Happiness, the Nine of Cups (Tarot Triptych)

The Nine of Cups holds the sweetest water in the suit. As a nine, it is given to Yesod, the Unconscious, so this is the Lethean water of forgetfulness, the drink that puts you in a stupor.

In Rider, a large man sits smugly in front of a table, upon which rests his horde of 9 cups. His arms are crossed and his face holds a haughty smile. He wears a white robe and a red turban. The table is draped with a watery table cloth.

In Thoth, we have Happiness; three rows of three pink cups flow into one another and golden lotuses move the water about the card through their orange stems. The card is given to Jupiter in Pisces, the domicile of Jupiter. As such, the Happiness of this card relates to religious ecstasy, fantasy, and metaphysics.

In Marseille, we have another matrix of cups, three by three, around which vegetation grows. At the bottom row of cups, the plants are wilting, atop they are growing strong. Qabalistically, the card is the ‘Foundation of the Queen’.

Happiness is a very pleasantly named card, and indeed the zodiacal placement which is attributed to it is one of the best. This is a restorative step in the suit of Cups where water returns to its essential nature after a difficult detour.

As Jupiter in Pisces, it brings to mind the dreams and promises offered by religion in its most base form. The promise of eternal life, paradise, and reunion with loved ones. Phrases like “pie in the sky” or “pipe dream” are particularly apt, and we can consider the root of the latter phrase being opium. The water in these cups is akin to Marx’s idea of religion as the ‘opium of the people.’ While the masses are tormented and oppressed, they hold onto the promises of the church to keep them going, rather than changing their material conditions. The pleasing water held in these nine cups is a spiritual opiate.

Many people drink and do drugs to attain this manner of dreamy hopefulness. In this state one can escape the misery and drudgery of reality, but it is ultimately temporary. The Happiness of this card is ephemeral and finite, and any attempts to make it prolong it lead to the rotting roots shown in Marseille.

The perfect image of this is the Lotus Eaters of The Odyssey, a people entirely dependent on their drugs and indifferent to the world. Many belief systems function this way as well; as numbing anesthetics for the body. The afterlife of the Greeks required the magical Lethean waters of forgetfulness to reach the end. An eternity being dumb and numb.

When we pull this card, we can expect a pleasant time, good dreams, and shared comfort. We may have a very strong imagination at this time or have sprawling dreams. Even in a reverie, we must ask ourselves: who is the dreamer? Are we in a dream of our own, or has someone trapped us in theirs?