The Emotional Farewell In The Eight Of Cups

I recently did a reading for a friend of mine regarding an impending house move.

She was currently living with her cousin, in quite an overcrowded situation, and waiting to be re-housed by the local council due to a fire in her previous home. The cohabitation situation had affected her relationship with her cousin quite drastically, where things had got to the point where they were barely speaking to each other anymore. Finding all of this extremely stressful, she asked me for some guidance (and a little hope) on how long it would be before she was living in a place of her own again. She said she was looking forward to having back her own space, and that the waiting had sometimes felt frustrating, as she was restless to get her life back on track again.

I placed the first three cards (below) in front of her, and turned over a fourth for added insight.

1. Judgement

2. Four of Wands

3. Justice

4. Eight of Cups

Immediately, the Justice card jumped out at me, and never more so than when it is drawn in conjunction with the Judgement card. Whilst the first three cards tended to indicate that the house move would be a joyous opportunity for a new beginning (Judgement and Four of Wands especially), the fourth gave the reading a melancholy feel that intrigued me greatly.

I started my reading by telling her that she would definitely be moving house in the next few weeks. The Eight of Cups confirmed this for me further, especially when coupled with the energy of the Four of Wands. I could assure her with confidence that there would be an emotional farewell of some kind, and that a decision had been made in her favour, by forces outside of her control, and that she would infact be moving house sometime very soon in the future. A fair decision (Justice) had been made (Judgement) about the new house (Four of Wands), and there would be an emotional departure before embarking on a new path towards a completely unknown future (Eight of Cups).

The Eight of Cups indicated (to me) of an emotional connection to her present place of abode, even though the atmosphere between herself and her cousin had become quite acrimonious in recent months. I asked her if she was looking forward to the new direction, and responsibility that would come with the house move. She revealed to me that although she was very much looking forward to it, she feared that her relationship with her cousin had been broken beyond repair. There had been one too many arguments, and the relationship had descended into cold silence, leaving her wondering if they ever really got along at all.

She added that they were once very close companions, but since living with her for the past year, she had discovered that they had very few things in common, and she wasn't sure if she even liked her anymore. She said she was sad that a thirty year friendship had ended on such a bad note, as her cousin had once been the primary person in her support network. But they were very different people underneath it all, and her personality imposed on her own with negative effects.

It was deeply upsetting to her that she was now feeling the need to burn her bridges and sever that part of her life completely, due to the bad feeling between them. This captured rather nicely the rather sombre energy of the Eight of Cups I felt. She explained that things started to go wrong between them four months into their cohabitation, around the time when she met her boyfriend. There was clearly a jealousy issue, and all kinds of rules and regulations were administered, on the amount of time he could stay over etc. This caused a rift between her boyfriend and her cousin, with her caught in the middle of it all. The lack of space and the stresses of a hostile living environment were beginning to take their toll.

I then assured her that the new direction would bring a totally new experience, in a new area, where she could begin again without the interruptions of the past. She would be forced to step outside of her comfort zone, and awaken the parts of herself that have been comfortably lying dormant, This is the very essence of the Judgement card. Sometimes in life, we have to leave people behind, we outgrow friendships, even those we have had for half of our lives. We must learn to let go of those people that are no longer serving our happiness or our self esteem, no matter how emotionally attached to them we might feel. Justice asks us to weigh up the pros and cons of a situation, with our emotions aside, and decide what is best for us.

In the midst of the feelings of success and stability found in the Four of Wands , there is an undercurrent of remorse and disillusion denoted by the Eight of Cups. A fear of the unknown path ahead overshadows the happy event of finally having a home of her own, something she has waited for for a long time. She will feel the need to turn her back on the friendship with her cousin for the time being, it has run its course for now, that is not to say that they won't re-connect again in the future, but for now, that phase of their relationship is over. Leaving the current house to move forward into another will be more than a physical journey, it will be an emotional one too. And what lies ahead will be more spiritually fulfilling. The Four of Wands will bring you the freedom to create a warm and happy home environment, there is fun times ahead!

This new beginning promises stability and contentment, once the emotional wrought task of actually leaving has been overcome. The Four of Wands brings excitement and surprises, and the successful completion of a goal after a period of struggle. There will definitely be something to celebrate!

Today she telephoned to tell me that she was finally moving house and my reading had been very accurate. The house that she had been given had a large garden with four trees at the bottom, rather like those seen in the Four of Wands card (above). She said that she was both sad and excited about the move but was thinking more positively about the future now. She thanked me for my guidance, and I wished her all the best.

#EightofCups #Rejection #EmotionalWithdrawal