The Six of Cups Yes or No: Yes, Through Something From Before

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Six of Cups is a gentle yes with the past in it. Here is how I read it for yes or no questions, upright and reversed, and why it is the card people most want to see about an ex.

If you want the short answer, the Six of Cups is a yes. In a yes or no draw the upright card says the thing you are asking about is favoured, and that it connects to something from the past: an old bond, a familiar place, a kindness returned. It is a warm yes and a sentimental one.

This is a card of yes as a gift from before. The cup of flowers is being handed over. It was grown somewhere you have already been.

Is the Six of Cups a yes or a no?

Upright, I read the Six of Cups as a yes. Reversed, I read it as unclear, neither a clean yes nor a clean no. My free yes or no tarot draw uses the Major Arcana only, so if you want a quick draw, use that; these Minor Arcana values are the ones I apply when a full deck is in play.

Tina Gong's the Six of Cups guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with nostalgia, innocence, reunion and childhood memories. Brigit Esselmont's yes or no tarot overview at Biddy Tarot notes that readers assign yes and no values differently, which is true, and it is why I state mine rather than pretend there is one correct table.

Why the upright card reads this way

I read the Six of Cups as yes because the card is about goodwill with history behind it: the children, the flowers, the walled garden, the sense of being somewhere safe. When a question is about whether something can be revived or whether an old connection still holds, the Six says yes.

The yes looks backward. If the question was about something entirely new, the Six of Cups answers that the new thing will have the past in it somehow, and that is worth knowing before you decide whether that is what you want.

The Six of Cups reversed as yes or no

Reversed, I read the Six of Cups as unclear. The reversal describes being stuck in the past, a nostalgia that distorts, or an old connection that cannot be revived because the people in it have changed.

If you drew the Six of Cups reversed, ask whether the past you are hoping to return to still exists. The card is not giving a no. It is saying that the answer depends on whether you are reaching for a real thing or a remembered one.

The Six of Cups yes or no in a love question

In a love question, the Six of Cups upright is a yes to reconnection, to an ex returning, to a love that has roots. It is the card people most want to see for that question, and I would add the honest note that it describes the pull and not the decision. Reversed, it suggests the past is being idealised, and asks whether you want the person or the memory.

The Six of Cups yes or no for work and money

For work and money, the Six of Cups is a yes to returning to something: an old employer, a former client, a skill from earlier in life, money that comes through family or history. Reversed, it suggests a return that would not work because the situation has moved on.

When a yes or no draw is the wrong tool

The Six of Cups answers questions about the past's hold on the present. It is a poor card for questions that need a fresh start, which it answers by reaching for something familiar. A single card answers a single, well-formed question. If the question is really three questions, or is about another person's choices, a yes or no draw will give you a confident answer to the wrong thing. My guide to a one question psychic reading explains how I handle questions that need more than one card.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the exact question you asked, the specific past thing the card is pointing at, and whether that thing still exists as you remember it. The third note is the whole difference between upright and reversed.

For comparison, the Five of Cups yes or no and the Wheel of Fortune yes or no answer differently. The the Six of Cups card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Six of Cups as timing and the Six of Cups as feelings cover the two other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to an online psychic reading explains how readings work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.