Nine (9) of Cups

GoddessArtemis

I usually find this an easy card to read, but lately, I've been having issues with it. I have a few thoughts/questions about this card.

1. Is the 9 of Cups something a person does solo? That's what it looks like to me.
2. Why does he have/need so many cups, and how come he doesn't share? He's selfish and greedy; he's hogging the cups. (this is where it annoys me)
3. Does this "9" card refer back to The Hermit? I believe so...

I used to really like this "wish" card before but it annoys me now--mostly because it feels like a selfish, smug card, instead of a happy and fulfilled one. Am I reading it wrong?

GA
 

May

I agree with you. I've always read that this is a wish card but I see nine of cups as full of greed and single minded desire to have it all.
Its when you want everything YOU want, all your wishes. This does lead to the loneliness of Hermit I guess but not unhappy one. This fat man (in most decks) is happy to be thinking of himself and has a lot of desires.

I don't dislike or find it annoying because I feel everyone has right to think about themselves... not at the cost of hurting others.

I think everyone has to have some aspirations and some single minded passions which I see in this card.
 

WalesWoman

Gee, it all depends on your perceptions. I think of 9 Cups as anticipation, expectations, preparation, having everything ready for the guests and waiting for them to arrive... so in RWS, he is feeling pretty darned good about everything he's done to prepare for this, and can finally sit down and relax until the doorbell rings. Is he smug or just thinking how everyone is going to be wowed by what he's cooked up... he's indulged big time to make sure everything is perfect, hasn't skimped on anything, so there is a bit of decadence to this card to, maybe going a bit overboard.

Perhaps selfish and over indulgent would be the negative/reversed meaning of this card. How it relates to the Hermit, may be that it is knowing you have to make the good things happen, that you can't wait for someone else to make them happen for you. Then again, it could about almost a narcissistic self love, a celebration of self that no one else might share in nor appreciate, but is too self absorbed to notice there are no other particiapants.

So I don't know if it's the wish card or wistful thinking, but one thing is, it's not quite complete... so there is a bit of a wait before the party begins and he is looking forward to it. So in one way it could be about expectations and belief... to make them become manifest. If you put your heart into it, it just might happen the way you believe it will.
 

Vadella

I think it comes up differently for everyone.

It has always and only came up for me as me getting a wish or that I was wishing and hoping. Depending upon the position.

Waleswoman- You made me think of something, thanks!

I think of 9 Cups as anticipation, expectations, preparation, having everything ready for the guests and waiting for them to arrive... so in RWS, he is feeling pretty darned good about everything he's done to prepare for this, and can finally sit down and relax until the doorbell rings.

This is almost like a person wishing for a surprise party (as one example) and their best friend (the one preparing) getting ready to throw it. Pretty cool. That's what I visualized with that.
 

Grizabella

Reversed---"under the table" might be a meaning. Having had too much of the ol' bubbly?
 

6 Haunted Days

It depends on the deck I am using how I see this card. In many of them, you're right. He looks smug and annoying. Then I see it more as a overindulgence card. Overeating or drinking too much kind of thing. Or perhaps as a person who gloats they have all these material things and you don't. It almost looks as if he is guarding and hoarding his "cups" and neener to you. (I am thinking of say Hanson Roberts, Gilded, Morgan Greer for this image).

But in the Fairytale Tarot it's Puss and Boots and his companions. So this card is a light, happy card. It means simple pleasures, and your wishes for the day to day good things are happening. Nothing huge. Just fun, friendship, a drink, some good food. Basic contentment.

The Medieval Enchantment shows a wonderful scene of a fantastical bird soaring above the ocean and islands with castles, topped with a rainbow, fluffy clouds, smaller birds and stars. So this card I view as a more serious "all your wishes are coming true".

One of my all time favourite 9 of Cups is from the Minute deck, just a little fairy dancing and her wand. "Your wish is granted!". Love it!

Of course all these interpertations change slightly or flucuate in an actual reading and the other cards around it.
 

mystic mal

I see the 9 of cups as a second chance (even if its to get your own back). Say for example after you>ve split up in a relationship and it hurt real bad,it wasnt your fault and you>ve spent a long time getting over it but comes a time when you have healed from it and hey he wants you back,but now you are much stronger and can make the choice if hes worth taking back.If so the relationship has been tested and they both know they were right for each other in the first place,the second option being "Go forth and multiply,Ive done with you and found a new love which is much more fulfilling"
 

YDM42

Yes I see it sometimes as a solitary accomplishment. I also have read that it represents an angel who is working on your behalf. I forget which one.

GoddessArtemis said:
I usually find this an easy card to read, but lately, I've been having issues with it. I have a few thoughts/questions about this card.

1. Is the 9 of Cups something a person does solo? That's what it looks like to me.
2. Why does he have/need so many cups, and how come he doesn't share? He's selfish and greedy; he's hogging the cups. (this is where it annoys me)
3. Does this "9" card refer back to The Hermit? I believe so...

I used to really like this "wish" card before but it annoys me now--mostly because it feels like a selfish, smug card, instead of a happy and fulfilled one. Am I reading it wrong?

GA
 

Grizabella

In the wands and swords suits, the 9's are not such good cards. Conflict, nightmares, etc. The 9 of Cups also has that dark side---fighting the drinking and partying, DUI, family problems because of it, gambling addiction----anything partying to excess would bring.
 

GoddessArtemis

I, too, have lately thought of this card as being "narcissistic"..partly because it's also in the realm of emotions. It's got the feeling of "Look at ME! Look at MY stuff! I'm better than the rest of you, because I'm 'special'.." And that's probably largely why the card seems smug, self-centered, and selfish to me. I know all cards have positive and negative interpretations, but more and more, I see this card as being more egotistical and self-satisfied. It's also of the "cups" family, so it's an expression of emotional over-indulgence...and like Solitarire says, almost to the point of going overboard with the drinking/drugging/partying till the sun comes up.

I suppose if I saw the 9 of Cups being more of a sharing scene (as some cards show), I'd be less offended by it...but most of the decks do depict it as solo (as 9's tend to be), and party-hearty...all on one's own.

GA