Unorthodox Intuitive Flash - 9 of Pents as a "Kept Woman"

You Are Exactly Right Grizabella

Grizabella said:

I posted about the 9 of Pentacles woman being a kept woman a month or so ago here on the forum. I guess it's true that "great minds think alike", huh?

I do think the card can mean that, although the more common meaning is that she's secure in her own right and if she were a kept woman, she really wouldn't be, would she? She'd be dependent on the man who was keeping her and that's not independence and security in her own right in the most technical sense. I read the cards by what comes to me, though, rather than just relying on the numerical system and traditional meanings, so I did get that meaning a time or two.

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You are a great interpreter of the cards Grizabella. For years, in my Rider Waite deck, the Nine of Pentacles was always reversed. Recently, its been upright, and keeps appearing for me. My current situation is this: I am waiting to start a job, told the benefits people I am due to start a job soon, so am claiming benefits (a bit "scroungey" I know but I've just finished a 15-year relationship that drained me emotionally and financially and I worked in the past so hard without anything to show for it and I need a rest). Anyway, more about my current situation: because my ex has moved out, I have a lot more room in my home, and have been spending many peaceful hours going through all my possessions and really spending "time" on myself and enjoying my hobbies. Getting so much reading done as well. I'm not loaded with money but I don't have to worry about much at the moment financially. The only problem I've enountered so far is having become a bit "plump". I don't feel in any way lonely or isolated after the break-up of my relationship, because I know if I want, I can get dressed up and go out - the world is my oyster. I wake up every morning and lay in and thing "thank God for my beautiful bed and the sleep I am having". My skin is beautiful and clear. Please don't think I am being "smug" - its just such a wonderful thing in life to have some time.

I love this card.

lucky star said:

I love this card.

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I love this card too, and I identify with it. I see her as contented and secure, single but not lonely. She has lived her life in a way that assures her quality of life now and in the foreseeable future. She now has time to enjoy her life and pursue her interests.

Why I identify:
For many, many years I saw being single as a temporary state in between relationships. I no longer see it as a defect that needs to be fixed. My late husband was my soul mate, and I have no desire to form another attachment, although I am not opposed to the idea. I am alone but it's OK. I worked from age 16 till age 63, and now I don't have to work. Statistically I'm "low income" but it's enough to allow me to live. So I think Lady 9 Pentacles is at peace. Like me.

Mary V

Hi -I love the stories of lifestyles people have talked about in accompanying this card so true to the way i see it!
Like the fabled Bird in the gilded cage -The Nightingale sings and is happy and loved ,though one day he hears the other birds play ,they are happy out in the open -they are free! He becomes sad ,he no longer sings-One day the cage is left open ,he flies away . He find it so hard to survive ,he has to find food it rains- he becomes unhappy -he flies home to his gilded cage-he sings once more! Is the grass greener?

mary ventura said:

Why I identify:
For many, many years I saw being single as a temporary state in between relationships. I no longer see it as a defect that needs to be fixed. My late husband was my soul mate, and I have no desire to form another attachment, although I am not opposed to the idea. I am alone but it's OK. I worked from age 16 till age 63, and now I don't have to work. Statistically I'm "low income" but it's enough to allow me to live. So I think Lady 9 Pentacles is at peace. Like me.

Mary V

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Sorry to hear about your late husband who was your soul mate Mary.

I'm single at the moment but have no fear of isolation/being alone, yet am not opposed to meeting somebody new either. Like you mention above, I also don't see being single as a "defect that needs to be fixed". Just the other day, I handled my Egyption Tarot cards (I rarely handle these). And what was the first card out of the pack? Nine of Pentacles! The imagery is beautiful on this card - the lady is outside but is looking into a cave opening, at a blue cloth which holds nine gold plates.

Gypsyspell said:

Hi -I love the stories of lifestyles people have talked about in accompanying this card so true to the way i see it!
Like the fabled Bird in the gilded cage -The Nightingale sings and is happy and loved ,though one day he hears the other birds play ,they are happy out in the open -they are free! He becomes sad ,he no longer sings-One day the cage is left open ,he flies away . He find it so hard to survive ,he has to find food it rains- he becomes unhappy -he flies home to his gilded cage-he sings once more! Is the grass greener?

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Is the grass greener?[/QUOTE]

I identify with this comment Gypsyspell.

Just the other week, I was in my local supermarket when a man approached me saying, "this is a good thing". I thought he was trying to sell me something at first, and then he gave me his telephone number and said he wanted to take me out for a meal etc. He was attractive, but when I got home, I kissed the piece of paper with his number on it, and threw the number into the bin. The reason for this is because I just cannot allow a new man into my life at the moment - and all the "games" that men can play sometimes. I can't deal with the insecurity with a new romance, e.g. has he got another girlfriend on the go, has he got an ex in the background, is he honest, etc. So no, at the moment, I am definately flying into my gilded cage and staying put! The thought of meeting someone new and being on my best behaviour and trying to impress fills me with horror. The thought of a stranger (especially a male) asking me questions about myself makes me feel quite ill. So no, I don't think the grass is greener.

mary ventura said:

Why I identify:
and I have no desire to form another attachment, although I am not opposed to the idea.

Mary V

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Mary - it looks like, going by my comment above to Gypsyspell - that I am opposed to the idea of meeting somebody new at the moment!!

I didn't come back to visit this thread enough times to see the question about where I had posted about the "kept woman" but I can answer it now. I made the comment within another thread. I didn't start a thread about it. I don't remember now what the name of the thread was or who started it, but the title didn't reflect a "kept woman".

As I was sitting here reading the newer posts, the hood on the bird was commented on and I had the thought about myself that, even though my needs are covered, I was very cut off from many things. And my grandchildren I'm raising, like the bird, were "hooded" in the sense that even though their needs were met, still, by being raised by me, they were cut off from many activities and experiences they might have otherwise had because I couldn't take them a lot of places. They were able to go on school field trips to the zoo and the ski resorts and the beach, etc. but I couldn't independently take them. So they were like that little bird.

I don't think she is "kept" either. Secure, yes, but I wouldn't say kept. I feel great happiness with this card but also just a hint of sadness, and I feel this hint of sadness is represented by the bird.

MY EXAMPLE OF BEING "HOODED"/THE BIRD: When I split with my partner, at night-time, I was jumping at every single noise. I thought every shadow was a ghost. Terrified wasn't the word for it. I remember one night, I was even going to call the police - it was only the thought of explaining to the police that I was actually afraid of my own shadow, was what stopped me. Anyway, do you know what I started to do? Wait until daylight broke and then sleep. Can you imagine it? Awake all night with the lights on until, say 5 or 6 a.m. and then sleeping. Well, you can't live like that, you'll either go mad or get very ill or both. So, I went to my doctor, who prescribed sleeping pills "just for a short period of time until you are used to being on your own". Well, now at night-times, I'm so knocked out with the sleeping pills that I sleep like a baby. I also re-organised my room, had a clear out etc. so my bedroom is again, a pleasurable place to be rather than something to be feared at night. But am I hooded/propped up by pills? But what's the alternative? Terrifying myself and ending up ill?

Hi , Lucky star, I am keeping odd hours and working odd hours too.
I guess my interpretation of the card poses the question - If the bird had had other experiences and found lots of worms on a sunny day he may still be out there chirping away.
Human nature seems to strive for what it doesnt have and takes for granted what it does.
Is the grass greener? I wonder too. and feelings can change on this person to person, day to day.

lucky star said:

I don't think she is "kept" either. Secure, yes, but I wouldn't say kept. I feel great happiness with this card but also just a hint of sadness, and I feel this hint of sadness is represented by the bird.

MY EXAMPLE OF BEING "HOODED"/THE BIRD: When I split with my partner, at night-time, I was jumping at every single noise. I thought every shadow was a ghost. Terrified wasn't the word for it. I remember one night, I was even going to call the police - it was only the thought of explaining to the police that I was actually afraid of my own shadow, was what stopped me. Anyway, do you know what I started to do? Wait until daylight broke and then sleep. Can you imagine it? Awake all night with the lights on until, say 5 or 6 a.m. and then sleeping. Well, you can't live like that, you'll either go mad or get very ill or both. So, I went to my doctor, who prescribed sleeping pills "just for a short period of time until you are used to being on your own". Well, now at night-times, I'm so knocked out with the sleeping pills that I sleep like a baby. I also re-organised my room, had a clear out etc. so my bedroom is again, a pleasurable place to be rather than something to be feared at night. But am I hooded/propped up by pills? But what's the alternative? Terrifying myself and ending up ill?

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Years ago I was also at a place where I was, literally, afraid of the dark. When I got home from work every night, (I worked till midnight) I couldn't go go bed until I had checked every room (even behind the shower curtain) for intruders. So I really, really understand this kind of anxiety. I also had sedatives prescribed, and they worked very well, but once I got to where I wasn't exhausted by months of insomnia, I started tapering off of the pills. I also started meditating, and tried very hard to find peace within myself. After living with someone for a long time, it was a totally different energy to be living alone, and it took me awhile to accept my situation, and to adjust. It sounds like you are making good and healthy steps to adjust. Sorting through your belongings and clearing out your room are good ways to re-establish harmony in your home and in your heart. Suggestion: try making your bedroom a sacred place, look at sleep as a sacrament, and a chance to refresh your soul as well as your body. Have a little ritual before you go to bed; maybe light a candle, sit in the stillness, invite sleep to come into your heart.

Edited to add: Think of yourself as moving from 9 of Swords energy to 4 of Swords energy.

Mary V