This card has a tone of deliberate solitude. The figure on the card is in a moment of self-reflection, perhaps even to the point of self-absorption, but he is not happy with his present situation. A hand is offering him a cup, symbolizing some sort of insight, gift or solution to a problem. He just stares ahead at three cups, completely ignoring the offer. This card can be understood as a warning that we may be distracted and need to look carefully around us. Maybe there is something we are missing, or perhaps we are taking lightly what we already have?
On the card
A young man sits beneath a tree on a grassy hillside, his back against the trunk. His arms are folded across his chest and his legs are crossed, a closed and guarded posture. In front of him, on the grass, stand three cups, and his eyes rest on them with a heavy, brooding look. From a small cloud at his side a hand reaches out, offering him a fourth cup, but he does not seem to notice it at all.
Everything in his body says "no". He has shut himself off, and it is not clear whether this is calm meditation or simple discontent. The three cups before him are what he already has, and they do not satisfy him; the fourth cup is something new coming from beyond his own thoughts, a gift he could take if only he would look up. The tree gives him shelter and shade, a place to withdraw and reflect, which can be healthy for a time. But the card quietly asks how long the withdrawal should last, and whether the man is turning inward to find something or simply to avoid what life is holding out to him.
Upright
Re-evaluation, seeing things as they are, change of perspective, new possibility.
Reversed
Overindulgence, immaturity, depression, boredom.