The Three of Cups as Intentions: To Enjoy You in Company

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Three of Cups as intentions is a plan to invite you to the party. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and what the party does not promise.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Three of Cups as intentions that are warm, sociable and group-shaped. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to enjoy you, to include you, to celebrate with you, among other people. The intention is genuinely friendly. Whether it is more than friendly is the thing the card leaves open.

This is three figures with raised cups, dancing. They intend a good time. They intend it together, and the together includes more than two.

The Three of Cups upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Three of Cups guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with celebration, friendship, community and creative collaboration. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Three of Cups as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Three of Cups as a person who intends to bring you into their circle: to invite you, to have you at the table, to make you part of the fun. It is a generous intention and a social one. If they intend something private as well, it will show up away from the group.

What I would not read into it is a romantic plan. The Three of Cups intends company. Some people's romantic intentions start there. Many people's friendly intentions stay there.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person intends you specifically rather than the group, that their inclusion is romantic, or that they think of you when the gathering ends. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Three of Cups reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Three of Cups as intentions describes a social plan gone wrong: an intention to gossip, to exclude, to keep you in the group and out of their life, or an intention complicated by a third person. It can be the card of someone who means to keep things light because someone else is in the picture.

In your own question, ask whether the person includes you in things that matter or only in things that are fun, and whether anyone else has started appearing in their plans. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Three of Cups as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Three of Cups as intentions can suggest they mean to be friendly: to see you at shared events, to be warm in company, to keep the circle intact. That is a kind intention and it is where many well-ended relationships settle. It is rarely an intention to be two again. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Three of Cups as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card suggests they intend to enjoy you and include you, which is a fine beginning and not yet a pursuit. The test is whether they intend to see you when the group is not there.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for invitations and inclusion, and then look for whether anything happens one to one. A Three of Cups intention is visible in groups. If it vanishes when the group does, it was the group's intention.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, how the person behaves toward you in company, and whether they have ever suggested anything without the company. The difference between the second and third notes is the answer.

For comparison, the Two of Cups as intentions and the Six of Cups as intentions describe different intentions. The the Three of Cups card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Three of Cups as timing and the Three of Cups as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.