Nine of Cups - Looking for additional keywords

RunningWild

I know this is the "wish card", or the 'yes', to a 'yes or no' question. I know it's supposed to indicate happier times if well-dignified and not so much if ill-dignified. I understand it can be about over-indulgence (with one's wine). That sort of thing. But really, no matter where the Nine of Cups shows up in a spread that I do, whether for myself or others, I just keep getting this 'meh' feeling. It stops me cold and leaves me blank. I don't have anything to say when I see it. It doesn't seem to matter which deck. I think in the Anna K it shows a celebration and even that card doesn't say much to me.

Does anyone have any additional insights/keywords that might help me move past that 'meh' feeling?
 

danieljuk

obviously it's what the card means to you personally and how you see it, more than anyone else's view

For me it is a positive card with the wishes fulfilled but also for me it's a card of indulgence. It's almost a having too much of a good thing. The guy is sitting in front of all those cups. do they all contain wine? what indulgence! he is not a slim guy and his expression is quite "smug".

I think the card is saying enjoy your good fortune that you wished for. There is a 'sensual pleasures' aspect to the card as well as the wishes and happy times. enjoy the food and drink but don't become lazy or greedy. Make sure you count all your blessings and things you have. Will these lucky times last?

For me it's not a 100% positive card, there is a little feeling in my intuition that there is a real risk of going overboard with it. But it is a great answer to a question in most spreads. It's normally a big yes and happiness :)
 

Amanda

You could try pairing it up with one card at a time throughout your deck and see what it says with another card attached to it. It'll give you some ideas on how it is different or is affected by other cards... which could end up bringing out a truer, niche meaning just for you.

Anthony Louis, author of Tarot Plain and Simple:

The Wish Card Upright: Desires fulfilled.

Key Words and Phrases: Enjoyment. Contentment. Pleasure. Gratification. Comforts. Health. Happiness. Plenty. Smugness. Satiety. Satisfaction. Physical pleasure. Material happiness. A job well done. Financial well-being. Indulgence. A dream come true. A desired marriage. You get what you wish for. When you wish upon a star, your dream comes true. Eat, drink, and be merry.

Situation and Advice: When the Nine of Cups appears, especially as an outcome card, you will get what you desire. This card promises material benefits and physical luxury. It is a card of satisfaction and contentment, sometimes even smugness and overindulgence. This appearance of this nine can signal the end of a major phase of a project and the need to take a well-deserved holiday before proceeding. In marriage readings, it means you will marry the person you desire.

People: Those who get their wish. Someone who lives in the lap of luxury. An overly indulgent person. Those who are enjoying themselves. The Fairy Godmother.

Nine of Cups Reversed: Smugness.

Key Words and Phrases: Not getting one's wish. Unrealistic desires. Too much of a good thing. Hedonism. Excessive preoccupation with sensual pleasure. Complacency. Vanity. Self-congratulation. Overindulgence. Extravagance. Superficial values. Greed. Shallowness. Emptiness. Financial loss. Deprivation. Lack of money. Seeking fulfillment from drugs or alcohol. Drug abuse. Gluttony. Abusing one's body. The culture of narcissism. Masturbation. Hedonistic self-centeredness. Superficiality in relationships. Unable to step into the other person's shoes. Lack of charity. Abuse. When you've got it, flaunt it. Mother's little helper. I can't get no satisfaction. We are the hollow men. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.

Situation and Advice: You may discover that getting what you wish for is not necessarily good for you. Sometimes this card reversed can indicate a health problem due to overindulgence or abusing your body. You may be feeling too smug and complacent for your own good. You may not get what you want. Greed may be a problem, and a financial loss is possible. Your excessive preoccupation with gratifying your desires may be harming your personal relationships. Are you using drugs or alcohol to fill a void in your personal life? Is your hedonistic self-centeredness driving away those who love you? Do you close your eyes to the plight of those less fortunate than yourself? Does your value system revolve too much around self-stimulation? Are you able to step into other people's shoes, especially those who are less fortunate than yourself? How do other people fit into your life?

People: Smug people. Narcissists. Playboys. Playgirls. Hedonists. Sensualists.
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He offers some good possibilities you might not have considered before. If you say you are feeling 'meh' about this card, perhaps things are flowing too easy in your life at the moment or you're feeling too comfortable and growing complacent. Maybe it's time to get out and find a challenge.
 

Kiata

Hello RunningWild, I will share a few situations in which I saw this card coming up. Can't remember all of them. Amanda has given many of good keywords already so I am trying to think of additional words or qualities:

mistakes, imperfections behind a facade. also being sociable. ( me at work : )
a friend going back on the booze after abstinence
combined with the 9 swords it indicated a blissful relationship, when they were good they were really good , when bad ola la - intense black and white experience. ( euphoric and so close the next day feeling depressed and isolated )
A relationship has often taken form at this stage, both partners know what they are in for, less expectant as the 2 cups.
Feeling content. The surrounding cards would give you then an idea of where this feeling content stems from.
almost perfect pleasure and happiness.
passion - sexually experiencing a little death ( La petite morte) the perfect orgasm, feeling as one with the other person.
emotion - the heart's content" , physical well-being, it is "a dream within a dream" but nothing is permanent. Euphoric sense of well being. A peak experience, happiness. A desire for union, drink and celebration.
I have seen it upright as physical pleasure emphasized and reversed the spiritual level of fulfillment.
 

RunningWild

danieljuk said:
obviously it's what the card means to you personally and how you see it, more than anyone else's view

For me it is a positive card with the wishes fulfilled but also for me it's a card of indulgence. It's almost a having too much of a good thing. The guy is sitting in front of all those cups. do they all contain wine? what indulgence! he is not a slim guy and his expression is quite "smug".

I think the card is saying enjoy your good fortune that you wished for. There is a 'sensual pleasures' aspect to the card as well as the wishes and happy times. enjoy the food and drink but don't become lazy or greedy. Make sure you count all your blessings and things you have. Will these lucky times last?

For me it's not a 100% positive card, there is a little feeling in my intuition that there is a real risk of going overboard with it. But it is a great answer to a question in most spreads. It's normally a big yes and happiness :)
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Smugness is one I hadn't considered. Thank you, danieljuk.


Amanda_04 said:
You could try pairing it up with one card at a time throughout your deck and see what it says with another card attached to it. It'll give you some ideas on how it is different or is affected by other cards... which could end up bringing out a truer, niche meaning just for you.

He offers some good possibilities you might not have considered before. If you say you are feeling 'meh' about this card, perhaps things are flowing too easy in your life at the moment or you're feeling too comfortable and growing complacent. Maybe it's time to get out and find a challenge.
Click to expand...

Thank You Amanda_04! I have this as an e-book and had forgotten all about it. As to the pairings, I considered that it might take on greater meaning that way, naturally, but I was hoping I'd missed something as a stand alone card.


Kiata said:
Hello RunningWild, I will share a few situations in which I saw this card coming up. Can't remember all of them. Amanda has given many of good keywords already so I am trying to think of additional words or qualities:

mistakes, imperfections behind a facade. also being sociable. ( me at work : )
a friend going back on the booze after abstinence
combined with the 9 swords it indicated a blissful relationship, when they were good they were really good , when bad ola la - intense black and white experience. ( euphoric and so close the next day feeling depressed and isolated )
A relationship has often taken form at this stage, both partners know what they are in for, less expectant as the 2 cups.
Feeling content. The surrounding cards would give you then an idea of where this feeling content stems from.
almost perfect pleasure and happiness.
passion - sexually experiencing a little death ( La petite morte) the perfect orgasm, feeling as one with the other person.
emotion - the heart's content" , physical well-being, it is "a dream within a dream" but nothing is permanent. Euphoric sense of well being. A peak experience, happiness. A desire for union, drink and celebration.
I have seen it upright as physical pleasure emphasized and reversed the spiritual level of fulfillment.
Click to expand...

And thank you, Kiata. You've mentioned a few that I wouldn't have normally thought about.
 

Elendil

I once read that the 9 of Cups could represent a party where no one turned up...

Did you ever wonder why the fellow generally depicted on the card is all alone?

FWIW
 

RunningWild

Actually, yes. Which is one of the conundrums of this card for me. I think it's the Rider deck where his arms are crossed in a defiant posture. All those cups are his his his. I consider that he's sitting all alone, but I don't see him celebrating. And in most of my illustrated decks, there's really not an indication of fulfillment (except possibly being full of himself...a.k.a. smugness).
 

Richard

RunningWild said:
Actually, yes. Which is one of the conundrums of this card for me. I think it's the Rider deck where his arms are crossed in a defiant posture. All those cups are his his his. I consider that he's sitting all alone, but I don't see him celebrating. And in most of my illustrated decks, there's really not an indication of fulfillment (except possibly being full of himself...a.k.a. smugness).
Click to expand...
The Rider-Waite Nine of Cups illustrates the Golden Dawn divinatory meaning (among other things). The title of the card is Lord of Material Happiness. Meaning (from Book T): "Complete and perfect realization of pleasure and happiness, almost perfect; self-praise, vanity, conceit, much talking of self, yet kind and lovable, and may be self-denying therewith. High-minded, not easily satisfied with small and limited ideas. Apt to be maligned through too much self-assumption. A good and generous, but sometimes foolish nature."

The Rider-Waite image makes me think of the Shakespearean character Sir John Falstaff.
 

willowfox

***The 9 cups can be quite onesided, as its all about the guy in the picture, sitting there very arrogantly, saying "I'm all right Jack". It also suggests a certain selfishness as well, he's got what he wanted and so he's not particularly interested in anyone else, "self satisfaction".
 

queenxofxwands

Ive often had this card come up to say " you wish" or "dream on"
 
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