived the idea of using a microphone to transmit voice signals over a wire to talk to his mother from afar. Using a microphone to transmit voice signals over a wire was the creative idea, and helping hearing-impaired people was the context. Later, the context changed to offering telephone services to everybody.
The Three of Cups is also the mother of all feelings. It gives a creative ideas a soul and instills creative joy in creative people. This is where the secondary meaning of happiness through creativity comes from.
If the Three of Cups turns up auspicious during a Tarot reading, it may indicate that the querent defined the correct context for her creative idea and found a fitting audience. It may also indicate that she loves her creative idea enough to take it all the way to accomplishment.
If the Three of Cups turns up inauspicious during a Tarot reading, it may indicate that the querent does not love her creation enough, that her context or audience is off, or that she is tempted to take her undertaking in a selfish direction.
Three of Cups Symbolism
The triangle in the picture symbolizes the triangle situation of the creator, the creation, and the audience.
Triangles are stable. They ensure balance (like a tripod). In architecture, triangular structures distribute weight. Think of the Three of Cups as distributing creative intent (the weight) to the creative idea and context.
The three cups can’t do without another. Imagine a creator without a creation. Or a creation or creator without an audience.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Three of Cups
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life.
In the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Three of Cups represents Binah of Netzach, i.e., context on the creative-feely level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produces either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
Here are the five core meanings of the Three of Cups:
- Power of consciousness: Contexting, frameworking
- Constructive use: Configuration
- Destructive use: Misconfiguration
- Favorable internal experience: Sense of structure
- Adverse internal experience: Sense of disarray
Reflective Questions
If the Three of Cups appears in your spread, you may want to ask yourself the following reflective questions:
- When was the last time I had a creative idea? What did I do with it?
- Do I identify the right context in which my creative ideas could thrive?
- Does my ego get involved in contexting and if yes, how much?
- Do I invite the higher self to join me in my creative pursuits?
- Do I look for fitting audiences for my creative ideas?
Three of Cups Summary
The Three of Cups gives our creative ideas a soul, purpose, context, and an audience. This is the stable foundation on which we erect our creations.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings dominate at present because Astrology is a divination tool and favors fortune-telling. But these meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life are mixed up with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective, holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical, and hence, easier to memorize.
What do Various Tarotists Say about the Meaning of the Three of Cups
Let’s explore what different tarotists wrote about the Three of Cups.
Usually, tarotists consider the astrological significance of Tarot cards. The Three of Cups represents the second decanate of Cancer, ruled by the Moon and subruled by Scorpio and Mars.
This blends Cancer’s motherly-protective vibes and the sexual-combative characteristics of Scorpio. At first sight, these may look like conflicting vibes but mind that both signs are water signs.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Three of Cups
For the Three of Cups, Paul Foster Case offered the keyword enjoyment, which denotes creative joy.
Paul added the following secondary meanings: pleasure, fulfillment, happy issue, activity, determination, practicality, fondness for pleasure and comfort, attachments and attractions to the opposite sex, merriment, eating and drinking, plenty of new clothes, the danger of the triangle situation, trouble through attachments to the opposite sex, misunderstandings, prodigality, sensuality.
The meanings of happy issue and activity fit the notion of creative joy.
Fondness for pleasure and comfort, and fulfillment are off since these are emotions that belong to the bodily level. Creative pleasure etc, would fit better.
Attachments and attractions to the opposite sex, merriment, eating and drinking, plenty of new clothes, the danger of the triangle situation, trouble through attachments to the opposite sex, prodigality, and sensuality go back to sex and partying, activities ruled by Scorpio.
Determination and practicality are wrongly assigned since they are a matter of the pentacles. But there is a grain of truth here since the Three of Cups provides a context for creative ideas, which adds practicality.
Misunderstanding is the opposite of understanding, the root power of the 3’s. But mind we’re dealing with the querent’s misunderstanding of contexts, not misunderstandings between people.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Three of Cups
Arthur Edward Waite offers another mixed bag of meanings: the conclusion of any matter in plenty, end of the business, perfection and merriment, happy issue, victory, fulfillment, solace, healing, consolation, cure, expedition, dispatch, achievement, end.
The Three of Cups shall also signify excess in physical enjoyment and the pleasures of the senses, and an unexpected advancement for a military man.
Happy issue concurs with the notion of creative joy.
The meanings of conclusion, end, perfection, victory, and fulfillment go back to the house of Cancer, which is, in horary astrology, the end of matter or the completion of a cycle of manifestation. This shows the danger of using astrological meanings for Tarot cards. These meanings are in opposition to the meaning of the Three of Cups derived from its position on the Tree of Life, which is the beginning of a creative pursuit.
Unexpected advancement for a military man goes back to the 8th house of Scorpio, which governs warfare.
How Arthur arrived at the meanings of healing, consolation, cure, and expedition is unclear, since they neither carry the correct astrological correspondences nor do they pertain to the position of the Three of Cups on the Tree of Life.
Excess in physical enjoyment and the pleasures of the senses are definitely off since they belong to the bodily level of human expression.
What Etteilla Said About the Meaning of the Three of Cups
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist, offers the meanings of relief and everyday work.
It is unclear how he arrived at these meanings. They neither pertain to astrological significances, nor the position of the Three of Cups on the Tree of Life.
What Papus Said About the Meaning of the Three of Cups
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, offers the meanings of mutual love.
He is correct in that love is involved in creativity. However, the Three of Cups denotes the love for one’s creation or motherly love. Hence, we are looking at the mutual love between the creator and her creation or her audience, not the love between two people.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meaning of the Three of Cups
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, claims that an auspicious Three of Cups signifies success, triumph, victory, favorable issue, expedition of business, quickness, speed, and vigilance.
Success, triumph, victory, and favorable issue go back to the horary meanings of the 4th House of Cancer.
Expedition of business, quickness, speed, and vigilance are off. These meanings belong to the intellectual level of human expression.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meaning of the Three of Cups
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th century, celebrated Parisian fortune teller, said that the Three of Cups signifies a son born in the course of the year and unity of sentiment.
The first meaning pertains to fortune telling, so, no comment.
Unity of sentiment is a poetic description of a harmonious context or a harmonious relationship between a creator and her audience.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use a faculty of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to Learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
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If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you have come to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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