The Six of Cups in Tarot: Memory, Innocence, and Emotional Echoes

TL;DR: Six of Cups Quick Reference

Upright: Nostalgia, Innocence, Past Connections, Childhood Memories, Kindness, Emotional Simplicity, Sentimentality, Old Friends, Comfort, Giving and Receiving, Emotional Safety, Reunion
Reversed: Living in the Past, Emotional Imbalance, Over-idealising, Refusal to Grow, Stagnation, Naïveté, Bittersweet Memories, Immaturity, Emotional Regression, Escapism

What Does the Six of Cups Mean in Tarot?

The Six of Cups invites you to revisit the emotional landscape of your past. It holds memory without distortion, the raw, unfiltered essence of early experiences that still live in your body. This is the card of innocence, emotional safety, and the moments that shape how you give and receive love.

But it’s not just a nostalgic postcard. The Six of Cups is an echo. It calls you to examine which emotional imprints have followed you into the present. Where do you long to return, not to escape, but to remember what matters? This card whispers, sometimes the heart remembers what the mind has forgotten.

Symbolism and Imagery of the Six of Cups

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, two children stand in a quiet courtyard. One offers a cup filled with white flowers to the other - a gesture of innocence, safety, and unguarded love. The surrounding cups also bloom with flowers, suggesting emotional purity and abundance not yet complicated by experience.

The figures are small within the scene, framed by a structured background that hints at stability and tradition. A figure walks away in the distance, suggesting transition or the passage of time. This scene is soft and unthreatening, but layered with emotional weight.

Upright Meaning of the Six of Cups

Upright, the Six of Cups suggests emotional warmth and safety. It may point to a return to your roots, either through reconnection with people from your past, or through inner reflection. The card often signals moments where the heart softens, remembers, and forgives.

This is the energy of giving without agenda, of feeling without armour. It can signal reunions, acts of kindness, or emotional exchanges that feel familiar in the deepest sense. But it also reminds you to discern whether you're remembering with clarity or romanticising the past.

Reversed Meaning of the Six of Cups

Reversed, the Six of Cups can suggest an over-attachment to the past. Perhaps you're longing for a time that no longer exists, or projecting your unmet needs onto present relationships. It can signal immaturity, idealisation, or the refusal to emotionally evolve.

Sometimes this reversal speaks to emotional regression, the temptation to retreat to comfort rather than face the present. Other times, it marks the need to reclaim lost innocence by tending to your inner child with truth, not fantasy. Ask yourself: are you returning to the past for healing, or hiding?

Numerology and the Number Six in Tarot

The number six in tarot represents harmony, reciprocity, and integration. It comes after the disruption of the Five and marks a return to balance, often through understanding, compassion, or mutual support.

In the suit of Cups, the Six brings emotional healing through remembrance. It reflects the simple gifts that once opened your heart. Sixes are also relational, and in Cups, that relationship is often with your former self. This is the turning point where emotional pain becomes emotional understanding.

Astrological and Elemental Correspondence

The Six of Cups is often linked to the Sun in Scorpio, a complex placement that brings conscious light to emotional depth. The Sun seeks clarity and authenticity. Scorpio holds memory and emotional truth. Together, they illuminate the past with both warmth and precision.

This card reflects the tension between innocence and insight, between emotional simplicity and the depth of what lies beneath. The Sun doesn’t judge the past, it simply shows it. Scorpio ensures we feel it fully.

• Element: Water
• Astrology: Sun in Scorpio (archetypally)
• Zodiac Themes: Emotional memory, inner child work, heart-centred reflection

As a Water card, the Six of Cups holds feeling without urgency. It honours emotional resonance without demanding resolution. These are the waters we grew up in, still shaping our emotional instincts today.

Related Cards to Explore

• Five of Cups - Grief and emotional rupture
• Seven of Cups - Illusion and fantasy (currently being written)
• The Sun - Joy, childhood, and conscious innocence
• The Fool - Naïveté and emotional openness
• Page of Cups - Emotional curiosity and youthful expression (currently being written)

FAQs About the Six of Cups in Tarot

Is the Six of Cups about the past?

Yes, but not always literally. It often reflects emotional patterns, memories, or dynamics rooted in childhood or earlier experiences. It asks what part of your past is still alive in you now, for better or worse.

Can this card mean someone from the past is returning?

It can, especially if supported by other cards. More deeply, it points to the emotional imprint that person left on you. Whether they return or not, the real invitation is to explore your relationship to what once was.

What does it mean if the Six of Cups is reversed?

Reversed, this card may indicate over-idealising the past, resisting growth, or emotionally regressing. It can also reflect a fear of vulnerability rooted in past wounds. It asks for discernment and emotional maturity.

Is the Six of Cups a positive card?

Yes, generally. But like all Cups, it deals with emotional nuance. The Six can be comforting, nostalgic, or healing, but it can also reveal where you're stuck in sentimentality or longing for what no longer exists.