Thirteen
If you go here you can see a comparison of the 1st to 2nd edition: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3895197&id=53690237671&ref=fbx_album
In the 1st edition discussion of this card, everyone focused on what the man was drinking, and on the various containers about him. Relating back to the usual "tavern keeper" of the typical 9/Cups, we mused that he might well be an alchemist giving out brews and elixirs (the vials in the back are marked with alchemy symbols) and/or someone who might have poisoned others. The vibrant absinthe green of his drink suggests both a relaxing after work respite and, perhaps, a drink that might make him immune to poison. Thus he could, as in so many stories, share a poisoned drink with others but not die himself from it.
It was also, of course, suggested that there might be a Jekyll and Hyde brew going on here, but his relaxed pose, the elegance of that crystal goblet, doesn't really jive with someone who has made up a special potion and is drinking it down to transform (this is not a scientist in the lab with a test tube). Rather it jives with a man finished with his work and enjoying himself, very much in tune with the "enjoy yourself" message of the 9/Cups card.
With the new edition, however other things stand out. Like the fact that while the jars behind him are still alchemy jars, the ones on the table seem to be specimen jars. What stands out most particularly in this edition that did not stand out so much in the first edition...what IS that on the table? The strange, skinned creature in the first edition is barely noticeable. In the second, it can't be missed. It almost takes away the focus on the man and his green drink.
When I look at it, I see a thing with one huge yellow eye and a bulbous head; it seems both boneless and bloody. It might be a fetus, but I'm not so sure it's a human fetus (a baby Cathulu?). Did our alchemist get that milky green drink out of this thing, or did this thing have something that, added into the brew, made the green drink? Or has the man just been studying it and is now taking a break from his work?
His expression in the second edition seems more contemplative, as if he was turning over all he'd just learned from this thing in his head. The thing on the table certainly notches up this card, making it far more creepy and bizarre.
In the 1st edition discussion of this card, everyone focused on what the man was drinking, and on the various containers about him. Relating back to the usual "tavern keeper" of the typical 9/Cups, we mused that he might well be an alchemist giving out brews and elixirs (the vials in the back are marked with alchemy symbols) and/or someone who might have poisoned others. The vibrant absinthe green of his drink suggests both a relaxing after work respite and, perhaps, a drink that might make him immune to poison. Thus he could, as in so many stories, share a poisoned drink with others but not die himself from it.
It was also, of course, suggested that there might be a Jekyll and Hyde brew going on here, but his relaxed pose, the elegance of that crystal goblet, doesn't really jive with someone who has made up a special potion and is drinking it down to transform (this is not a scientist in the lab with a test tube). Rather it jives with a man finished with his work and enjoying himself, very much in tune with the "enjoy yourself" message of the 9/Cups card.
With the new edition, however other things stand out. Like the fact that while the jars behind him are still alchemy jars, the ones on the table seem to be specimen jars. What stands out most particularly in this edition that did not stand out so much in the first edition...what IS that on the table? The strange, skinned creature in the first edition is barely noticeable. In the second, it can't be missed. It almost takes away the focus on the man and his green drink.
When I look at it, I see a thing with one huge yellow eye and a bulbous head; it seems both boneless and bloody. It might be a fetus, but I'm not so sure it's a human fetus (a baby Cathulu?). Did our alchemist get that milky green drink out of this thing, or did this thing have something that, added into the brew, made the green drink? Or has the man just been studying it and is now taking a break from his work?
His expression in the second edition seems more contemplative, as if he was turning over all he'd just learned from this thing in his head. The thing on the table certainly notches up this card, making it far more creepy and bizarre.