Cups · Water
Nine of Cupsfor Leo · Work and Career
"Wish Fulfillment isn't the question. What you do next is."
Six quick picks first, then your reading
A card of abundance and luxury, but slightly unbalanced (maybe in your favor) due to the odd number placement of 9. It's the feeling of pride after a long struggle where you have come out the victor. There's abudance and wealth and success here, be proud of your accomplishments and relish the wins!
You accomplished a big goal-- be proud. This card is about feeling hard work pay off. Show off a little-- in a relationship perhaps you've finally crested a rough patch and are in a good spot (or you've just started dating someone who really excites you). At work you've just finished a project or gave a presentation that went well. If you are feeling unaccomplished, reflect on what you have achieved that deserves recognition (even if it's just from yourself)!
A reversed nine of cups can mean you are overindulging, being too prideful or in general arrogant. You've finally achieved a dream; and now you think you know everything about that dream. There's a fine balance with finally achieving something you dreamed of-- stay curious about what you don't know while still holding space for the joy of achievement.
Its place in the deck.
Where it shows up.
Nine of Cups for Leo in Work and Career
The Creator
Cups are the water suit, so the Nine of Cups sits in Cancer. Cancer sits directly beside Leo, the one relationship a sign cannot see clearly because it is too close to get any distance on. What it asks for is this: say the feeling to the person it is about. The difficulty is noticing it is being asked at all. Upright, it is nearly finished, and the last stretch of it is mostly solitary.
When reading about work through a Leo lens, the Nine of Cups says that you feel like work is the place you prove something, something you want to be visibly excellent at (or lead from), and a stage where your effort has an audience. This has either led to genuine excellence backed by real skill, or to chasing the role that looks like the thing instead of doing the thing itself. You have not asked yourself what you actually want from this work, only what you think you should want from it. The Leo blind spot in it is being ordinary, being forgotten, being the one no one thought to invite, being seen doing something mediocre.
In practice that can look like a colleague who becomes a real friend. Whatever form it takes, it is close to done and mostly solitary.
Somewhere else?
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