Meet the Cards: Nine of Water

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Ace of Cups, brainstorming, Cancer, character development, Christopher Vogler, Corrine Kenner, elements, Joanna Powell Colbert, Meet the Cards, Minor Arcana, nine, Nine of Cups, Nine of Swords, numbers, numerology, Pisces, plotting, Raelyn Barclay, recommended reads, Scorpio, Selkie, tarot, Tarot for Writers, The High Priestess, The Writer's Journey, Water, writers, writing

What I See:

There’s a whispiness to her that makes me think of spirits wandering. I have a sense of her rising from the sea, breathing life into the Selkie myth. The colors bring to mind the ocean after a storm. Or maybe, the calm before the storm.

Seeing the light. With her arms open wide, whether spiritually or physically or emotionally, she is embracing fulfillment. The book says she’s standing in a sea cave but the edges are blurred enough she could be standing on the banks of a stream in a forest. I love the duality of that.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

All is well.

• Keywords: Happiness, Wishes Fulfilled, Sensual Pleasure, or Bliss.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of shutting down your emotions.

• Keywords: Extravagance, Superficiality, Hedonism, or Addiction.

Plots:

With that shining light, perhaps a life after death story. How about a ghost story? Maybe a tale about a medium or tarot reader? There’s an otherworldly feel to the image so perhaps time-travel or aliens or shifters.

With her arms outstretched like that, perhaps she’s a shaman or some other spiritual guide. Maybe she’s on a vision quest?

How about a mythic helper who seems ordinary? (Perhaps refer back to The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler for mythic archetypes.)

• Nine Themes: Self-mastery, Solitude, Wisdom, Experience, or Completion.

Typically, this card shows a barkeep/innkeeper leaning against a wall lined with cups. Perhaps your character is a bartender? Or maybe, you use a bartender to extract your character’s secrets.

Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner points out that the bartender could be looked at as a “low-rent High Priestess” — perhaps a story lurks there.

Characters:

Harmony with the Divine.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Nines in general, please refer back to the Nine of Air.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide