Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

attained happiness

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Tarot Alley uses the Rider Waite type of deck for our meanings, symbols, interpretations, etc.

When determining the Nine of Cups tarot card meaning, you should consider that it’s a Cups card and a Nine. The Suit of Cups represents emotions and relationships. Nines represent attainment, fullness, and readiness.

In this way, we can determine that the Nine of Cups represents attained happiness.

Take a look at the Rider-Waite Nine of Cups displayed to the left (or above).

What is your first impression?

Who is this person? What’s behind the curtain? Are they hiding it nefariously or for a surprise?

There’s no right or wrong answer here, just your interpretation.

Astrology: Jupiter in Pisces
Element: Water
Numerology: 9 (attainment, fullness, readiness)

Common Symbols

• A Happy Figure: to represent happiness
• A Curtain: to represent a focus on the now

Keywords & Concepts

The Nine of Cups for Personal Growth

Affirmation: I have everything I need to be happy.

How much stuff do you have? Things are unlikely to bring you the happiness you seek and you can be satisfied with less. Restraint allows you to rally appreciate indulgence.

Ask Yourself:

• What is true happiness?
• If you could have anything, what would it be?
• What is your attitude towards luxury? Do you deserve it?
• To what extent do your emotional responses support your goals? How might they interfere with your achievement of satisfaction?
• Do you know what it would take to satisfy you completely?
• What steps could you take in order to experience peace and relaxation?
• In your situation, what information is being hidden or repressed in order to maintain a false happiness?
• What outcome would delight you? How can you make that outcome more likely?

Interpreting the Nine of Cups

Generally, the Nine of Cups represents attained happiness. Indulge yourself (within reason). You have everything you need right now to feel complete. Relax and unwind with it. Delight in your achievements because you deserve it. Take this time to appreciate all the good things life has to offer you.

The Reversed Nine of Cups

How you read reversals is a personal choice. You can ignore reversals and read them as if the card is upright (this is what I often choose to do) or you can interpret reversals as variations of what they would mean upright. There are 3 common ways to read reversals: as a negative interpretation, as an opposite interpretation, or as a block on the upright interpretation. Check out How to Read Reversals for more information.

Typically, a reversed Nine of Cups represents too much indulgence. Examples include:

• Being smug
• Satisfying yourself at the expense of others
• Selfishness
• Over-indulgence
• Avoiding work that needs to be done to relax
• Claiming things you don’t have (achievements, skills, or successes)
• Never being satisfied, no matter how much you have.

Examples of the Nine of Cups

Specific Interpretations

Specific situations are the general interpretation (from above) used for a specific situation (love, career, etc). There is no need to memorize these (or even look them up) if you understand the general interpretation. However, here are some basic interpretations for some specific situations:

the Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meaning