Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meanings
Nine of Cups’ Upright & Reversed Meanings
Ideas: Emotional clutter, normalcy, soft sell
Traits: Disorderly, hesitant, humble, messy, moderate, modest, shy
Emotions: Disappointment, embarrassment, hope, insecurity, nervousness, shame, uneasiness
- Actions:
- Cultivating your inner beauty
- Finding your unique gifts
- Getting rid of emotional clutter
- Learning to feel good on the inside
- Promoting yourself humbly
- Trying to acquire everything you need in order to feel complete
Ideas: Collectables, rarity, splendour
Traits: Aesthetic, clean, honorable, impressive, organized, proud, relaxed, tasteful
Emotions: Contentment, delight, enjoyment, optimism, pleasure, relief, satisfaction
- Actions:
- Acknowledging your own achievements
- Pampering yourself
- Recognizing your own talents and abilities
- Relaxing and unwinding
- Reveling in the good things life has to offer
- Valuing how special you are
Ideas: Hard sell, ostentation, overindulgence
Traits: Arrogant, complacent, conceited, grand, greedy, pompous, self-indulgent, selfish
Emotions: Annoyance, envy, grouchiness, grumpiness, irritation, jealousy, pride
- Actions:
- Avoiding work that needs to be done
- Being dissatisfied at all, no matter how much you have
- Claiming achievements or skills that you do not possess
- Emphasizing how extraordinary your aesthetic standard is
- Feeling sick after an overindulgence
- Refusing to share happiness
- Satisfying yourself at the expense of others
- Trying too hard to impress others
Nine of Cups’ Advice
Personal Growth
A life of constant luxury breeds dullness. Learn when to push back; you can be satisfied with less than you think. With a little restraint in place, you’ll be better equipped to enjoy real luxury when the time for indulgence comes.
Relationship
Appreciate what you have. When things are good, it’s easy to take someone for granted. Today, emphasize the ways your friendships and relationships are working for you. What’s working? What’s comforting? What do you have to smile about?
Career
Who should your work satisfy? What are the criteria used to evaluate your work’s completeness? Knowing the answer to these questions is the key to success. Resist the urge to revise and revise; know when to be happy with your best effort.
Spirituality
Finding your center—a still point, a place of peace insulated from outer disturbances—will help you maintain an enlightened perspective. When pressured or rushed, remember to breathe. Pause, retreat, withdraw. Allow your spiritual discipline to yield practical results.
Nine of Cups’ Symbols & Insights
The Happy Merchant
The Rider–Waite–Smith-inspired merchant sits in front of a raised and curtained platform, looking as happy as he can be. The Gilded Tarot’s wine maker is “in his cups,” merry as ever. What outcome would delight you? How can you make that outcome more likely?
What’s Behind the Curtain?
The curtained shelf on Rider–Waite–Smith-inspired cards prompts much speculation. What’s the merchant hiding? And to what extent is that secret responsible for his apparent satisfaction? In your situation, what information is being hidden or repressed in order to maintain false happiness?
The Life of Leisure
In the Blue 9, we see a picture of total relaxation: an escape from the worries and cares of the world. What steps would you have to take in order to experience this kind of peace? Do you know what it would take to satisfy you completely?
The Marseilles Image
Strong emotions (represented by the nine Cups) have all but crowded out opportunities for growth and prosperity. To what extent do your emotional responses support your goals? How might they interfere with your achievement of satisfaction?
More About Nine of Cups Tarot Card
- Prediction
- Whatever you want, you’ll get it.
- Timing
- Between March 1 and 10
- Affirmation
- “I have everything I need to be happy.”
- Numerology Number
- 9
(the completion: fullness, readiness, ripeness) - Classical Element
- Water
- Astrological Planet in Sign
- Jupiter in Pisces
- Story Character
- The main character expresses supreme confidence. Alternatively, the main character completes a task, but is denied the promised payment.
- Questions to Ask
- What is true happiness?
- If I could have anything, what would I have?
- What is my attitude towards luxury? Do I deserve it?
