Tarot Card of the Day

Three of Cups

The Ones Who Stay for the Rain

I cannot believe it is already Thursday and I haven't shared a Card of the Day yet this week.

The last several days have been incredibly busy, and I realized I needed a little time to reset myself and renew my energy.

With the beginning of Mabon and Autumn, I've also been thinking about the shifts that happen quietly beneath the surface during changing seasons. Sometimes we feel those transitions before we fully understand them.

So if you've felt a little heavier than usual, tired, inward, or simply not quite like yourself lately, perhaps you needed a little space too.

Sometimes stepping away is part of returning.

And today, I'm returning with the Three of Cups.

The People Beside Us

Traditionally, the Three of Cups is a card of friendship, community, collaboration, support, and celebration.

It can represent the people who genuinely show up for us.

The ones who celebrate our accomplishments.

The ones who sit beside us through difficult seasons.

The ones who remind us that we don't have to experience everything alone.

It can also point toward collaboration, different people bringing their own gifts, perspectives, and abilities together to create something none of them could have created in quite the same way alone.

That is an important part of the 3 of cups. 

Community doesn't require sameness.

We can be in completely different places in our lives.

One person may be beginning something while another is resting.

One may be celebrating while another is grieving.

One may be reaching upward while another is tending to what's directly in front of them.

We don't have to be in the same season to walk through a season together.

What matters is how we show up for one another within it.

Three Little Squirrels

This particular Three of Cups looks very different from the traditional imagery.

Instead of people raising their cups in celebration, there are three little squirrels surrounded by flowers.

They aren't exactly celebrating.

It actually looks as though they're playing.

One reaches toward an acorn cap flying through the air. Another seems focused on the squirrel right in front of it. The third is lower hidden among the flowers.

They're together, but they aren't all doing the same thing.

I love that.

There is room here for individuality and connection.

No one has to abandon where they are to belong.

There doesn't seem to be anywhere they're trying to get to.

For this moment, they're simply enjoying where they are.

They're together.

They're playful.

They have enough.

Maybe this could be its own kind of celebration.

The Flowers Tell Their Own Story

Two flowers seem especially prominent throughout this card: daisies and bellflowers.

Because symbolism is such an important part of how I experience tarot, I couldn't help but look a little closer.

Daisies carry associations with childhood, simplicity, innocence, and new beginnings.

This makes the playful squirrels feel even more significant.

There is something beautifully childlike about this scene.

They're not celebrating a promotion.

They haven't reached some grand milestone.

Nothing extraordinary needs to happen before they're allowed to experience joy.

They're just playing.

Maybe friendship sometimes gives us permission to return to those simpler parts of ourselves.

The parts that laugh easily.

The parts that become curious.

The parts that don't need every moment to be productive.

The parts that can simply enjoy being alive and being together.

Bellflowers bring another beautiful layer to the card. They are associated with gratitude, peace, deep affection, and enduring love.

Together, I think these two flowers tell the story of the Three of Cups beautifully.

The daisies remind us how to play.

The bellflowers remind us why we stay.

There is joy here.

However underneath that joy is something deeper.

Affection.

Gratitude.

Peace.

The comfort of knowing that we are surrounded by people with whom we don't always have to perform, accomplish, explain, or become anything.

We can simply just be together.

Sunshine and Rain

There is something else happening in this card.

It's raining.

Although the entire scene is also filled with warm sunlight.

The rain and the sunshine exist together.

Maybe that's one of the most beautiful representations of friendship in this entire image.

Because the people who make up our Three of Cups aren't only the ones who arrive when life gives us something worth celebrating.

They're also the ones who stay when it rains.

The people who can celebrate our joy without making it about themselves.

The people who can sit beside our sadness without trying to rush us out of it.

The people who don't disappear when life becomes inconvenient or uncomfortable.

Real support isn't always about fixing someone's rain.

Sometimes there isn't anything to fix.

Sometimes love simply says:

I'm still here.

We don't have to make the rain stop before we're allowed to experience connection.

We don't have to pretend it's sunny when it isn't.

Both can exist.

Just like they do in this card.

The Ones Who Stay for the Rain

This could be why this image feels so different from a traditional celebration scene.

These squirrels aren't gathered around cups.

Nobody appears to be making a toast.

They're simply sharing a field.

Sunshine above them.

Rain falling around them.

Flowers blooming beneath them.

Yet somehow...

They're still playing.

Maybe that's what some of our deepest relationships give us.

Not protection from every difficult season.

But companionship within them.

Someone willing to stand in the rain beside us and remind us that the flowers haven't disappeared.

Someone who can laugh with us again when we're ready.

Someone who remembers who we are when we've temporarily forgotten.

Someone who doesn't need us to be in the same season they're in.

They simply make room for us to be where we are.

Enough for Today

There are also three acorn caps scattered throughout the card.

I couldn't help but notice that they're caps, not whole acorns.

We could look at something empty and immediately think something is missing.

But nothing about this image feels empty.

The field is overflowing with flowers.

There is warmth.

There is rain nourishing the earth.

There is companionship.

There is play.

One of those supposedly "empty" acorn caps is even being tossed into the air.

It has become part of the joy.

I love how this shows that abundance isn't always about having more.

Sometimes abundance is recognizing what can be experienced with what is already here.

Which feels like another quiet message from the Three of Cups:

There is enough for this moment.

Enough to laugh.

Enough to connect.

Enough to give thanks.

Enough to play.

Enough to begin again.

How to Work With This Energy Today

Today, take a moment to notice your own Three of Cups.

Who are the people you can be fully yourself around?

Who celebrates when something beautiful happens for you?

Who stays when things become difficult?

Who allows you to be in a different season without trying to pull you into theirs?

Ask yourself the other side of that question too:

How am I showing up for the people I love?

Community isn't only something we receive.

It's something we participate in creating.

Send the message.

Make the phone call.

Celebrate someone's good news.

Sit beside someone who is struggling.

Invite someone to play.

Or simply tell someone:

I'm grateful you're here.

Journal Prompt

Who are the people who have stayed beside me through both sunshine and rain?

How can I nurture those relationships, and become that kind of presence for someone else?

Closing Reflection

Three little squirrels.

Daisies and bellflowers.

Sunshine and rain.

Empty acorn caps scattered among an overflowing field.

Nothing about this scene is grand.

Which is exactly what makes it beautiful.

The Three of Cups reminds us that some of life's greatest abundance may be found in very ordinary moments.

Laughing with someone who knows us.

Being welcomed exactly where we are.

Celebrating someone else's joy.

Sitting beside someone through their rain.

Playing simply because we can.

Remembering to appreciate the people who continue walking beside us as the seasons change.

The daisies remind us how to play.

The bellflowers remind us why we stay.

The Three of Cups reminds us that we don't have to be in the same season to walk together.

The people who love us aren't here to make sure it never rains.

They're the ones willing to stay in the field with us when it does.

Perhaps that is part of what makes those relationships so beautiful. 

Even in difficult seasons, we can still find moments of joy, connection, and gratitude simply because we don't have to walk alone.

Remember the wisdom within. 💜🌼🌧️☀️

Rachel