nine of pentacles // creative prompts

hello, friends. before we dive in, i want to remind you that my next tarot community container, rebel rebel, starts in just a few days on october 1st — and if you're a paying subscriber to this very newsletter, you can get a full $20 off!

this month we've been examining the nine of pentacles through essays and spreads, and i also offered a deeper dive into the number nine for paid subscribers. this card has provided so much rich food for thought throughout this month, especially when we push beyond the classic "you got everything you worked for" interpretation, and i hope that exploring this card and making it your own has been nourishing medicine for you during this wild and exhausting time.

but today, right now, i want to turn it over to you. how do you understand the nine of pentacles? what has this card meant to you in the past, and what does it have to offer you right now? how has your relationship to resources, your understanding of what you can build, your investment in your own future, evolved? and how has this card felt to sit with this month?

i share a post like this every month, and it's always a fun one to put together as the questions usually start to flow quickly. you can use these prompts for creative exercises and journaling, as conversation starters with friends or study buddies or your spirit court, as the basis of a new tarot spread, as a character study or world-building opportunity, or literally whatever else strikes your fancy. they are here as starting points, nuggets of inspiration — where you take them is entirely up to you.

what do you first associate with the nine of pentacles, in the image above and/or in the decks you use yourself? what catches your eye, activates your imagination, when you look at these images? how do these colors and shapes and ideas and depictions help to share your relationship with this card?

what does it mean to challenge your notion of this card, or to look beyond feast and abundance imagery? what else can live within this card? if you pull the nine of pentacles reversed, how do you understand it, and what does that mean to you? what does this card emphasize, and what does it challenge, in both upright and reversed positions?

how does this card feel relevant at the moment for you? what might it represent? which resources feel especially abundant or accessible for you right now, and how have you worked to build them or strengthen them over time? which resources feel harder to grasp or secure these days, and what have you done to try to protect them? what journeys have you had with resources over the years, and what kinds of work have you been doing around resources this month or this year?

if the nine of pentacles was a character, what would their energy feel like? how would they talk, laugh, cry, sing, dance, move? what might they be drawn to? what would their theme song be? what kinds of colors and shapes might they gravitate towards? how would it feel to get coffee or lunch with them, and what might you talk about? what kinds of advice or support might they offer? and how might they challenge you, or push you? what about their perspective would you agree with, and where might you disagree?

how would it feel to intentionally step into the nine of pentacles as an environment? what would it feel like to be in that place? what might you find, experience, see, touch, taste? does this card feel like a place that you'd like to spend a lot of time? would it be easy to get lost in the nine of pentacles, or is it somewhere that you're eager to leave?

lastly, what kinds of medicine does this card have to offer, for you and your loved ones, for your broader communities, for the world at large? what kinds of care does this card extend or recommend? how does this card about resources serve as a resource in and of itself? how could you use this card as a model for tending your own cycles and strengths? how could you use this card as a model for tending your communities, for sharing what you have, for dreaming of different kinds of futures?

i'll be back again soon with an essay on the final pip of pentacles, the ten! and remember that if you want access to everything i've written this year, as well as an invitation to my private discord community and a discount on my upcoming study container rebel rebel, a paid newsletter subscription is a great way to get more tarot content (and to help empower me to keep writing, creating, and teaching). thanks for being here!