This card is the Lord of Blended Pleasure and is aligned with Moon in Cancer. It represents emotional uncertainty, self-protection and boredom.
The Four of Cups brings the Element of Water to the foundational energy of the Four, which means a stagnation of this energy and a block in the feelings, intuition and creativity.
The Moon is the subconscious drive that direct our lives beyond our awareness, and in Cancer it has a tendency to cling to what is known and certain.
There is a feeling of safety, since Moon is Cancer's ruler and the Moon is comfortable there, but there is a lack of spark and enthusiasm and also a feeling of protecting one's heart from risking itself due to past hurts.
There is boredom, dissatisfaction but an unwillingness to take affirmative action to change the situation, almost as if you can not bear to risk more disappointment, even though you don't know for sure that a change will be worse.
Sometimes this card appears when we have had a surfeit of emotional satisfaction, and the energy needs something different - it is like having too much of a good thing. Like a good meal or a good wine, enjoying love in moderation is important too, so we don't become jaded by our experiences and cease our appreciation of the gifts that life has to bestow.
Sometimes you miss what is right there in front of you, what you already have gained in this modern race towards accruing more and more of what ultimately has no real meaning - collecting things as proof of one's own value, while losing something in the process that is more important - life experiences and relationships that are more emotionally fulfilling.
It is time for you to seek out new pastures, new inspiration and open your heart, your mind and your creativity to life again. Find new ways to appreciate what you do have in life, what gains you have already made and how far you have come.
This reading has been drawn for Michael Shay.
Image from "Artist's Inner Vision Tarot" by Teesha Moore