Nine of Cups
Secret whisperNine cups in a row and a satisfied smile — your wish is heard.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordswishes fulfilled, contentment, satisfaction, gratitude
Traditionally called the wish card. Contentment and satisfaction — enjoy what you have achieved and give thanks for it.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsdissatisfaction, smugness, materialism, unmet wishes
Getting what you wanted hasn’t brought the fulfilment you expected. Look more deeply at what you actually need.
About the suit of Cups
Cups belong to Water: feelings, love, friendship, intuition and the imagination. They show what is happening in the heart and in your relationships.
Reading the Nines of the tarot
Nines are the near-culmination: fulfilment, intensity and the last stretch.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Concord, contentment, physical bien-être; also victory, success, advantage; satisfaction for the Querent or person for whom the consultation is made.
Reversed: Truth, loyalty, liberty; but the readings vary and include mistakes, imperfections, etc.
The picture
A goodly personage has feasted to his heart's content, and abundant refreshment of wine is on the arched counter behind him, seeming to indicate that the future is also assured. The picture offers the material side only, but there are other aspects.
