8 of Cups is a card that often indicates a sorrowful parting. It can reflect that you have left behind a relationship, a business/career path, a place you once called home, and that this leaving was bittersweet. We often poured a lot of ourselves into whatever is indicated here, and it may have made us happy for a long time…..and yet. We must leave, on a path we may not see clearly yet, but that we know will lead us somewhere necessary. The Golden Dawn (an esoteric order whose members Arthur Waite, Pamela Coleman Smith, and Alistair Crowley-who created the Thoth deck—gave us the 2 most popular decks in modern Tarot) called 8 of Cups the Lord of Abandoned Success. And yet, if you are someone who pulls cards as a daily practice, this interpretation of 8 of Cups needs some broadening, as we are not ‘abandoning success’ all that often. I think that within a more everyday context, 8 of Cups asks us to break from emotional patterns that no longer serve us. 8s in the Tarot are about transformation and finding alignment, and relate to the Strength card, which is healthy confrontation with ourselves. When 8 of Cups comes up, you may be in a situation that is bringing up a lot emotionally and you are being offered the opportunity to choose something different. Can you respond consciously instead of react unconsciously? It can ask us to cut ties from our “old self” and choose a path of emotional maturity.

I will also say that this card sometimes comes along very strongly to recommend sobriety, particularly from alcohol.