How to journey from the Nine of Cups towards the Ten of Cups

Yesterday I pulled the Nine of Cups and Death from my Original Rider Waite Tarot and although I am sure I must have pulled the Nine of Cups more often this year, this time at the end of 2017, I remembered it was my card for this year paired up with the rune Perthro.

I was wondering what the Death card had to say about the Nine of Cups because it felt like these two cards were standing at the beginning of an unfinished story but when I tried to pull an outcome card it didn’t make any sense at all.

So next I wondered how Perthro could be tied to the death card. Perthro is the rune of mystery and it sometimes symbolizes the cauldron of transformation. So maybe this rune wasn’t meant to be the tenth cup as I thought in January but perhaps it was meant as a symbol for the cauldron in which we could transform our nine cups filled with our comfortable wishes and happy feelings into something more substantial and sustaining.

And then I asked myself again what the tenth cup could be and I looked at the Death card which suddenly reminded me of the Knight of Cups, who goes on a quest to find his soul’s purpose; his heart’s desire: He is searching the Holy Grail.

Mmm, I suppose this could be the Ace of Cups. So this knight leaves everything he holds dear behind to go on a quest for Love with a capital L. It is the kind of Love which is unconditional, compassionate and which multiplies the more you give it away.  And so we arrive at the Ten of Cups. Empty handed but with a heart filled with Love and we come home to ourselves and our loved ones and everything we hold dear. Yes, all the things which we were able to leave behind at the beginning of our journey are represented in this card only now we are able to enjoy it with such a deep contentment and Love in our hearts.  So sitting with our nine cups is great but if we want to experience them fully we have to let them go and leave our comfort zone to find out what Love is all about.

Nine of Cups –Sharing our gratitude

Today’s card is the Nine of Cups from the Druidcraft Tarot. This card is my theme card for this year. We see a man sitting at his table with his cup raised. He is content and has done well for himself. But especially in this depiction, it feels like something is missing. He has laid the table for his guests to drink some of his exquisite wine and eat from a fresh cooked salmon. Yet, nobody else is there. Perhaps it is still too early; otherwise, he wouldn’t be smiling and sitting there all pleased and feeling good about himself.

This is the card of dreams come true, wishes fulfilled and all things good in life. It invites us to ponder about what we have filled our nine cups with and what wisdom we have gained (salmon) There so much to be grateful for and to be proud of. This harvest season is particularly suited to express our gratitude for everything life has offered us. And yes I do mean everything because often our challenges are carrying our most precious gifts.

So for today, I will ponder on the content of my nine cups and especially about what this beautiful salmon has taught me in the last few months. But... I will also share my findings with my loved ones and then I will be stepping from the solitude of the Nine of Cups into the warm embrace of the Ten of Cups...

Nine of Cups - Time to do the dishes

Today’s card is the Nine of Cups from the Original Rider Waite Tarot. This is also my card for 2017, so when it comes up in a daily draw it feel especially significant. This is the traditional wish card but instead of filling my mind with unfulfilled wishes, it rather filled it with doubts and questions.  At first I thought, I have everything I ever wanted and I have nothing left to wish for, so I must be utterly content with my life as it is right now but honestly that’s not entirely true. This card is all about fulfilled dreams and wishes but the man in the card doesn’t even look them. That made me wonder if for having a emotional fulfilled life it is necessary to call to mind our past dreams and achievements?  And even more, do out past dreams and wishes still still hold true for today? Or is it possible they can even be an obstruction to pursue new goals and dreams?

So many questions, so much uncertainty. As you might have expected I am a little out of sorts lately. Not knowing what I want, wish or dream of, or what to belief in anymore.  Always when I am feeling like this I tend to turn around and look at my nine cups to remember what used to make me happy and satisfied. But today I wondered, what if I would stand up, pick up my cups and do the dishes. Then I will have nine clean cups to fill up with loads of beautiful new experiences and fragrant wishes. Yes it was a nice party but now the guests are gone it and it is time to clean my house. Today is a new day with lots of possibilities to feel happy and content about.

Word, Card and Rune for 2017

Long before the New year, I had decided what my word for 2017 would be. It is one I struggle with a lot. The word I picked for this year is Trust: Trust in myself and trust in others. I hesitated about adding faith too but I feel Trust is a more active and empowering word than faith.  Faith is more like a spiritual concept and trust is a verb: “Trust is faith in action!”

So with that in mind I pulled my card for my theme the year. Whatever it would be I wanted to trust that it would be able to teach me a valuable lesson this year and I pulled the Nine of Cups ( pfff). This card is all about experiencing intense joy and emotional fulfillment on a personal level. For me the Ten is more about the well-being of community; the love and joy experienced with family, friends and loved ones. The Nine however is an invitation to discover everything which brings you joy, to fill up those nine cups. But also it is about accepting what life has already put in those cups and making the most out of it. Joy can even be found even in the hardest of times.

In the five we were grieving and not able to see the two cups standing upright, The Six reminds us that our happy memories are always with us, the Seven asks us to find out what our heart truly desires. In the Eight we try to leave our cups behind. (I sincerely doubt if that is ever possible) And then we reach the Nine where we learn to find gratitude and Joy in all aspects of life.

I pulled Perthro from my bag of runes to go with The Nine of Cups and immediately  I recognized the cup which would transform my Nine into a Ten, into completion. Perthro means dice cup and it is a symbol of mystery, of not knowing. How this cup will guide me from Nine to Ten is a question I Trust, I will be able to answer one day and maybe even before 2018.

Within -without -advice : Not all that glitters is gold

Today I pulled some cards from my Original Rider Waite tarot for a “Within - Without – Advice” reading and I got:

What immediately stands out is the bright yellow in the first and the last card. This tells me my reading will be about finding truth and becoming aware of something important.

Within - Nine of Cups

This guy is a very happy guy. He has all he ever wanted. Every cup is filled with something which fulfills  him and brings him joy. But I cannot help but wonder when it was the last time he has checked the content of his cups. Are they still fresh or are some of them stale or past their expiration date.  It is wise to discover what it is that really feeds your soul before you expose yourself  to….

Without - The Devil

Yes, The Devil wants you to believe everything he promises you. He deals in short time rushes and quick fixes. Often at first, they do feel good when we give in to them. And it is hard not to, when we are tempted with so much glitter and glamour. In a society which promotes consumerism, the temptations are many. The (Social)media bombards us with everything we seem to “need” and  “want”  and it is up to us to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Advice - Seven of Swords

And that is exactly what this guy is doing here. Besides being about  lies and deceit, for me this card is also about being the lone wolf who stands out from the crowd and who knows how to take care of his own needs. He chooses the swords which are right for him and leaves the rest behind. He is not easy influenced by smooth talk or advertising campaigns. He knows that short cuts are often dead ends and that not all that glitters is gold

In short, being aware of what truly fulfills us will armor us against the influences of consumerism and will help us to chose wisely from the broad range of choices we are presented with on a daily base.

Theme for the week: Five of Cups

Yesterday I’ve watched Steve’s video :“Weekly Tarot Thoughts” on YouTube and I was intrigued by the fact that he drew a card to establish the theme for the week.  I thought it would be a great idea to try this out for myself.  It could also be a wonderful way to explore one card more in depth and to perceive this card from different angles during the rest of the week. No card it ever  a 100% good or bad.

My theme for this week  is going to be the Five of Cups from the Original Rider Waite tarot. And no, I am not afraid this is going to be a said gloomy week.

The Five of Cups is all about coming to terms with our past and especially the more sad parts of it. For me personally this is a ongoing process. I am not going to digress about my losses, my grief, my pain because I am sure that anyone who reads my blog can relate to this card for everybody has some kind of “Grief list” of their own.

The five of Cups is for me a card who advises me to accept my losses and focus on what it still there for me to enjoy.  It requires a huge effort to turn your head and see the two cups behind you and truly appreciate their content. It is even a greater effort to pick up on of those cups and to sip from it.

But believe me it can be  done and sometimes you can be surprised by how wonderful it tastes

My daily draw will be the answer on how to approach this theme today and I got the Nine of Cups.

Wow, that’s a lot more cups than the two in the Five of Cups. They are all standing upright and ready to be tasted and/or emptied. For me the Nine of Cups is the wish card and the card of gratitude, so it urges me to focus on what I am grateful for and to try to find out what else would make me truly happy and then wish for it: Making the magic happen. All in all this card is confirmation how important it is to turn around and focus on the good stuff in the here and now with a soft focus on a brighter future (hoping your wish will come true). Since the man is all alone with his cups, this card also touches on the sometimes lonely aspect in regards to  dealing with loss. In my opinion it is often very difficult for others to really empathize what you've been going through and still are going through, so this card is about being kind en gentle to yourself and to really explore what makes you happy.

Nine of Cups - taking a moment

Today’s cards are the Nine of Cups and the Prince of Pentacles from the Druidcraft tarot. In the first card we see a man sitting at his table with eight cups .  He is holding the ninth cup in his hand ready to savor the drink which it contains. It is almost as if he is making a toast to himself. He is obviously very content. Often we call him a bit smug but since this is also the wish card of the deck, I think he is enjoying the quiet time before the other guests are arriving. In my point a view he doesn't mind being with himself. Sometimes that is all I wish for after a long day. I wonder what he is thinking about and I pull the Prince of Pentacles. Aha, peace at last, after a hard day’s work: guarding everybody’s needs and well being. Getting the job done day after day while shielding yourself for too much emotions can be very demanding. Although there is still grief, life goes on and a new routine has to be established. So no wonder he is sipping contently from his cup and enjoying the quiet before the next storm (I‘ll bet it is coffee J)

Nine Of Cups - Follow the yellow brick road

My daily draw for today is the Nine of Cups from The Hidden Realm Tarot. Like in the Rider Waite tarot we see one man alone with his cup but he is not smug and complacent and he is fully aware of the challenge of this card. Although we have a lot to be grateful for and we feel content and satisfied, it is our life’s quest to keep looking for the one thing that is truly fulfilling; our hearts desire. This man gazes in his chalice filled with water which he hold carefully in both hands. He looks calm and relaxed. In this cup he sees his hearts reflection; the good and the bad. There is a lot to be grateful for but also a lot of pain and sadness. Yet all these experiences together made him the man he is today and from here his journey will continue. He is going to find his dream and follow it. He knows it won’t be easy but he has enough strength from all the challenges he has overcome already. Although it is tempting to stay put with your cup and reminisce over the good old days the road to the Ten of Cups has to be taken.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step “. Lao Tzu

PS. This was the first time I've done  my daily draws with one deck for a whole week. It was a good experience. I liked it to immerse myself in the symbolism and artwork of this deck. Throughout the week this deck felt like a constant companion. One thing less choose each day. J

The gift box exercise

Today I want to share another exercise with you. I've came up with this one yesterday to pass the time in a positive way, while waiting to go with M to the hospital for her second ultrasound and  a biopsy.  I am happy to tell you things look positive but we still have to wait another week for the test results.

For now back to the exercise. When you think about it, a deck of tarot cards is like a gift box with 78 presents.

So what did I do: I picked up my Joie de Vivre Tarot and pulled a card which I interpreted like opening a present:

I am fully present in this moment to receive the gift of  (name of the card)……….. which is (gift)……………………

I've pulled  a lot of cards one after another and it felt like being showered with goodies and gifts from a group of very close friends. Sometimes when you do exercises like this you get to know your cards on a slightly different level. Which in turn can add another layer to you regular readings

A few examples:

* I am fully present in this moment to receive the gift of  Nine of Swords which is the strength to look upwards to see the hearts in the tree

* I am fully present in this moment to receive the gift of  Four of swords which is to go within and put my worries aside

* I am fully present in this moment to receive the gift of  Nine of Cups which is to wish for my heart’s desire

* I am fully present in this moment to receive the gift of  The Devil which is The awareness of having scissors to cut my cords

As you've noticed it doesn't matter if the cards are “good or bad”. Every card can be interpreted as a gift. Of course you can alter the sentence at your own discretion. It is the idea of receiving gifts that counts. For me it was an encouraging experience J

Nine of Vessels - Generosity

For today I've drawn from the Wildwood tarot a card with a whole different energy than yesterday’s Seven of Vessels. It is the Nine of Vessels (aka The Nine of Cups, the traditional wish card in the Rider Waite tarot). In this card, as in the Nine of Cups, a man is depicted with his vessels. In the Nine of Vessels it is not so much about enjoying yourself on your own, being content and perhaps even being smug. In this card there is an ongoing stream of inward and outward energy going on: Giving and receiving love. The keyword generosity is self-explanatory. As we all know: When you’ll give you will receive. The person in the middle is glowing like a sun, he is a conduit for abundant kindness, love and wisdom. He is sharing it selflessly and out of the goodness of his heart. And he is receiving with grace and openness the blessings of the Divine in any form whatsoever without expecting it.

This card is has a difficult message to me. I understand it perfectly but acting like this is hard. For me it is all about finding the balance between giving and receiving and being brave enough to let go of any expectations. I've given too much once and it was a hard lesson for me. I am scared to be too generous again. When I can remove  the “too” from the equation it will be doable: To give Loving Kindness ,to stay aware of my boundaries and  to trust I will be replenished. 

Nine of Cups: what do you wish for?

Crystal Visions Tarot

The woman in this lovely Nine of Cups from the Crystal Visions Tarot is totally at ease. She is one with her surroundings and enjoys her solitude. This is exactly where she wants to be. A place where she can withdraw from the business of everyday life and where she can consider what she really wants from life or perhaps only for today or the coming weekend. The moon is full. While making her wish, she is blowing the seeds of a dandelion in the wind. Her wish is her secret.

I prefer this card above the RW version with the pompous man turning his back to his beautiful cups. This woman is enjoying in a very sensual way everything she has gathered around her.

So what do I wish for?

Some peace and quiet for the coming days. Reading in my book “Divergent” by Veronica Roth. Watching "Star Trek: Into Darkness" this weekend with M. (S is going to her boyfriend and I am a trekkie) And 

all kinds of other relaxing things I dare not tell because otherwise they won’t come true but I am sure there will be some chocolate involved.J

Compromise between adventure and laziness

Every now and then I just look at the cards and feel no urge to read the guidebook for more “spiritual and in depth” interpretations, to expand on my own plain obvious impression. Today I’ll just stick with the daily ordinariness of this reading.

This three cards read almost like three Lennies with the center card as main topic:

Osho Zen Tarot

So today is all about compromise between two options: adventure and Laziness

Of course when you think about adventure, excitement and surprises come to mind. But we’re not always are up to that. Sometimes the only thing we want is to push root in our couch; especially during weekends. And the cards tell us that’s okay too. Although adventure does include freedom  and exploring possibilities, it also requires a lot of creative energy and perseverance.

So this weekend we’ll get to do both. It is up to you how the scales are balanced. Enjoy!