Six of Cups Tarot Meaning: Memories, Old Love and the Ex

A name pops up in your messages that you haven’t seen in fifteen years: your best friend from fifth grade. Within minutes you’re both typing about the treehouse and the ice cream truck, as if no time had passed.

What you can see on the Six of Cups

This card looks like a page from an old picture book, full of small hints of feeling safe.

• Two children: A taller boy bends down to a little girl, back when love was simple.
• The cup with the star-shaped flower: A gift with no ulterior motive, the way you give when you simply like someone.
• Six cups full of flowers: The past has bloomed, and you like to remember it.
• Old houses and the stone with a shield: Where you come from and what shaped you.
• The guard walking away: The world of duty steps back for a moment.

The meaning of the Six of Cups

The Six of Cups stands for memories, childhood and the people from back then. Something familiar returns and does you good. The smell of a bakery hits you, and you’re eight again, at the kitchen table where you grew up.

Six is the number of harmony and giving: after the loss of the Five, there is balance again. The flowers in the cups show that the past still has something to give you.

On a yes or no question, the Six leans toward yes, especially about someone you already know.

The shadow side: Memories get prettier every year. Then you hold on to a past that was never as golden as you remember. Warmth from back then is a gift, but your life is happening now.

The Six of Cups in love: old flames and familiar hearts

In love questions, this is often the card of the ex or the first love.

Single: someone familiar

Love may come from a familiar place, an old classmate, someone from your hometown. Sometimes the person was there all along, and you weren’t ready to see them.

In a relationship: remember the beginning

Where did you go on your first date? Go there again. Shared memories are a warm blanket for a relationship that has grown tired.

After a breakup: when the ex gets in touch

This card often appears when an ex reaches out. It can be lovely, as long as you don’t slide back into the old form, because the same pattern usually brings the same separation. Ask what has really changed, in you and in them. If the grief is still fresh, read the Five of Cups.

Soulmate or karmic?

In a soulmate connection, the Six describes the feeling of having known each other forever. In a karmic connection, it hints at old childhood wounds the relationship touches. My article on soulmate signs helps you tell them apart.

The Six of Cups as a person, in time, in your career and with money

As a person, someone from your past, or someone kind, nostalgic and loyal.

When it comes to time, what happens now has roots in earlier years.

In your career, old contacts and childhood talents bring success.

Financially, help from family or an old contact.

The Six of Cups and its companions

• Six and the Two of Cups: An old love returns, and the feeling is mutual.
• Six and Judgement: A second chance, but only with real change.
• Six and the Ten of Cups: Family, roots and a deep sense of home.
• Six and the Moon: You may be seeing the past through rose-colored glasses.
• Six and the Page of Cups: A sweet message from someone you used to know.

Good to know about the Six of Cups

Does the Six of Cups mean an ex is coming back?

It can mean an ex gets in touch or old feelings come up. Whether it lasts depends on real change.

Is the Six of Cups a yes or no card?

A soft yes, especially for questions about people you already know.

What does the Six of Cups mean in feelings?

Tenderness, nostalgia and deep familiarity. Someone thinks of you fondly.

After an hour of messages you lean back, smiling at the ceiling. You promise to meet the next time you’re both in town, and this time you both mean it.

Previous card: Five of Cups · Next card: Seven of Cups · All 78 cards