Knight of Cups
The Knight of Cups is the third of the four court cards in the Cups suit of the Minor Arcana. Among the court cards, the Knight tends to represent movement and action — here, the emotional energy of the Cups suit seeking active expression rather than remaining at rest.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-18
Historical fact
The Knight is the court card with no equivalent in a standard 52-card deck, which keeps only Jack, Queen and King per suit. Historian Michael Dummett documents this fourth court position as a distinctive feature of Tarot since its earliest surviving examples, the 15th-century Italian decks, in which the Knight already appeared as a mounted figure on horseback.
Interpretation — Rider-Waite-Smith / Golden Dawn
Waite described the Knight of Cups as a figure of arrival, graceful and given to pleasure — the chivalrous adventurer. In the modern reading, the card is associated with romantic idealism, charm, following one's heart, invitations or proposals, and a pursuit of artistic or affectionate expression. Reversed, it can indicate empty promises, moodiness, or excessive idealization of a person or situation.
Interpretation — Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
In the Thoth deck, the position equivalent to the Knight is called the Prince of Cups, associated with the Air aspect within the Water suit — a more active, moving emotional energy than the Queen's, yet still tied to the suit's affectionate sphere. The emphasis falls on the mobility of the emotional force, more than on a specific illustrated scene on the card.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Knight of Cups mean in Tarot?
- In the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, it usually represents romantic idealism, charm, and a willingness to follow one's heart — often associated with an invitation, proposal, or affectionate pursuit.
- Why doesn't the Knight exist in a standard deck?
- The 52-card deck kept only three court cards per suit (Jack, Queen, King). The Knight is a fourth position specific to Tarot's structure, documented since the earliest 15th-century Italian decks.
- Which Thoth deck card corresponds to the Knight of Cups?
- It corresponds to the Prince of Cups, since Crowley renamed the Thoth court system as Knight, Queen, Prince and Princess — a different naming convention than the one used in the Rider-Waite tradition.
Sources
- Michael Dummett. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City (1980).
- Arthur Edward Waite. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
- Aleister Crowley. The Book of Thoth (1944).
- Stuart R. Kaplan. The Encyclopedia of Tarot (1978).