Last updated: January 28, 2026
When Five of Cups appears alongside The Star in a tarot reading, these cards create a beautifully harmonious combination that amplifies their most positive qualities.
Loss, grief, and disappointment, but with hope for recovery and lessons to be learned. The Five of Cups represents loss, grief, disappointment, and emotional setbacks. You may be experiencing failure, rejection, betrayal, or the end of something important to you. The keywords most associated with this card—loss, grief, disappointment, emotional setback—give us insight into its core energy.
Hope, inspiration, spiritual guidance, and renewed faith after difficult times. The Star represents hope, inspiration, and renewed faith that emerges after periods of difficulty or crisis. This card appears when you're reconnecting with your spiritual guidance, feeling inspired about the future, and trusting that better times are ahead. This card carries the themes of hope, inspiration, spiritual guidance, healing, which interact meaningfully with Five of Cups's energy.
Five of Cups brings intuitive, emotionally-driven water energy while The Star contributes intellectual, communicative air energy. These complementary forces create a natural synergy, each supporting and enhancing the other's influence in your reading.
When you encounter Five of Cups and The Star together, consider what area of your life requires the integration of loss with hope. The cards don't appear together randomly—their pairing is meaningful and specific to your question or situation.
This combination often surfaces during times when you're being asked to hold multiple truths simultaneously, finding wisdom in the space where both cards' messages overlap and inform each other.
Receive spiritual insights and tarot wisdom in your inbox every week.
In love readings, Five of Cups with The Star suggests a relationship or romantic situation where energies flow naturally and partners complement each other well.
When these two cards appear together in a love reading, they bring a nuanced message about your romantic life.
Five of Cups in Love: Heartbreak, relationship disappointment, or mourning the end of a romantic connection. You may be dealing with infidelity, divorce, rejection, or the disappointment of unfulfilled romantic expectations
The Star in Love: Idealistic love, soulmate connections, and relationships blessed by the universe. This card indicates that love enters your life as a healing force, bringing hope and renewal after past disappointments
Together, Five of Cups and The Star suggests a relationship or romantic situation where energies flow naturally and partners complement each other well. This combination speaks to the heart of your romantic situation, asking you to consider how these two energies manifest in your love life.
Trust the connection. This combination indicates that love is supported by the universe right now.
Whether you're single and seeking, newly dating, or in a long-term partnership, this card combination offers relevant insight. For singles, consider how these themes might relate to what you're attracting or need to develop before finding love. For those in relationships, reflect on how these energies play out between you and your partner.
The intersection of loss's energy with hope's influence creates a specific romantic signature that's meaningful for your situation.
For career and finances, Five of Cups with The Star indicates a professional environment where your skills, goals, and circumstances align favorably.
In professional matters, this card combination carries specific guidance for your work life and financial decisions.
Five of Cups at Work: Professional disappointment, job loss, or career setbacks that require resilience. You may have been passed over for a promotion, experienced business failure, or faced unexpected career challenges
The Star at Work: Inspired work, spiritual career calling, and professional dreams manifesting. This card indicates that you're discovering or following your true calling, work that feels like a spiritual mission rather than just a job
The combination of Five of Cups and The Star indicates a professional environment where your skills, goals, and circumstances align favorably. These cards together paint a picture of your current professional landscape and the opportunities or challenges ahead.
Move forward with confidence. Professional endeavors are supported right now.
Consider how the themes of loss and hope apply to your specific work situation. Are there projects that need this combination's energy? Relationships with colleagues that reflect these dynamics? Career decisions that these cards illuminate?
While this combination primarily speaks to career, it also influences financial matters. The harmonious energy suggests stable financial conditions.
Spiritually, Five of Cups and The Star together invites you into a period of spiritual alignment where inner and outer realities support each other.
On a soul level, this combination speaks to your spiritual path and inner development.
Five of Cups's Spiritual Wisdom: Spiritual crisis, loss of faith, or questioning beliefs after disappointment. You may feel abandoned by the divine, struggle with understanding why bad things happen, or find that your previous spiritual practices no longer provide comfort
The Star's Spiritual Wisdom: Spiritual awakening, divine guidance received, and connection with cosmic consciousness. This card indicates that you're receiving clear spiritual guidance, experiencing divine inspiration, and feeling deeply connected to the universe
Five of Cups meeting The Star invites you into a period of spiritual alignment where inner and outer realities support each other. This is not a random pairing—the universe is highlighting specific spiritual themes for your attention.
Given this combination's energy, consider incorporating meditation, gratitude practices, and mindful presence into your spiritual routine.
The intersection of Five of Cups's wisdom with The Star's teachings creates a unique spiritual lesson. Meditate on both cards together, allowing their combined imagery and symbolism to speak to your soul. What message emerges when you hold both energies simultaneously?
This combination appears when you're ready to integrate loss with hope of your spiritual understanding. The growth available now requires honoring both cards' teachings.
When either card appears reversed, the combination's meaning shifts toward internal work and blocked energies.
Five of Cups Reversed: Recovery from loss, acceptance of past disappointments, or moving forward with renewed hope.
The Star Reversed: Lack of faith, disconnection from guidance, or dreams deferred.
Both Cards Reversed: When both Five of Cups and The Star appear reversed together, this signals a period of significant internal processing. External action may be premature—focus instead on inner work and self-reflection.
The reversed combination asks: What needs to be unblocked or healed before these cards' upright potential can manifest?
The imagery of Five of Cups and The Star creates a rich visual dialogue, particularly through their shared symbolism of Three Spilled Cups & Pouring Water on Land and Three Spilled Cups & Pouring Water into Pool.
A cloaked figure stands before three spilled cups, head bowed in sorrow and regret. Behind the figure, two cups remain upright and full, representing hope and possibility that has not been lost. A bridge in the distance suggests a path forward, though the figure is currently too focused on the loss to notice these remaining opportunities.
A beautiful naked woman kneels beside a pool under a starry night sky. She pours water from two vessels - one onto the land, one into the pool. Above her shines one large eight-pointed star surrounded by seven smaller stars. A sacred ibis perches in a tree nearby, and mountains rise in the distance. The scene radiates peace, hope, and divine connection.
Key Symbols: **Naked Woman**: Spiritual purity, vulnerability, and authentic self-expression - The soul stripped of pretense, open to divine guidance and cosmic connection
**Large Central Star**: Divine guidance, hope, and spiritual illumination - The star of spiritual destiny that guides the soul toward its highest purpose
**Seven Smaller Stars**: The seven chakras, seven classical planets, or seven spiritual centers - The complete spiritual system activated and aligned with cosmic forces
When these cards appear together, notice particularly how Three Spilled Cups & Pouring Water on Land, Three Spilled Cups & Pouring Water into Pool, Two Standing Cups & Pouring Water on Land create visual and energetic echoes between the two images. These shared symbols amplify the combination's message.
Shared Symbolic Themes:
Five of Cups (5) and The Star (17) combine to 22, reducing to 22—the number of master builder, manifestation of dreams (Master Number).
Five of Cups - Number 5: The number of change, challenge, loss, and instability. Emotional crisis and grief - the painful but necessary experience of loss
The Star - Number 17: The number of hope, spiritual guidance, and divine inspiration. The stellar energy that connects individual consciousness with cosmic wisdom
The combined numerological vibration of 22 brings the energy of master builder, manifestation of dreams (Master Number). This underlying numerical influence colors how these two cards interact, adding a layer of completing and transcendent energy to their combination.
This Master Number combination suggests heightened spiritual significance and potential for profound insight or transformation.
Five of Cups
The Grieving Heart, The One Who Mourns, The Lesson of Loss
The Star
The Guide Star, The Hope Bearer, The Cosmic Connector
When The Grieving Heart, The One Who Mourns, The Lesson of Loss meets The Guide Star, The Hope Bearer, The Cosmic Connector, these archetypal energies work together in natural alliance, each supporting the other's expression. Consider which archetypal patterns are active in your current situation and how their interaction might be playing out in your life.
The Major Arcana The Star brings archetypal weight to the everyday energy of Five of Cups.
The Star's Archetypal Journey: After The Tower's destruction and liberation, The Star offers hope and spiritual guidance for rebuilding. This is where the soul reconnects with divine guidance and cosmic purpose, learning to trust in universal support and infinite possibility.
Five of Cups's Suit Progression: The Five of Cups marks the emotional crisis point of the suit. Three cups lie spilled while two remain standing behind - but the cloaked figure can only see what has been lost. This is the necessary experience of grief that teaches us what truly matters. The bridge in the distance promises recovery, but only after the mourning is honored.
When Major and Minor Arcana appear together, the Major card often shows the larger life lesson or theme, while the Minor card indicates how that theme is manifesting in your daily experience. The Star's archetypal energy infuses the practical situation shown by Five of Cups.
Use these questions for journaling or meditation with this combination:
Combined Affirmation
“I honor my grief while maintaining hope while also embracing the wisdom to am guided by divine light.”
Understanding the astrological and elemental energies behind each card reveals deeper layers of meaning in this combination.
Mars (Five of Cups) meets Uranus (The Star) - this combination blends Mars's energy of action and drive with Uranus's influence of innovation and change.
About Five of Cups and The Star
Still have questions? We're here to help!
Contact Support →Discover different ways to gain insight and guidance through our free tarot card readings