Welcome to The Psychology of Tarot, a series that offers a Jungian reimagining of the cards as pathways into the psyche. Each episode draws on a key psychological concept and archetypal themes to offer insights that deepen both inner work and your tarot practice.
The Ace of Cups is usually read as a new depth of feeling and emotional resonance, a renewal of the heart bringing love, connection and relational unfolding. As an elemental card of water, we can connect it to the alchemical operation of solutio1, the process of dissolution where the prima materia is submerged in a liquid and broken down.
Through this lens, the Ace marks the necessary softening of rigid attitudes, outdated beliefs, or stagnant elements of life. These are drawn into the dissolving waters not simply to be destroyed, but to be transformed, creating the conditions for renewal, openness, and the deeper gifts the Ace of Cups holds.
In this episode I cover:
The classic definition and interpretations of the Ace of Cups
Quotes from 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, Tarot by Library of Esoterica, Practice of Psychotherapy by C.G. Jung and Anatomy of the Psyche by Edward Edinger
How the Ace of Cups represents the dual qualities of destructive dissolution and vivification
Example readings and approaches to interpreting and reimagining the card
Join the conversation
How do you typically read the Ace of Cups? Are there any other principles or archetypal themes you would connect to the card? Which card should I explore next in the series?
The idea for this pairing first came to me in this post — Revisiting the Hierophant’s Archetypal Influences
