By Sarah Taylor
This week’s reading has a back-to-front quality to it, with the card on the left — the Nine of Cups — as a possible goal, and the two following cards — the Three of Disks and the Six of Swords (3 + 6 = 9) — the means by which it is reached.
Then again, unless we hold a vision of what is possible, then we are unable to take the steps to reach it. And here we are being shown that the Nine of Cups is indeed possible.
Contrary to what may or may not be taking place in your life; contrary to what you may believe: the Nine of Cups’s appearance is indication enough.
Nothing shows up on the radar that is a tarot reading if it is not in the realm of livable experience.
To many, the Nine of Cups is the ‘wish card’. I find this approach to its interpretation similar to the meaning of the Seven of Cups — although in the Seven what is possible is more of an emotional gamble: the aim is to choose carefully rather than go for the most immediate, shiny object, lest you get tripped up by outward appearances. In the Nine, the negativity has been whittled away so that, instead of choosing between “happiness” and “not-happiness,” you are choosing your mode of happiness — hence its being called the wish card.