TAROTSCOPES | SEPTEMBER 16 - SEPTEMBER 22
IX OF CUPS
The difference between desire and love is expectation. To desire is to want for something. Desire implies lack. A time or place that is missing from the moment. It is an active paradox, wanting to be receptive but requiring the response of something out of its control. As soon as we get the thing we want, desire disappears or jumps to another potentiality. To love is to experience a profound feeling of affection. To love asks nothing in return. To love is to be present with what is. It is inherently active and receptive, for when we love, we liberate our heart. We greet and welcome whatever lands with it. We are not reaching for the past or the future. Even if love is for another time or place, person or thing that is not with us, we love from where and when we are. When we love truly, we are full, abundant, wanting nothing more than the feeling that presents itself. To love sincerely, we must not only be open to offering, but also to receiving the love that naturally cycles back to us.
The Nine of Cups is often dubbed the “wish” card, yet it is a card of appreciation. The Nine is deeply spiritual, invoking Venus (three) and Jupiter (six), who together, create a Neptunian vibration. Neptune devises a link between reality and fantasy. Blurs the line between image and experience. Conveys the paradox and divine challenge of making the journey from desiring to loving. It does not grant wishes by giving us what we desire. It grants wishes by revealing that what we desire is our own ability to love. It asks us to shift from understanding of lack to a realization of love. Neptune understands that a loving reality is a question of perception.
This does not, of course, negate real suffering nor does it diminish tangible need. This card does not ask us to spiritually bi-pass true pain. It does not encourage comfortability with genuine lack. It does not indicate that serenity is not easier to achieve with the privilege of having human needs met. It does not dismiss the hierarchy of our world that creates such imbalance of power and prosperity.
Krishna Das explains that in the Argala Stotram (a prayer to the goddess Durga by the Rishi Markandeya), the devotees pray to the Mother asking her to bless them with “roopam” which means “form”.* This prayer asks for prosperity, fame, and victory as well as the goddess herself (from my understanding, the goddess can come to us in the form of these things but I am a student who has barely touched this surface so please take this with many grains of salt). Krishna Das describes that when he was younger and had very little material belongings, he used to judge the people praying for these things - he says he felt superior to them because they were engrossed in the material world. Now he understands that to be a good human (because we are, after all, humans and not gods), you need to live a good life. This does not mean becoming rich and hoarding wealth and it does not repudiate humility and moderation. This does mean there are physical things we need to live a spiritual life. Maharaj-ji said “You can’t talk to a hungry person about God. Feed them first.”
The Nine of Cups wholeheartedly embodied then, is to appreciate what you have, to give what you can, to accept what you need, and to be with what is. It is the forceful work of humility. It is the abundance born from moderation. It is neither forcing excess nor denying yourself necessity. It is the peace that blossoms when you allow yourself to love the desire itself. When we love our wishes, we find acceptance because we are in honest relationship with the line between what is possible and what is real. The difference between longing and belonging is being.
*“Sri Argala Stotram (Selected Verses) / Show Me Love,” Kirtan Wallah, Lyrics, Heartspace, Krishna Das, accessed September 11, 2019,
https://krishnadas.com/lyrics/sri-argala-stotram-selected-verses-show-me-love/
WHAT EVEN IS A TAROTSCOPE? We often think of horoscopes as predictions that are specific to each astrological sign. In Ancient Greek, the term horoscope simply means "I watch the hour." To astrologers today, a horoscope is a chart that maps the planetary bodies in the sky. From this chart, we derive meaning that can influence how we work with energy. Regardless of our unique individual charts, we are ALL working with the same energy from above. Each week, I examine this energy, pull a tarot card and write a guided meditation with the collective in mind. My tarotscopes are meant to be read as inspiration. Please note that because we are all operating with our individual energy, some elements will resonate more than others. Take what you like and leave the rest. Tarotscopes are offered freely in an effort to cultivate collective healing. I am always grateful for your support in sharing this work with anyone you think it might help. If you are inspired or find support here, please consider making a donation to help sustain these weekly offerings.