Nine of Cups : Plenitude

For today, the end of July, with Summer harvest in full swing, we get the Nine of Cups, reversed.

I've got the card sitting in my Palm cradle, and it makes me realize that this card is pretty much at home anywhere. I've put it right-side up for the time-being. Since I use the Rider-Waite deck for my daily work, this means that a fat, happy businessman is keeping me company, but he's not offering me any of his wine, I see. Well in that case, I won't offer him any gin. Besides, his hands are busy secretly counting out his profits. I suppose he's never heard the expression "don't count your chickens..."

Let's turn him over to see what he says. "See, my hat's still on, woman! It will take more than that to rattle me!" How right he is. I can see that underneath that fatuous exterior, he's known hardship and is very resourceful. Good. That gives me confidence in his true abilities. He's not a faker.

I much prefer this card when it's reversed, it becomes more down-to-earth. Otherwise I feel that it represents an uncomfortable degree of self-satisfaction. Too much plenitude on an emotional, intuitive level leads to mistakes; bad judgment. When reversed, it means we've reigned ourselves in just short of ultimate success so as to keep from going over the edge. A smidgeon of humility.

So what does that have to do with today? I wonder. Can you figure it out?