This post may contain affiliate links, if you purchase through them we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. By using these links you are directly supporting us to continue creating free mystical musings. Thank you!

The Queen Of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

The Queen of Cups court card is the most nourishing and protective of the deck. This is the matriarch. When we receive it in a reading we are called to nurture our vessels, tend to those around us, guard our boundaries, and lead with the heart.

Read on for a full Tarot card description including Astrological and Numerological correspondences as well as what it can mean if it shows up for you as a reversal and in a general, career, or love Tarot reading:

Queen of Cups Significations

The Queen of Cups Minor Arcana card is a reminder that we can’t pour from an empty cup, we must allow ourselves to fill up before we can do so. This is the most embodiment, compassionate, and empathetic Queen of the deck.

Often soft is mistaken as a weakness, but it actually takes great strength to be kind when it would be easier not to (especially to ourselves).

When this card shows up for us in a reading, we are invited to lean into softness, to listen to the wisdom of the body, and to follow our emotions— what do they have to tell us in this moment?

This is an intuitive knowing, a fluidity of action— instinctive, heart-centric.

All the Queens have an inherent nurturance to them as archetypal mother figures, but none more so than this Queen. This is ultimate mama bear matriarchy (but don’t cross her)!

We can use this guidance to be both candid and kind, soft but strong, fierce about tending to our self-care and nourishing our heart, body, and souls. I like to call this the re-mothering card: what kind of maternal care do you need right now? It might not always be what we want to do, but it it is always in our best interests (and that our future selves will thank us for)— mother knows best!

As the suit of Cups, it can also be related to the relationships in your life— which need tending to? It can represent a creative project or something that speaks to your heart, as well as a simple following of intuition.

In the Smith Rider Waite Tarot deck, we can see the Queen appears to be almost turning to water— their cape, dress, and even foot appear to be liquid. Totally in flow.

This Queen also has the biggest cup in the deck, an ornate chalice, and also— crucially— the only one that is closed. Protected. They are also the only ones looking at it as tenderly as they are— your body is a temple, treat it as such.

Whereas the Knight of Cups is crossing a stream, here we are at the shoreline of the ocean— fully in touch with our instincts and emotions.

In the Thoth deck they are beautifully and ornately mirrored in the water, reminiscent of the High Priestess card, the ultimate intuitive knowing.

Queen of Cups Upright Key Meanings

Nurturance, self-care, tending, protection, rest, boundaries, nourishing the body or relationships, sensitivity, compassion, empathy, creativity, intuition, softness, heart-centric

Generally, the upright meaning of the Queen of Cups is a call to lean into softness and the calls of the body. To engage in gentle TLC with yourself and others, and to follow your heart. Nurture and foster your relations (including the one to yourself!) and protect your boundaries. Focus on emotional wellbeing and your own needs.

Astrology of the Queen of Cups

Astrologically, the Queens are said to correspond with the Cardinal Signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), in some traditions. This makes them the leaders, the initiators, the matriarchs.

As the Cups suit corresponds with the Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), this doubles down on themes of intuition, consideration, compassion, sensitivity, empathy, and creativity.

This makes the Queen of Cups Cardinal Water, Cancer. Cancer is the ultimate matriarch in the Zodiac, knowing the strength in vulnerability. Ruled by the Moon, it ebbs and flows with the tides of its emotions, feeling the world through its body (and protecting it in a tough outer shell)!

The Queens are also said to correspond to the element of Water, thus this Queen is Water of Water, the wateriest of all. Water is the foremost source of nourishment for life, the first thing we look for on other Planets. It essential for growth and flourishing, but can also be powerfully destructive!

Numerology of the Queen of Cups

Numerologically, the Queen can correspond to the number 13, which would connect it with the Major Arcana Death Card (and Emperor in turn), however the courts are not usually associated with numbers.

As a thought experiment, however, I like to think of the Queen of Cups as associated with Death and The Emperor as of all the Major Arcana cards these are not the ones we would associate with it! But Death and change require tenderness, and in order to be soft and advocate for ourselves we must be bold like the Emperor.

How to Read Court Cards

Generally, the courts are said to either represent a person, situation, or facet of self. This can be someone who is influencing the question at hand, the general energy of the current circumstances, or an inner archetype you are invited to call upon (or be mindful of).

As a person, the Queen of Cups could be someone nurturing, creative, sensitive, gentle, and protective.

As a situation, the Queen of Cups can represent the flow state, a quiet moment of peace, cosy or spa-like vibes, and general nourishment of something (I think of the baby bubble post-birth).

As a facet of self, I see this as an invitation to really deeply tend to your heart and give your body exactly what it needs, no matter how difficult. To be strong in the search of softness. It is a call to lean wholeheartedly into your self-nourishment and boundaries.

To learn Tarot more in depth and bring its wisdom into your life, enrol in my Intuitive Tarot Course!

Reversed Queen of Cups

If you choose to read it as a reversed Tarot card, the reversed meaning of the Queen of Cups can suggest the need to stop molly-coddling or smothering yourself or someone else, to not baby or be overly sensitive. A Queen of Cups reversed can also be an invitation to not resist softness and vulnerability! To allow yourself to slow down and fill up. Do what’s best for your health.

Queen of Cups in a Relationship Reading

In your love life, the Queen of Cups can be a warm symbol of blossoming love and tenderness, and an invitation to cultivate and nurture your relationship. Tend to it dearly and gently, take the time to care for it.

Queen of Cups in a Career Reading

In a career Tarot reading, the Queen of Cups can be a message to lead with the heart, be the matriarch. Follow your instincts and wisdom of your body— if it doesn’t feel good let it go! It can also be a call to nurture a new business relationship or project, and to protect something professional you love.

So those are some Queen of Cups Tarot card meanings, I hope they’re insightful for you! Let me know in the comments section below if you have anything else to add or any questions.

To learn how to read Tarot yourself, get my Tarot Immersion Bundle Pack complete with a Zodiac Tarot Spreads booklet and cheat sheet for a 15% saving! To bring the medicine of the Tarot directly to your home or altar, get our exclusive hand-drawn prints!

If you would like me to personally interpret the Tarot cards for you, book in 1:1 Tarot readings here with me, I’d be honoured to guide you :)

For a weekly free Tarot lesson, sign up to my love letter; and for more in-depth Tarot guidance along with a monthly horoscope, *live* ritual session, and other mystic magic: join me in my exclusive Spirit Subscription! ✨