Card 44 • cups

Nine of Cups

Brief Description

The card depicts a cozy, comforting scene of simple pleasures and fulfilled wishes, symbolized by a child's quiet satisfaction amid carved faces and familiar objects. It emphasizes tactile, domestic comforts—gratitude that follows a small victory or the arrival of a long-awaited ease. The imagery also cautions that outward displays of happiness can mask shallow satisfaction or performed contentment. Balanced, it affirms self-care and joy in genuine fulfillment; unbalanced, it urges you to look deeper to find the wish that still needs tending.

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Visual Description

A young child sits on an ornate wooden chest in front of a shelf filled with carved pumpkins, masks and a skull. The child wears a small black eye-mask and holds a cartoonish face mask, legs crossed and shoes neatly buckled. A black cat figure and a jack-o'-lantern container sit beside the child, while a gold-framed arch with the numeral 9 crowns the top of the image. The word 'Cups' appears in bold lettering at the bottom of the card.

Meaning

You find yourself in a cozy cabinet of curiosities where simple pleasures are displayed like prized treasures; the warm glow of carved faces and the child's quiet satisfaction suggest a wish fulfilled and comfort in abundance. The scene smells faintly of autumn and candle wax, and the pleasure here is tactile — the weight of a mask, the softness of a costume, the easy posture of someone content. That ease hints at gratitude, the kind that follows a small, heartfelt victory or a long-awaited comfort. Yet the smiling masks and staged display also whisper of appearances kept for others and the possibility that happiness has been arranged rather than deeply felt. When the card's promise is honest, it celebrates fulfillment, self-care, and the quiet pride of wishes that come true; when its shadow shows, it warns of indulgence that numbs, satisfaction that is shallow, or a longing that remains despite outward plenty. Let the image remind you to savor what is real and to test whether your contentment rests on genuine nourishment or on performances and collectibles. Balanced, it is a gentle affirmation; unbalanced, it calls you to look deeper for the wish that still needs tending.

Visual Description

A young child sits on an ornate wooden chest in front of a shelf filled with carved pumpkins, masks and a skull. The child wears a small black eye-mask and holds a cartoonish face mask, legs crossed and shoes neatly buckled. A black cat figure and a jack-o'-lantern container sit beside the child, while a gold-framed arch with the numeral 9 crowns the top of the image. The word 'Cups' appears in bold lettering at the bottom of the card.

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✍️ Deck author(s): Tarot by Duck Soup

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