My tarot friends are always surprised when I tell them that the Eight of Cups is one of my favorite cards. To many, it is a sad card of abandonment. It is about walking away, or having someone walking away from you.

I do see that sadness in this card, but I also see something more. In the Eight of Cups I see the process of healing.

When I look at this card, I see a story. I see a person who is sad, perhaps grieving. This person goes to the beach, which is a place of healing and cleansing. There, the person takes an inventory of the hurts that are causing such sorrow. One by one, the hurts are acknowledged, and carefully placed into cups.

Finally, this person finds the courage to leave all the pain on the beach in the stacked cups. As this person walks away, this person is now free to live without the pain of the past.

We all carry pain with us. Eventually, we realize that pain weighs us down, and keeps us from moving forward. The Eight of Cups describes the clear process of acknowledging the pain, and then choosing to leave it behind.

When the Eight of Cups shows up in a reading, often it is recommending this type of emotional cleansing.

Read my poem about the Eight of Cups here.