Tarot Interpretations: Eight of Cups

The VIII of Cups :

The VIII of Cups generally means a very sad departure or leaving people or places that have been important to us up until now and feeling brokenhearted about it.  With a heavy heavy heart, we choose to leave something meaningful behind in exchange for an unforeseen future. We are not forced to leave but almost feel compelled to.  Of course, every future is uncertain and if one never took a risk, then the possibility of personal growth could be stunted.  At the same time, with this card it is hard to tell if gradual or abrupt change would be for the better.  

Either way, the sadness, as reflected by this card appears inevitable, so we may feel that only time can heal such wounded feelings.  It is by this card, that the nature of separation in the material world is reflected.  Because we are bound and attached to our physical bodies, we become mentally infected by their circumstances of space and time.  When we lose proximity to that or who which we have loved, cherished or taken comfort in, the pain in our heart becomes undeniable.  It is not the piercing and almost irreconcilable pain of the III of Swords, but it is probably duller and heavier.  What is bewildering about this card, is the mental doubt concerning whether we have made the right move.  The pain of the departure leaves a profound aching in a portion of our mind and heart.  Sometimes, bravely going ahead with our plans and working our way through the pain, leads to a greater freedom and a better clarity and appreciation of our life and what the past has meant to us.

In the spiritual sense, this card can remind us of what the soul has left behind in the eternal realm and the heartbreak associated with living a life of repeated birth and death in the material world.  Through such pain, we can better appreciate our birthright and create a yearning in separation to one day go back to our constitutional position in relationship to God.

In terms of personal relationships, this card stands for the crossroads that separates ourselves from a loved one or companion.  While this is indeed painful, it may also open us up to expanding our horizons in the future.  Perhaps we will build new important bonds with others and/or discover a newfound clarity about who we have left behind.