I’ve written interpretations for every card in the Wild Unknown Tarot. As the box of the deck states, there are no rights or wrongs. These are simply my perspectives on the tarot card meanings. I hope you find them useful!
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Nine of Cups :: Wild Unknown Tarot
Creator’s keywords: bliss, wishes granted
Carrie’s keywords: desire, gratitude
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Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meanings in the Wild Unknown
This is one of the most colorful cards in this deck. It brings to mind a sunset with the gorgeous shades of pink, purple, blue and green. The more bold colors (orange, red and yellow) are absent from this card. The chosen colors are strategic – all of these colors evoke feelings of comfort, peace, and happiness.
The horizontal lines show a stable, calm energy. There are no turbulent waters here. Things seem tranquil – maybe even to the point of feeling a bit stagnant! This is a card of enjoying the things that make you feel good – a nice meal, beautiful music. It’s a card of indulgence. Let yourself feel pleasure, and be grateful for that feeling!
The crescent moon hanging in the distance reminds me that it is important to feel good NOW, not hinge our positive emotions on reaching some far away goal or distant state. Life is happening around us every moment, and we can generate the feelings we desire in big ways and small every day.
Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meanings in General
Since the Nine of Cups has historically been referred to as the ‘wish’ card, we included a dandelion in our version for The Spacious Tarot. The Waite-Smith tarot version shows a man sitting in front of a horseshoe shaped table. Nine cups are lined up on the table, and the man looks quite satisfied indeed with this gathering of his cups. His body posture is wide and relaxed, suggesting he allows himself to enjoy what he’s got.
I associate the Nine of Cups with the sometimes paradoxical concepts of gratitude and desire. These energies can seem at odds, but in truth they are partners. It is natural to crave more, to desire what is not yet manifest in your experience. But in order for this desire to be spiritual and not just superficial, it must be coupled with gratitude. As the common saying goes, if you are not grateful for what you have now you will never have more.
In a reading
This card can serve as a reminder to let yourself really enjoy the abundant pleasures in your life. Even things that seem simple, like a bowl of cereal and a roof over your head – can seem like ultimate luxuries if you have the right perspective. Feeling gratitude is essential.
There’s also an interesting balance at work in this card. On one hand, it is always a good idea to appreciate the luxuries we already have, but on the other hand, we don’t want to become too complacent. It’s good to continue to stretch ourselves and expand our horizons even when we are perfectly content where we are now.
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There are no pedestals on these cups. Does that lend any direction to the card?
Hi Ceallaigh, I can’t say I’ve given much thought to that. Let me know if you have any ideas. 🙂
Funny I just thought the same thing and my first thought was… all 8 of the nice cups were smashed in 8 of cups, now you’ve moved on and this time instead of being frivolous, you’ve got yourself some sturdy cups 😊.
You could have left addiction behind (the need to fix ) and instead of buying wine glasses to replace the last set, you’ve purchased tea/coffee cups for comfort.
The pedestials could be under the water…
Apologies for the doublepost. As a absolute fresh starter I choose this deck, because I instantly felt ist resonating with me when I studied the various kinds of tarot decks. It was delivered this morning. Now Im ing through the cards, first focusing to find my feeling and interpretation, then checking out the booklet-interpretation, then the equivalent from the A.E.Wait Deck and at last this website here.
For this card my initial interpretation was that the moon shines in water with 9 cups floating symetricaly on it, the pedestials covered Boy the water. The initial feelings coming with this card (for me) are harmony, tranquility, inner healing, the Link between subconciousness and dreams/emotional. Greetings from germany. 🙂
Hi Carrie,
I love your work so much! I just tried twice to send $10 and got a message from Paypal saying there was a “problem on their end”.
I checked my account and all seems well from that side. Will try again later but wanted to let you know in case you need to know.
Thank you for your work. It does my heart and soul so much good and healing.
Thanks, Joanna! Sorry about the issues with Paypal – their service is usually really good. Hopefully it’s working properly when you try again! I appreciate your support. 🙂 <3
And if the cards appears upside down, does the significate is in negative? How can I read a upside down card on this Tarot?
Hi there! Here is a post I wrote about how to read reversed cards:http://carriemallon.com/blog/how-to-read-reversed-tarot-cards/
feeling like I’m moving forward today with new purpose. Love the wine and coffee cup analogy.