The Meaning of Flowers and their Symbolism in the Rider-Waite Deck

The meaning of flowers appears in many cards in the deck as a secondary element, but it stands out in two cards: The 6 of Cups and the 4 of Wands. Flowers generally carry a meaning similar to what we all associate with them: blooming, opening up, and expanding. In the context of the tarot, these experiences take place on a spiritual level, and among other things, we can associate flowers with:
-Growth -Unfolding -Beauty -Expression -Fertilizing -Pollination -Regeneration -Appreciation -Contemplation

Particularly in the two cards mentioned, flowers convey a strong sense of things deeply tied to what we cherish in our hearts when it comes to relationships, whether it’s family life, friendship, or romantic love. In the 6 of Cups, we find the purity of childhood, nostalgia for the past, happy times that have gone by. It represents reunions, nostalgia, happy memories of childhood, communication with ancestors, karma, and family support. In the 4 of Wands, it’s all about celebration and joy, parties, weddings, marriage, community, new projects, enthusiasm, lucky breaks, and success. It represents total balance, harmony, signs to move forward, a new home, and everything related to the home itself. As we can see, there is a lot about family and home here, and the meaning of flowers encapsulates all of that, serving as a vivid representation of feelings related to family, roots, and belonging.

Whenever flowers appear in a reading, they’ll immediately prompt you to reflect on your family life and home, while also indicating that it’s a time of growth and blooming, especially if you’ve just come out of a period of hibernation or stagnation. Now is the time for renewal, to start another cycle where family, friends, or a partner may be crucial as motivation or support for the expansion you’re about to experience. Flowers remind us that nothing really ends, but rather gets recycled. Everything is cyclical and constantly transforming — this is the nature and essence of life itself.

Depending on the context of the cards in which the flowers appear, the meaning of the flowers will naturally change and lead you to ask yourself different essential questions: Are you growing and blooming? Have you stopped nurturing your spiritual soil? Are you emotionally hibernating? Are you ready to begin this new cycle and grow? Are you barren and dry, unable to allow a new cycle in your life? There are many questions that flowers can answer, but their message is always the same: you need to understand that, while life isn’t always a bed of roses, and there may be as many thorns as blooms, experiencing the beauty of each new blossoming is, in a way, a privilege that’s being offered to you. Whether you nurture that garden or let it wither will depend on many factors, but the seeds and the possibility for renewal will always be there for you, because nothing truly ends in this life — everything transforms and grows again, even if in different forms.