Sweet Twilight- 9 of Chalices

[Hemera]

This is such a beautiful card and I don´t think the LWB is doing it justice by saying:"there are times when the only way to go is up". I don´t think this woman wants to go up. I see her as a Sea Priestess who lives down there and who is doing a private seremony. She may be doing a "Drawing Down the Swan" ceremony ? She is connecting with the beautiful and serene Swan Energy and communicating with the swan but I think they are both happy where they are. The swan may dive in to visit the woman and the woman may visit the upper world but both belong to their own elements where they now are. (I think...)

What are the small things behind the swan, to the left of the moon? Are they snow covered mountains, what do you think? And what about the thing the Priestess is standing on? At first I thought it could be some kind of an organ, like in the Disney cartoon Ariel? But it is probably a rooftop. Maybe it is the home of this woman. So the fish on the left could be a real live fish or a decorative element on the roof-or perhaps even both (like in Arie)l? The LWB gives a very shallow idea of this deep card. I think there are many aspects here and the overall beauty and serenity is just breathtaking.

 

[turtlebite]

Swans always remind me of the ugly duckling story. I loved that story as a child because I was such an ugly duckling and it gave me hope.

I see this woman as reaching toward an ideal but she'll never get there unless she stops standing on the rooftop and swims. She doesn't seem quite ready to do what it takes but she's getting there.

 

[RiccardoLS]

I think the lady is over a Chinese Rooftop (by the way, she is standing on the tip of her feet).

Looking at this card, what I see first are the currents.
I feel this mostly like a card of connections, binds, unspoken communication, contact and feelings from afar.

 

[DaisyDragonfly]

Echoing the gratitude for Riccardo... it's great to have you here! Also echoing the OP: it is a beautiful card

She's standing on the tip of her toes, reaching up: somehow, she's found herself overwhelmed by her emotions. Yes, she could swim upwards to freedom, but it's so easy to feel chained by despair of fear... but there's no need for either of these to reign, because help is at hand...

A keyword that always springs to mind when this card appears in readings is Grace. Grace in helping, grace in being helped. The warning? Don't let yourself become dependent: there won't always be an avenging angel swooping in to save you. Acknowledging you need to be helped is one thing; putting yourself into a position where only other people can help you is another.

Of course, that's taking the message from the girl. The swan has its own message, too. About the grace that comes from helping, from the way one can become transcendent, a greater person by doing what they can for others. It reminds me of the Jewish aim of Tikkun olam, healing the world. We become something greater than the sum of our parts when we help, when we empathize. But of course there's a warning, too... it's equally dangerous to set oneself up as a saviour, to be the person who bustles in to help other people. Indulging in one's position. Maybe in this case the swan doesn't need to do anything; maybe the woman is about to launch herself up to the surface and all that'll happen is that the swan and the woman will clash midway, dragging each other down.

Maybe neither should indulge: maybe the swan is doing enough by clearing the way for the woman, empowering her. Now the woman can see the light, she can swim by herself and know that she can breach the surface safely. Perhaps it's about finding a way to help another person so that everybody is empowered.

I don't always search for the negative aspect of a card, honest It's just that these cards have a whole lot of story to them (why they're such great intuitive cards, I guess) and they bring it to the reading.

 

[Aerin]

I like the way that there are 3 different perspectives at least in this card.

the Swan, who can see the moon and the stars but wonders what is beneath
the fish, looking up at the Swan in awe
the girl, who looks to me as if she is about to take off in flight and whose hair echoes the currents and the Swan's wings as well as the fishes fins.

 

[Aerin]

I just had this card in a reading as meaning hoping things will come to you and seeing what you want, but not taking action to get them.

Also subsidiary meaning of feeling overwhelemed by the surroundings.

(It was linked with the good old 8 of Swords.)

 

[frac_ture]

I can see merit in a lot of the interpretations of this card offered upthread, and I can see how this deck really provides images that can vary in meaning quite a bit from one reading to another...

But with this card, I do have one primary take that usually seems to come up for me. I most often see the water as being figurative, or as a visual cue that represents for us, the viewer, the emotional flood that the girl on the rooftop is currently facing (meaning, I don't think the water is usually meant to be taken as being physically "real," and I rarely think of the girl and her house as being literally submerged beneath the waves...although I don't argue at all that these things could hold true...). I'm not sure if the fish is meant to be an actual decoration on that rooftop, or another figurative element intended just for us...? The girl looks a bit plaintive to me, like she's seeking comfort or aid from the heavens...and I believe the swan represents the answer that the girl is getting. I feel that the swan represents Divinity in general, or one or more of the girl's Guides. In other words, I take the primary message of this card to be one of, "Your prayers are being heard" or "Your guides are actively with you."

The 9 of Chalices (=Cups) seems to be a very positive card in most decks, and I think that holds true here, as well. I think a draw of the Sweet Twilight's version of this card signifies the presence of a great deal of divine support, and says that any hope and faith felt by the querent will soon prove to have been more than justified.