The Nine of Cups as Intentions: To Enjoy What Is, and Keep It

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Nine of Cups as intentions is a plan to keep things pleasant. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why pleasant is not the same as more.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Nine of Cups as intentions that are content and conservative. In an intentions position the card suggests the person is pleased with what is between you and intends to keep it going as it is. The intention is warm and it is not ambitious. The figure in the picture is comfortable on the bench, and comfortable people do not always intend to get up.

This is the satisfied figure in front of the nine cups. They intend to enjoy them. They have not thought about a tenth.

The Nine of Cups upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Nine of Cups guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with wishes fulfilled, satisfaction, pleasure and gratitude. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Nine of Cups as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Nine of Cups as a person who intends to continue: to keep seeing you, keep enjoying you, keep things as pleasant as they are. They are not planning to end anything and they are not planning to escalate anything. Their intention is the present, extended.

What I would not read into it is a plan for more. The Nine of Cups intends satisfaction. If you want a plan for commitment, change or depth, this card is telling you the person has not felt the need to make one.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person's contentment is specific to you, that they would act to protect it if it were threatened, or that they intend anything beyond enjoying it. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Nine of Cups reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Nine of Cups as intentions describes satisfaction that has gone wrong: a person who got what they wanted with you and intends to move on because it did not satisfy, or who intends to keep things pleasant on the surface while something underneath is unmet. It can also describe greed: an intention to take more of the pleasant thing without giving.

In your own question, ask whether the person seems to have everything they wanted from you and still seems restless, or whether their warmth has started to feel like a lid on something. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Nine of Cups as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Nine of Cups as intentions can suggest they are content with their life now and intend no change, in either direction. Less often it describes someone who would be glad to have you back as part of a life they already like, and who intends to say so eventually. Their behaviour tells you which. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Nine of Cups as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card suggests they intend to enjoy you and keep enjoying you, which is lovely and open-ended. Whether they intend to build is answered later, by whether they get up from the bench when something requires effort.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for ease and appreciation without initiative: they are glad to see you, they make time, they do not push for anything. A Nine of Cups intention shows as gladness. To learn whether it includes a plan, suggest something that costs effort and see what they do.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, the ways the person has shown they are pleased with you, and whether you want contentment or want an intention that wants more. The third note is honest about you.

For comparison, the Ten of Cups as intentions and the Four of Cups as intentions describe different intentions. The the Nine of Cups card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Nine of Cups as timing and the Nine of Cups as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.