Pisces in the Minor Arcana: The Nine of Cups

9 of Cups (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

Today we move on to the Nine of Cups, which - in the system I use - is linked to Jupiter in Pisces, as well as the  middle third of Pisces (28^th February to 9^th March, roughly).  Jupiter is the ruler of Pisces, so already we have a sense of how this might play out! Jupiter, the ‘Greater Benefic’, expansive, generous, jovial... and in Pisces, described so well by William Blake’s “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" (from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell). Jupiter in Pisces is compassionate and sensitive, and has great faith or trust in a higher power (and the self).  It wants to grow by living according to its ideals – it’s high-minded, yet its generosity of spirit makes it sympathetic to everyone and everything.

9 of Cups (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

Jupiter’s expansiveness gives rise to overflowing watery emotions, symbolized in the Sharman-Bruke/Caselli version of the card by the fountains, or the overflowing cups in the Crowley Thoth and Wildwood decks. In Pisces, it’s all about bliss, deep joy, overflowing love... without restrictions.  Mutable Water.

It’s the benevolence of Jupiter, the all-expansiveness,  that gives the Wildwood’s Nine of Vessels its keyword ‘generosity’. The emotions are nourished, the senses are satisfied (symbolized by the spread of food and the embracing couple depicted in the Sharman-Caselli card) – it’s a time for indulging, to enjoy relationships.  Often referred to as the ‘wish card’, the Nine of Cups can represents dream or wishes coming true and, through Jupiter in Pisces, the sense of ‘blessedness’ that comes from deep-rooted, absolute joy.

9 of Vessels (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

The shadow side of Jupiter in Pisces, and the Nine of Cups, is the tendency towards escapism, and losing focus. Not that escapism is always a bad thing, but Jupiter takes things to excess, so what might be healthy escapism runs the risk of becoming an addiction. It could be difficult to deal with the outpouring of emotions, to the point where the emotions end up becoming blocked for fear of the consequences. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my e-book, Astrology in Tarot, now available from Amazon.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Lammas Blog Hop 2016: The Union of Opposites

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Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Morgan Drake Eckstein's Gleamings from the Golden Dawn or Joanne's Cosmic Whispers' blog.  Or you may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether... It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that you’re here! 

For those of you unfamiliar with Lammas, it’s the festival of the harvest.  Also known as Lughnasahd, the cross-quarter fire festival, it’s celebrated on the evening of the 31 July and on the first three days of August. More specifically, Lammas is the first harvest (usually of grain and fruit – the basic food that sustains us through the winter), when farmers begin to reap the rewards of their hard work.  It’s associated with baking bread from that first harvest of grain, but has also been called ‘the festival of gratitude and first seeds’ because the grain is also the seed that becomes next year’s harvest – a reminder of the cycle of life. 

Lammas celebrates the alchemy of Water and Fire - we’ve just left the water sign of Cancer and are now in the fire sign of Leo.   The sun still carries enough energy to help the crops to ripen, but we need rain as well.   Lugh, the Celtic god and Sun King, gives up his power at Lammas, just as the sun starts to wane and lose its power.  At this time then, we honour  both the bounty of the land, which yields the harvest, and Lugh, who ‘dies’ in the process of making the harvest possible – two ‘opposites’, if you like. 

Temperance (trimmed): ©Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Our wrangler for this Lammas Blog Hop, Aisling has asked us to write about the “union of opposites”, by finding either a card that represents, to us, more than one of the four elemental energies (specifically two which might be thought of as "opposites") or a pair of cards which work as a unit but represent two opposite views of the same situation.

As we’re celebrating the alchemy of Water and Fire in terms of moving into different signs of the zodiac, I decided to write about a card that brings together those two elements – Temperance.   

In the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot we see an angel pouring liquid from one cup to the other.  An angel also appears in the Sharman-Caselli version; here the alchemy is emphasized by the colours of the cups: gold (often associated with the Sun) and silver (the Moon).  There’s a need for flow between the conscious and unconscious, indicated by the flow between left and right hands, as well as one foot being on land and one in water. The rainbow symbolizes promise, as does the sun.  

Fire plays an essential part in alchemy – some of the main alchemical processes take place in a furnace.  

The Crowley Thoth tarot’s version of Temperance, entitled ‘Art’, depicts the alchemical union of Fire and Water.  We see here the lion and eagle, representing the Fixed signs of Leo (Fire) and Scorpio (Water), on either side of the cauldron, opposites balancing each other.  While water can extinguish fire, it can also join together with fire to form steam – which we see rising through the centre of the card, forming two rainbows enveloping the woman’s shoulders. Again, that symbol of hope and promise...

Art (trimmed): ©Thoth Tarot

... which also appears in the Druidcraft Tarot’s Fferyllt, the Druid alchemist. 

The Fferyllt (trimmed): ©DruidCraft Tarot

Red and white serpents wrap themselves, in a shape resembling the caduceus, around a tree in the Wild Wood. Red symbolizes Fire, blood, and iron. In the accompanying book, the creators of the deck  have chosen white to symbolise Air, although for me it’s Water.  A face set into the roots of the tree is half in shade, half in light – two sides to everything. The blending, or union, of opposites here fuels creativity, much as the Fferyllt does in the DruidCraft, or the angel in other versions of the card. Alchemy at work. 

Balance (trimmed): ©Wildwood Tarot

Margarete Petersen's Mediatrix also brings together opposites - light and dark, warm and cold, conscious and unconscious ... or as my friend Margo says "receiving stardust and giving water". I can see all four elements at work in this image - the 'angel' stands on the Earth, one arm reaching out to the Fire of the sun, the other to the Air of the universe, while a 'stream' of Water flows nearby.  The known/conscious of the Sun/Fire is separated from the unknown/unconscious of the Moon/Water by the ubiquitous rainbow. 

Mediatrix (trimmed): ©Margarete Petersen Tarot

Thank you for stopping off here on your journey through this Lammas Tarot Blog Hop!  Please do come back and read some of my other posts.    

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list – Morgan’s or Joanne's blog . The Master List can be found here.

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Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections 2004

Margarete PetersenTarot, AGM-URANIA, 2004. www.tarotworld.com

Sharman-Caselli Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

 
Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by US Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections