Tarot: The Nines and Living a Half-Life in Sinners

I have been replaying the movie Sinners over and over in my head for weeks.

SPOILERS for those who have not seen it. The vampires. The incredible optimism of the twins. Annie. Smoke. That ending scene??? But, most of all it's made me think about the decisions I would make if that were me. I think I would pick Smoke and Annie's outcome every time. But, if you had asked me the same question six years ago? I would've picked Stack's outcome.

I think it speaks to this half-life idea that I have noticed with the nines of the minor arcana. The people in these cards are never truly happy. The nine of wands is somebody with their full guard up. While the wands are a rather passionate and intense card, this is a person who has lost complete trust in anybody. They refuse to move on, but they refuse to let anyone in at the same time. The nine of cups. He's happy with his cups sure, but is he? He doesn't have the full ten. This is the card of almost satisfied. He doesn't have every single thing he needs though, and if he's in a relationship? He most definitely has a wandering eye.

The nine of coins. Sure, she has nice stuff, cashflow, and a good boyfriend but is she actually happy? Has she invested her money or is she just blowing it on the next shiny thing? And finally, the scariest card, the nine of swords. I think sometimes we can get lost in our own pain and can gain comfort from being in it. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is surrender to hitting rock bottom and start again. The ten of swords is the surrender to the pain and the understanding that the sunrise is around the corner.

Stack and Mary are the nines, but Smoke and Annie are the tens. They have built something bigger, something with character, and something built on a deep-rooted love. I will pick the tens every time.