Think hard.

You're looking at your birthday cake and already anticipating the sugar rush. Your friends and family are beaming at you, celebrating the person you are and wishing you well. You take a deep breath to blow out the candles...what are you wishing for?

It’s probably not your birthday (unless you were born in October, if so, Happy Birthday!) But it may as well be everyone’s birthday this month as our card of the month is the 9 of Cups, otherwise known as the wish card.

At first glance, you can see this man looks contented, almost smug. He has that completely satiated look, like he just ate your whole birthday cake and drank all those cups of wine behind him. He’s a happy, probably drunk, camper. He got his wish and is in the presence of abundance.

But…(you know there had to be a but) for how long will he be happy? I don’t know about you, but I certainly sense an ick factor in this card that is hard to pinpoint.

The reason why it’s hard to pinpoint is because getting exactly what we THINK we want is often not what we truly want.

His hangover is on the way.

For example, I may THINK buying a pink Ferrari is what I want because then all will be well and my life will be filled with candy and kittens every day. I mean, everyone would love me if I drove this around, right?!

When, in reality I would likely have to put in long hours at work, make tons of sacrifices on my other spending habits, and lose time with my family and friends in order to drive that dream machine.

Sure, once I get my Ferrari I would probably have that same smug look on my face as I drove it around. But, would I truly get to enjoy it if I’m working all the time and alone? Probably not.

As the Notorious B.I.G. once said, “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

The man in our card is alone. With the 9 of Cups relating to the Hermit (#9 in the Major Arcana), there is additional introspecting to do in order to discover what we TRULY want. This introspecting is done alone so we can take that next step toward becoming more soulward bound and arrive at the 10 of cups, the absolute picture of familial happiness.

We are on our way to the 10 of cups but we're not quite there yet. You have likely already accomplished a big goal or are right at the cusp of your current image of success but true happiness can be buried beneath the veil of security, materialism, or stability.

Usually, what we want is scary because it disrupts our normalcy in some way. But in my experience, when we allow ourselves to open up more and identify with what we truly want, we enter into a flow and the world conspires to help us achieve it and feel even more secure in who we truly are, giving a sense of security no one can take away from us.

We are getting gifts from the world this month, it's up to us to use these tools toward living our Soul Purpose.

If you can see it, it’s yours. It’s just a matter of actually taking the steps to accomplish your desires. When this card surfaces, it can also mean we are in danger of actually spending TOO much time visualizing the big picture and not enough time actually DOING the work to accomplish your goals.

But how do you know if your current goals are in alignment with your Soul Purpose?

Here are some questions and tips to ponder when considering your goals and projects:

Would accomplishing this goal be in my best and highest good?

In other words, would the journey to accomplishing this goal along with the intended result help me feel how I want to feel?

How do I want to feel every day?

Hint: the things in your life now that give you the good feels….the truly good tingly ones let you know you’re probably doing your soul purpose work in some way.

Follow the tingles.

Emily Rose