Today’s Tarot: Dealing with Disappointment
When our Tarot card for today, the 5 of Cups, sails by you, its message is to let go of the people, things, and conditions that are no longer a part of your life as it is. You may be feeling disappointment connected to holding on to what once was.
Our figure in the image on the card stands on land amid five cups; three are knocked over, their contents now one with the earth, and two remain upright. He waves a bon voyage to the ship that has set sail in the water beyond him.
Our friend knows that there are some things in our lives we are not meant to have indefinitely; people, things, and circumstances come in and out of our lives just like the tides on the beach leading out to the sea (symbolized by the overturned cups and the ship sailing off into the sunset).
The 5 of Cups wants us to feel the sense of loss that naturally comes with change, which can be just like grief and mourning in some cases–but we are also urged not to stay and wallow in that state.
That can become experiences of regret, remorse, and possibly even guilt, which serve no purpose when we choose to remain in them rather than letting them be the life lessons they were intended (the 5 is connected to the Hierophant, which is about higher learning).
The two remaining cups symbolize what our friend still has in his life, if only he would shift his focus (another interpretation of the 5); if he were to do that, he would see that all is not lost.
So, for today, allow the feelings of disappointment, hurt, pain, and loss to come up when they do. Sit with them, be with them. But don’t wallow in them. Feel them, acknowledge them, and let them sail away. They will.
And when they do, bid them a bon voyage.
