9 Batons - how may it be read?

Generally, and as already mentioned in another thread on this card, the nine in the Bastons series is the only not to have floral additions - quite barren in comparison to the others.

In a reading, I have at times taken this to metaphorically indicate the winter of a deciduous plant. A deciduous plant has cycles of showing its leaves, flowering, fruiting, and shedding, only to internally prepare for its next phase of new leaves.

As a nine - a number I at times also personally associate with wishes and aspirations, it is a time to quietly go within and reflect, working through all that has already been fed, and begin to transform it to later bear fruit - though that is still three seasons away.

Attached is a Payen.

This card reminds me of a windmill, particularly the Heron Conver and Camoin cards, where there are gaps between the batons. The power of the wind has been used throughout time for use in creating many things for ours needs, from grinding grain to electricity. The clarity of the depiction - without foliage shows this to be a 'work' card. It's unfussy and useful.

It's a number of endings, but one where we have gone through the inspiration, the making, developement and progress until.......... accomplishment has been reached.

The crisis of action, possibly a lowering of energy - I like the image of the winter of the deciduous plant, Jean-Michel. Low libido, that is regaining its strength. A crisis in creativity, too - these famous fallow periods we go through and which can be so hard. But there is focus and purpose in that central Baston, all the same, that will show their shoots in the 10. An ingathering. 9 is such a complex, wonderful number. Since it is also related to the XVIIII-Le Soleil, not only to VIIII-L'Hermite, I think of the winter sun warming the bare trees, heralding the first shoots of spring.

The card gives the impression of coiled power, retained energy. That diamond-shaped interlacing in the middle, too, that reached its full shape in the 8 and now needs to expand - or unravel.

Yes, jmd, I also like the idea of what the lack of flowering images means on this card.

Nines are times of preparation for completion, of letting go to move to another level of development.

I also think of L'Hermite when I think of nines, but now that I look at the other 9's and see the flowers, this of all the nines seems the most to speak about a "barren" period before a spurt of growth.

A bit like spring cleaning in preparation for the move outdoors to enjoy the flowering and fulness of spring's new growth.

terri

I looked up this thread, and the "9 of Wands - no vegetation" thread after I discovered that the Tarot Classic that came in the mail today did, indeed, have the side leaves represented on the card. That got me to thinking about why I prefer the leafless, flowerless standard of the TdM.

There are leafy or floral ornaments of one sort or another on most of the pip cards. But it seems to me the staves are a special case, since they themselves are made of plants. They are wood that has been crafted into a particular shape by human ingenuity and skill. So for a staff, considered as an artifact, sprouting leaves would be a step backwards.

The lack of leaves or flowers on the nine of staves fits the way I usually read that card: the long term, established success of whatever quality or enterprise the staves stand for in that particular reading. With the cards before the nine, there is the chance of the staves blossoming into something else. With the ten, there is the success and completion the nine symbolizes, but with something else on the horizon. But the staves on the nine are staves, not saplings in disguise, and mean to remain staves for the long haul. And so, no leaves, no flowers.

To me, Batons are energy, excitement and creative inspiration. They are not necessarily the 'work' but the power behind it that gets things moving and provokes an interest in what you are working on, the person you want to be with or the place that you want to go.

I see the 'nine' as the end of a cycle. The 'ten' would start things up again, since it could be reduced to 'one'. In this card, like many others, I notice the lack of flowers and plant-life. This feels, to me, like a period of stagnation - a time to go back and try to find what you originally found interesting about a person, project or something that maybe no longer has the initial spark - in that sense, I am reminded of trump 9. I see the '8 of Batons' as passive and maybe it is showing, in the 9, that an opportunity was not seized when it could have been, so that you can continue along the path - it is almost like falling down a ladder in a 'snakes and ladders' game - a lesson has now been learnt.

- Introspection and finding a way to bring back inspiration or passion for a person or thing
- apathy and boredom, possible loneliness; lack of sex drive or outlet for physical pleasures
- end of a project or sexual relationship; a lull
- keepin things close to your chest, holding back, not showing your true self
- feeling shy and not sharing with others

These bulletpoints are what just 'come' into my mind as I look at the card, so they might be quite different to others interpretations.

Best, LB

I see the hermit in it as well. interesting. for me is conclusion of what you have been working on (the flowers getting less and less alive). it reads so much like a lone "man" (hermit maybe) looking at what could have been but was not or won't be. either reversed or not, you are now in the weave of the consequences of your actions. depending on where it is in the reading, it could also play with the other cards to express warning of being too closed minded or illusioned with things.

ETA: i compared the 9 to the ten and inmediately saw in the 9 how the center baton is opened to show the insides of the other batons! it is like the hermit introspecting. nice!
yara