Minor Arcana, Cups
Three of Cups
friends, celebration, fulfilment, comfort
Upright
Three friends dance in a ring with cups raised, fruit and harvest at their feet. Waite reads the happy end of a matter, plenty, merriment, fulfilment and solace.
Finished a degree, a hard project or a difficult year? This is a card for gathering the people who stood by you. Waite also writes healing, and that is no health forecast, so medical questions belong with a doctor. Comfort among friends has its own value.
Reversed
Waite's reversal has two sides. One is plain achievement and a matter brought to a quick end. The other is excess in physical pleasure, the party that runs on too long.
Notice whether a social life has started costing more than it gives, in money, sleep or clear thinking. Finish the celebration while it is still good, and if drinking worries you, a doctor or counselor can help.
A card is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
In Waite's words
Upright: The conclusion of any matter in plenty, perfection and merriment; happy issue, victory, fulfilment, solace, healing.
Reversed: Expedition, dispatch, achievement, end. It signifies also the side of excess in physical enjoyment, and the pleasures of the senses.
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), Part 3, on Wikisource. The meanings above are by Cast & Chart.
Card art by Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.