TAROTNine of Cups
Upright
A sense of happiness and inner peace through achieving your goals
A period of happiness in your life.
An appreciation of what you have and acceptance of what you do not have.
Self-congratulation on a job done or goal achieved.
Intuition
The card shows Apollonia Senmothis, a real woman who lived in Ptolemaic Egypt around 100BC. She kept records of her life as a mother and business woman. They provide a fascinating glimpse on the life of a successful self-made woman of the period.
Reversed
Unfulfilled expectations after completing all you set out to do.
Reaching goals and targets in your life yet feeling empty or unfulfilled by them.
A pyrrhic victory.
A need to look at your goals and replace them which what really matters to you.
Astrologia
Abundant personal growth and strong learning ability, often as a reward for hard work. Highly creative and dreamlike imagination. Strongly intuitive. Can become excessive when pursuing dreams, resulting in disillusionment.
Nine of Cups
After the emotional trials and tribulations of the Seven and Eight of Cups, we start to see the gains via the Nine of Cups. The card shows a woman taking a moment to reflect on her successes. She is dressed in fine clothes and sits on a golden throne.
The throne has nine cups above it, signifying this throne is not about monetary wealth so much as emotional wealth and the need to stop and bask in your own successes and to see yourself as Queen (or King) for the day.
The Nine of Cups is sometimes referred to as the Wish Card as it signifies success.
The Nine of Cups is sometimes referred to as the Wish Card as it signifies success in all that you initially wished or aimed for.
It denotes a period of emotional stability and success in your life, possibly after a period of trials and hard work. You have met a goal you set out to achieve and now is the time to inwardly celebrate. It is also a time to realize anything you do not have is unimportant against the gains.
The reversed card denotes completing the same goal but the resulting happiness rings hollow or is superficial. You have achieved what you set out to do. This may have made you successful in terms of wealth or popularity but you remain emotionally unsatisfied.
The character on the card is seated on a golden throne that does not look comfortable as it is solid gold. True success means always striving, changing your goals, and enjoying the journey as well as the rewards. This means the uncomfortable seat is perhaps not that important as you will always have other things to do than merely sit and rest on your laurels. Sit for a short while, but it will soon be time to get up and carry on being awesome!
The woman on the card is not from myth, and is not even famous, but she did exist. She was a successful woman in Ptolemaic Egypt, the last dynastic period before Egypt fell to the Roman Empire (caused by the defeat and death of the last Pharaoh, Cleopatra). We know of this woman because she and her family kept records of their personal and business life.
Apollonia Senmothis
Apollonia Senmothis was born in Ptolemaic Egypt, a period when Egypt was ruled by royalty of Greek descent. She was raised as an Egyptian but was of Greek descent from her father’s side, a Greek cavalry officer. She married another Greek cavalry officer, Dryton at the age of 20, and had several children, all daughters. She became a very successful business woman and raised a large and equally successful family.
We know much about her because she and her family retained their personal and business records spanning three generations (150-91BC). They were found in 1891.
She was a very shrewd woman, using her Egyptian upbringing in business (men and women were treated as equal in Egyptian culture) and she undertook all dealings under her own name. She also used her Greek heritage to make use of the stature of the ruling classes (in Greek culture, women were not equal, so her husband had to sign documents for her, but it is clear it was as a formality; she appeared to be the boss in business!).
She certainly lived a fruitful and successful life, and lived it in a remarkable period of history.
Description and Symbology
We see a woman sat on a Golden throne in a golden room and dressed elegantly. She is not royalty but instead a very successful self-made woman. She has built up her life and family through hard work and good planning and a bit of good fortune, and has a look of satisfaction and contentment about her.
That she sits on a golden throne in a golden room is symbolic of taking a moment to celebrate her gains and successes in life. We should all inwardly do the same for a few moments after our successes. Introspection or self-analysis is not just to exorcize the bad thoughts and traits, but to also celebrate our successes and make them part of us!
There is a cat at the foot of the woman. Cats in ancient Egypt were associated with Gods such as Bastet, and were believed to be capable of bringing health, wealth, protection and good fortune to the house that kept them. Probably true, as nothing empties a house of disease carrying creatures and potentially harmful insects faster than a few good mousers!
The woman
The woman sits on a golden throne, is well dressed and has an air of satisfaction and confidence.
The throne
The woman is seated on a golden throne, a symbol of success. The throne is topped by nine cups suggesting a large amount of that success came from emotional strength. The throne doesn’t look too comfortable, although the woman sitting on it probably doesn’t have time to be sitting on it for long. She has things to do!
The cat
The woman appears to be raised in Egypt, where the cat is a sign of good health, wealth, protection and good fortune.
The golden wall
A close look at the wall to the woman’s left arm reveals a faint drawing of the God Hapi, who was greatly celebrated by ancient Egyptians as he represented the flooding of the Nile. This brought fertility and successful harvests to the land, an event of great joy. To the woman’s left we see the God Dedun, who was the God of incense, an expensive commodity. Dedun was thus associated with wealth and luxury.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
You should expect to move forward towards emotionally rewarding successes in the near future.
If you have a personal goal to strengthen your relationship (or forge a new one), expect success. The existing (or new) relationship will be emotionally fulfilling.
If your goal does not relate to relationships, your existing relationships may be pivotal to success.
You are experiencing (or will soon experience) material success in your life, but it will ring hollow because it does not satisfy you emotionally.
The card suggests considering why this should be and what needs to change.
It may suggest a misalignment in goals within a relationship, or a change in one or both of you that means the journey towards the goal has changed opinions. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed before you reach the goal.
Expect success in career via meeting a significant milestone. When it happens, spend some time celebrating that success as that is key to getting enjoyment from it, putting it within the context of how far you have moved forward, and making plans for your next step.
At the same time, don’t rest too long on your laurels!
Although you may be satisfied by the pay and terms of your job, this card suggests you are not emotionally engaged.
This may be because you have ‘golden handcuffs’ (i.e. a well paid job that doesn’t really satisfy for personal growth), or you are more concerned about paying the bills, or are simply are staying somewhere because it represents a safe bet.
Whatever the case, it is worth considering what you really want out of your career and how far your current position is really taking you.
Success will come for a major milestone or goal. This card does not so much speak for the success but how you deal with it, and this is crucially important to your health.
Spend time out to celebrate. This has been a long time coming and you need some ‘me time’ for it to sink in.
Learn from the success, enjoy it and the peace of mind it gives for a while before getting back to the next goal!
You may not be as content or satisfied with your life as you thought. Everything seems to be going fine but your direction in life is not exciting you.
A healthy body needs a healthy mind and a lethargic, directionless mind will create a body that looks lost.
It is time to sort out what you really want and then let your body follow. This may take some time to sort out as issues of the mind are harder to solve than mere flesh and bone, but taking the time to consider your real goals now will improve your life and then your health.
The Nine of Cups is about a success you will soon experience, but the card is actually more about how you deal with it. The card suggests the success will leave you emotionally and spiritually satisfied. You should spend time considering why this is, and how it changes you as a person. The time spent will be useful in mapping out your future path because success gives material gains, but it more important to note how it has changed you as a person.
Everything seems to be going well and there may be good news in the future, but something is off.
You are not engaged in one or more parts of your life and this is feeding problems for later. It will come through as disappointment and a sense of wasting a part of your life unless you address it.
You will soon meet a major goal or milestone and this may lead to financial rewards.
More importantly, take time out to have pride and a sense of accomplishment in what you have achieved as the wealthiest person is the happiest one.
Don’t stop for too long though. Success breeds success and you have more to do!
Although material success will soon come, it will leave you cold.
The card suggests a lack of direction in other areas of your life that give you the trappings of success but none of the joy of accomplishment.
Spending some time thinking about what you really want out of life will be time well spent.
Yes through a meaningful and important success.
Indeterminate. Success will come but it will be pyrrhic. The effort used to get there will feel like less than the final prize,
Reading the Card
The upright card
The upright Nine of Cups signifies the need for satisfaction and self-congratulation after completing a major task or goal that you wished for, and this is something the card predicts for you soon. But this success was not something granted as a wish – it was something you worked for and now deserve.
You have done and completed something significant, and like the woman on the card, Apollonia Senmothis, you should take a few moments to metaphorically sit on a golden throne in a golden room and bask in the shine of what you have just built for yourself, your family and your future!
The reversal
The reversed Nine of Cups foretells the same as the upright card; the completion of something significant that you wished for and worked hard towards except this time you will not feel the same emotional joys of success and completion.
Something will not feel right. This may be because of several reasons;
- It was something you thought you wanted but now you have it, it isn’t all that.
- There is an element of following the crowd and ticking all the social boxes, but now you have it, it is just not really you.
- The journey was more rewarding than the destination. It has given you growth and new perspectives. You have grown away from the prize and no longer need it.
- It was always something for other people and not you, and you only now realize this.
This will be a tough call, but tough knocks are the best teacher. Learn from it. You now have a better idea of the real you and what the real you wants. Think of this as a compass. You have a new direction or passion to follow or a time to make changes.
Card Design Process
A significant amount of research of the archeological record was carried out for this deck. One of the reasons was to learn of the real first Temple (which is Gobekli Tepe, and defined the High Priestess and Magician in this deck).
The research also revealed the names of some ordinary people who are not historically famous but have vastly increased our knowledge of ancient people, including Apollonia Senmothis.
She shows us that equality of the sexes and success based purely on ability was not only possible but common in some places 2000 years ago.
She seemed an ideal fit for the Nine of Cups, and it is hoped putting her in this deck gives her a little bit of recognition.
Final Words
The Nine of Cups predicts something you have been working towards will work out just as you would have wished. The card does not really concentrate on this success, but how you see it emotionally.
For something that works out well and leaves you emotionally satisfied, the card points to the importance of realizing your success before moving on. Success feeds happiness, but sometimes we rush to the next task without soaking it in!
Some goals feel hollow once attained, and this is denoted by the reverse card. This is not necessarily bad news, as the card is a messenger before the event, giving you time to consider the real goal and change direction towards it.
