The Queen of Cups is the ruler of your inner emotions. Like all the Court cards, this card often represents a real person in your life. This person is deeply loving, sensitive, and compassionate.
The Queen of Cups can also represent a role you’re ready to play, so look to your close relationships and community to see where you can spread your nurturing, empathetic energy.
This card can show you’re ready to open yourself up as a safe space for others to express their emotions without letting those feelings overtake you. Communicate openly and let your intuition be your guide.
When you see The Queen of Cups card reversed, it can mean you’ve been taking care of others but ignoring your own needs. You’re feeling emotionally drained by the people in your life, and you’re having a hard time nurturing your mental health and wellness.
You might also be dealing with an unhealthy or co-dependent relationship, and this reversed card can remind you to set healthy boundaries.
The reversed Queen of Cups card can also serve as a warning that you’re letting your emotions rule you to an excessive and unhealthy degree. You might feel overly sensitive, depressed, or vengeful.
Take some time out to gain a new perspective. Look inward to center yourself or reach out to a trusted friend or professional for help.
Alternatively, the reversed Queen of Cups can show that you’re shutting out your emotions and taking a cold, diplomatic approach. Remind yourself you need to have balance to make decisions that will be positive for your life and overall happiness.
Just like the upright Queen of Cups card, the reversed Queen can represent someone in your life. In that case, it could be someone who is the opposite of the deeply loving, sensitive, compassionate upright Queen of Cups. Look for someone who is bitter, manipulative, co-dependent, or hostile.
Reading this reversed card using the “blocked/restricted” meaning
Okay, let’s talk about how you can read your reversed Queen of Cups card. First, you can use the “blocked/restricted” reversed card meaning. When you read your cards like this, you look for an obstacle standing in front of the card’s upright meaning.
For The Queen of Cups, this can mean something is blocking your compassion and empathy. You might feel emotionally drained and unable to give any more.
For example, say you pull the reversed Queen of Cups card thinking about your romantic partner. You’ve been together for years, and you’re always there for each other.
Recently things have been very difficult. They’ve been doing a lot of work on themselves, and it’s bringing up issues. They’re working through old traumas and insecurities, and using you as the sounding board for it all.
But it’s been six months that you’ve had to be at their emotional beck and call, and it’s wearing on you. You’re exhausted all the time and emotionally drained. You’ve also been ignoring your own needs.
Here, the reversed Queen of Cups card reminds you that you must put yourself first. You won’t be able to continue supporting your partner if you don’t find the opportunity to practice self-love too.
Let your partner know you’re always there for them, but that you’re no longer going to be their counselor. They need to find a professional, and you’re going to do the same. This will ultimately make you stronger, individually and as a couple.
Reading this reversed card using the “opposite” meaning
Another way to read your reversed Queen of Cups card is using the “opposite” reversed card meaning. When you read your cards this way, you look for the opposite of the card’s upright meaning.
So for The Queen of Cups, instead of compassion, sensitivity, and kindness, you’re surrounded by indifference, unkindness, and even spite.
Say you pull the reversed Queen of Cups thinking about a toxic friend in your life. You have a friend group you’re very close to.
You’ve all known each other a long time, and you do almost everything together. But unfortunately, there’s one girl in the group who is much more of a “frenemy” than anything else.
You two were introduced through a mutual friend and ever since she’s been in an unspoken competition with you. She makes little comments to belittle your views and feelings, she downplays your wins, and she mocks your struggles.
She also makes you feel bad about your body and clothing, always trying to make you feel like you don’t belong.
Here, the reversed Queen of Cups reminds you that you don’t need to make space for toxic people. Even though you two have mutual buddies, you don’t need to socialize with this person.
You can organize events on your own and control who you invite. You get to decide what type of energy you’ll let enter into your life, and this so-called friend just doesn’t make the cut.
Reading this reversed card using the “worse” meaning
You can also read your reversed Queen of Cups card using the “worse” reversed card meaning. When you read your cards like this, you take the card’s upright meaning and put it in a negative light.
With The Queen of Cups, this can mean you have compassion, empathy, and a nurturing disposition, but maybe all this kindness is causing an issue.
Say you pull the reversed Queen of Cups card thinking about your family. You’re the youngest of three daughters, and everyone has always told you that you’re the “sweet” one.
It seems to fit because you love taking care of others. You don’t complain, and you’re always there to listen, give your sisters a ride, or clean out your parent’s basement.
But you’ve noticed that lately, your family is taking advantage of your kindness and they rarely ask how you’re doing or if you need anything. In fact, now that you really think about it, they’ve never been all that interested in you or what’s happening in your life.
This is making you feel unappreciated and frustrated. Here, the reversed Queen of Cups reminds you that people don’t know what you need unless you tell them.
Talk with your sisters and parents about how you’re feeling. They are probably unaware of the role they’ve put you in and the patterns they keep repeating.
Set boundaries with them, maintain those boundaries with love, and make sure you’re sharing your life and your stories with them.
Reading this reversed card using the “no/not” meaning
Finally, you can use the “no/not” card meaning to read your reversed Queen of Cups card. When you read your card this way, you put a “no” or a “not” in front of the card’s upright meaning.
So for The Queen of Cups, this can mean “no compassion” or “no empathy.” You might be in a situation that requires you to use your head over your heart, even if you don’t want to.
For example, you might pull the reversed Queen of Cups card thinking about your job. You work in HR and sometimes you have to facilitate tough conversations.
Last week, you found out that another employee is going to be laid off, and you’ll have to be involved. It’s very difficult for you because she’s a long-time employee and a good person. She also has a couple of children, so you know she needs the income.
Here, the reversed Queen of Cups card tells you sometimes you have to do things in life that go against your nature. Try looking at this situation in a positive light.
This woman isn’t a good fit for the job she’s in, and she seems to struggle with that most days. She will receive severance and can always go on unemployment until she finds a job that fits her well.
If you’re having a hard time with this aspect of your job, talk to your loved ones about how you’re feeling. You might even consider a career shift so you don’t have to deal with lay-offs if they affect you too deeply.