The last draw of the week with Druidcraft Tarot (Carr-Gomm & Worthington) yields the 9 of Cups. It offers an interesting perspective on the card image. In the traditional RWS, we see a portly, self-satisfied looking fellow posing as for a portrait before a draped display surface on which are arrayed his collection of 9 golden chalices. But in this 9 of Cups, the man is sitting on his own at a banquet table laid out with nine cups and a fish. Is he alone in the banqueting hall? There's a tapestry across the hall that has a face on it which reminds me a bit of the Gundestrup Cauldron. I like the way it is weighed down with hagstones at the bottom. :) I can't help but notice the very dark space under the table by the man's feet, and wonder what could be lurking there. My eye seems to be continuously drawn to it this morning. And is the man looking at someone approach from the other side of the hall? Or is he imagining someone is there? Or does he just not care that no one else is there?
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| RWS |
Life feels good for the man in this card, but there are all these hints that he may soon realize that something is missing. That's also part of the nature of the 9s, and all odd numbers in numerology. They are unstable, they are tippy. Unlike 2s, 4s or 8s, which are even numbers and thus have some stability behind them, the odd numbers by their nature cause imbalance and impetus to roll forward or fall back. Just think of the number of legs on a table. You can have 2, 4, 6, 8 and have a pretty stable table, but if you have 1, 3, 5, etc, it's likely to tip over. So with the Nine of Cups -- he's happy and fulfilled, but there's a sense it won't last. It's likely to tip into a new realization or new phase or new cycle.
BUT, for the moment, he's happy, and that sounds good to me for a Friday. (Even if it is Friday the 13th. See--there's that tippy bit!)
This card reminds me of a peaceful quiet friday evening before the entire family comes to visit in the weekend :)
ReplyDeleteThat's one way to look at it! But my entire family live on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, so... :) I know what you mean, though.
DeleteThis guy is soon going to find out he's got no mates :-/ Sat at that table on his own. He won't be happy then ! :-( All those gold cups laid out and all on his own with no one to drink from them. Could that be his tipping point? You can have all the riches in the world but they don't mean a thing if you have no-one to share them with :-(
ReplyDeleteYep, I can see that in this card, too.
DeleteToday, your post made me think about numerology and the odd numbers. You know, 3, 5, 7 or 9 legs could make a perfectly stable table. It depends where you put them and what the shape of the table is. If it's square, and you try putting the legs at the corners, then sure, you need an even number. But if you're willing to have a different shaped table, or to space out the legs differently, then there's no reason why they have to be tippy. So, maybe it's our desire for regularity that makes things unbalance, rather than the instability of those situations per se...
ReplyDeleteNo odd shaped tables or irregularly spaced legs allowed in my analogy. :)
DeleteI dunno, I'm sticking with the idea that it is, at least in part, our desire for regularity and order that tips us up in these situations :)
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