The Reading
The two of cups, reversed, reflects relationships—particularly romantic relationships. There’s been a loosening of the connection between you two. I don’t need to tell you this—but what I can offer is a helpful reminder: at their best, relationships are elastic. The closeness between parties ebbs and flows. You, my dear, are not a barnacle and your partner is not the hull of a seaworthy craft! If you are feeling unsettled by this new distance, the best remedy (as with all things) is communication. Remember to listen more than you speak.
There is the chance that there is more than the usual relationship ebb and flow happening here. Remain curious. Ask questions. Listen with your heart.
Intriguingly, this card can also reflect the self. As Rachel Pollack says in Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness, this card can indicate “a split between what we do and what we feel, between action and emotion.” There are so many ways that this can apply. I think immediately of my old people-pleasing tendencies that flare up from time to time and the instinct to remain pleasant and positive at all costs, for the comfort of others. Everyone else may feel great but I won’t! I also think of this in broader terms: Is the way I’m living my life in harmony with my values?
There are other ways you can use this to interrogate your own life and bring those halves of yourself closer together. As with relationships with others, being aware of the disharmony is the first step towards wholeness.