Eight of Cups

What the card means

Upright

Walking away from what is good but finished. Eight cups stand neatly with one gap in the row, and a figure walks off into the hills - and nobody drove him out. The card is about the finished not becoming bad, and there being nothing further to take from it.

Reversed

Staying, so that leaving would not mean it was wasted. Counting what has gone in and putting more in. Sometimes a return, and that can be right too.

Love and relationships

Upright

Leaving a relationship where everything is in order and nothing is left. Hard precisely because there is nobody to blame.

Reversed

Staying because of the years already spent. Or coming back, having worked it out.

Work and business

Upright

Leaving a good job. Not because it is bad but because there will be nothing further here.

Reversed

Holding a post a lot of time has gone into. Or went back, and it turned out right.

Money

Upright

Giving up reliable income for what matters more. Do the arithmetic, and do not make it the only argument.

Reversed

Not leaving, because of what has been put in. That is not an argument, it is a trap.

The card's advice

Go, if there is nothing further to take here. What has been put in does not come back by your staying - it is already spent, and that is the only honest sum.

As the card of the day

A day on which leaving appeals. Good for asking yourself honestly whether anything is left here. Poor for talking yourself into staying.

What is depicted

A figure with a staff climbs away into the hills, his back to eight cups standing in an even row with a gap in the upper one. The moon eclipses the sun, water below. The cups are whole - he broke none of them.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Saturn in Pisces - a leaving accepted soberly.

With other cards

• Eight of Cups + Seven of Cups — picked one and walked away from the rest.
• Eight of Cups + The Hermit — walking not away from people but towards yourself.
• Eight of Cups + Six of Swords — a leaving already under way.