Playing Cards and Decans: Gemini II — The Nine of Spades
See the master post on my 2024 decan walk and playing cards
Nine of Spades
Gemini II is the decan of Gemini 10° to 19° (inclusive). Astrologically, it is ruled by Mars, in a sign ruled by Mercury.
The traditional English method divinatory meanings for this card are:
- A disappointment.
- Grief: ruin: sickness: death
- is the worst card in the whole pack; it portends dangerous sickness, a total loss of fortune, cruel calamities, and endless dissentions in your family.
- Sickness and misfortune, a most unlucky card.
- A card of very bad import, foretelling sickness and misfortune.
Reflection
I’m writing this shortly after the Sun has ingressed into Cancer — getting too caught up during Gemini season and then having to write two blog posts at once is very Gemini!
Oh, joy, the first spades card that’s ruled by a malefic. It can feel like this card is just a general warning of doom, but closer inspection of the delineations indicates it refers primarily to sickness, with grief and general ‘misfortune’ secondary. Mars — inflammation and heat — is poking at the body, with Gemini indicating the shoulders, with the nervous system a secondary indication. The Martial inversion of one common idiom would be here having swords in your shoulders, embedded and poked.
Agrippa’s image for the face is curious to say the least:
in the second face ascendeth a man in whose hand is a Pipe, and another being bowed down, digging the earth: and they signifie infamous and dishonest agility, as that of Jesters and Juglers [jugglers]; it also signifies labours and painful searchings
Mars and Gemini as indicating jesters is an odd combination but one that “makes sense”, I have to admit. The playing cards reflect more the persons in the image, with digging into the earth a reminder of possible fourth (astrological) house connotations of death and grief. The dishonest agility here is what comes about when you try to keep up appearances during griefs and sicknesses, the fake smile for the sake of others that can just make things worse.
The Rider-Waite Tarot is just as “fun”:
Nine of Swords
My reading of this has always been one awake at night. In Tarot, the swords suit is often related to thoughts (via associations with the element of air). Thinking is a hard habit to quit, and probably the greatest cause of insomnia. The Martial stabs are felt in this card, in a way implied to be more psychological than in the playing card associations — such awake-at-night is a symptom of what the playing card indicates, and likely not the cause.
Put on some relaxing rain sounds and try and get some sleep.
Peace,
⭕