Nine of Cups - a poetic take (Margarete Petersen)

firemaiden

Margarete Petersen Study Group: Nine of Cups - a poetic take

Today I drew the Nine of cups and found it soo beautiful I wanted to share it with all of you.

The Nine of Cups in the Margarete Petersen deck shows a shell floating on a seascape at sunset, holding a single pearl.

Her text (which I translate from German) says:
Fulfillment and happines. A tiny grain of sand is washed into a mussel. Hard, sharp and angular, it lies in soft flesh, and brings ongoing pain. The mussel surrounds the grain of sand with lining from its mother of pearl, and makes of it a round, shimmering pearl.

This process is initiated through pain, a deep accepted pain transforms you, brings insight, wisdom, and happiness.
A gift from the depths of the ocean.
...perhaps this should go in readings, or decks... but I so much want to share this little pearl with all of you.

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jmd

...ahhhh!

only the more reason to want this deck!
 

skytwig

Mmmmmm.......

Gives so much meaning to 'wound' work, transforming wounds into archetypes of where we have been. To see them as shimmering 'jewels' is the beauty of what we do here.

Thanks! :)
 

Hedera

Thank you for sharing, Firemaiden!

I think this is a wonderful deck; in a way, it does the same thing as the Fey (although in a totally different artistic style), in that it puts across the meaning of the card very creatively, without having the actual number of suit attributes on the card.

So the 9 of cups can be represented by a single pearl.... I love the atmosphere of this card, too, very quiet and serene, without being sentimental. And of course, the sun is setting; the voyage is almost over...

I hope we can get a lot of people to buy this wonderful deck, and get a study group going. These cards definately merit lots of attention!

I hope you are still having a lovely time in la belle Paris. :)
 

Trogon

Very interesting insight to this card Firemaiden. Thank you for translating and posting it for us. It may be specific to the 9 of Cups in the Margarete Petersen Tarot, but I can see how it can apply to this card in general as well. This quote has been transcribed (with appropriate attributions) into my Tarot Journal...
 

firemaiden

Why thank you Trogon! That is wonderfully affirming. Yes, I think that Petersen's take on all of these cards is sort of a sytheses of the great decks that have gone before. I think she has often found a way to tie seemingly disparate elements together.
 

firemaiden

Hi! I moved this thread into the Study Group, so we can have the Margarete Petersen threads under one roof.
 

galadrial

Thank you for moving it, I was going to go looking for it:)

I think the sunset could also be seen as emotions, as though the pearl in it's shell boat is moving away from the turbulent reds/purples of the past and into healing white light.
 

firemaiden

oooooooooooooh, that's beautiful, galadrial.
 

Mimers

What a wonderful, tranquil card. I had a different take on it than the Pearl in the shell. When I first looked at it I was reminded of a thick drop of milk dropping into a pool of milk. I also was reminded of the breast because it looks like the nipple when breastfeeding. Big and plump. I was reminded of moments when I would be nursing my child. Milk would pour out of my breast and my baby would eat until full, then fall asleep with my large nipple in their mouth, totally content and sleepy. Often smiling while excess milk spilled out the sides of their mouth and dribbled all over their face. Ultimate contentment. Fullfillment, security, serene, emotionally full, well loved and nourished.

I must say that after reading Firemaiden's post I can also see it as the shell with the pearl which just adds more depth to this card. How many oysters must they open before they find the precious pearl. Well here it is, delivered. How beautiful Galadrial's descriptionof the pearl moving away from teh turbulent into the healing white light. This card could also mean emotional healing. It is just so beautiful. A feeling of love exudes from it.

I also notice how the 'beaded' frame flows in all directions, like love is coming from all sides. I also thought of what a labor of love it must have been to paint all of those tiny little dots. Wow!

Mimi