Wednesday 6 February 2013

One Deck Wonder: 9 of Wands



Two days in a row I've drawn 9 of Wands from the Thoth Tarot as a daily draw.

Monday evening: What did I get right today? Answer: 9 of Wands. 
The 9 of Wands has the key word 'Strength'. It depicts 8 interlocking arrows, fletched by crescent moons, and with a crescent moon on the tip instead of an arrowhead. Overlaying them is a staff, tipped at the top with a blazing sun, and at the bottom with a moon. The moon is in Sagittarius in this card, which apparently is a good thing. The significance of these details is lost on me, to be honest, but I do understand the meaning of 9 of Wands. I believe I did show, or work from, a place of strength on Monday, because I not only confronted a manager about something that struck me as in need of addressing, I also stepped forward into a situation later that day that was rife with potential for rejection and being returned to a well-worn emotional groove. 

Tuesday: What was the significance of the dream I woke from this morning? Answer: 9 of Wands. 
In my dream, hubby and I are walking along a path, approaching a sort of bridge that has a wall to the left of it, with some shrubbery and plantings overhanging it. We are in a kind of valley, surrounded by hills and trees. Water begins to spill over the wall and cover the walkway on the bridge, and the air crackles with the sense of something coming, something building. I realize that I am about to be tested. The water builds. The sky becomes stormy, wind picks up. 'Run, grab onto something!' I yell. We run up the side of the valley toward the rim, but only get half way up when the sky begins rolling with clouds and a huge wave of water comes crashing over the edge of the top of the valley, to our left. There is a fence post sticking up out of the ground and I run to it, grabbing on. I begin sucking air in and out deeply, preparing to hold my breath. Hubby is somewhere nearby, he thinks my breathing is a gasp of shock, and looks up and sees the huge wave. 'Oh my god!' he yells. I am still breathing deep. 'Hold your breath and hang on!' I yell. 

Water crashes around me. To my surprise, I find that holding my hand in a circle around my nose, I can still somehow get air. All the water presses heavily upon me, but I feel as if a small bubble surrounds my body. At first I think I am going to be okay, then the water begins to press VERY heavily upon me and I am holding my breath. From behind me I sense that hubby has sprung upwards and is swimming toward the surface. I try to move my arms to follow but the water is so heavy I can barely move them. The water presses me down. I can't get my feet off the ground. I know I am going to drown, and I also know this is a test. I should not have instructed hubby to hold on. He's going to survive and I'm not, but I could have killed him. I should have gone limp and let the water take me. 

In the strange way of dreams, I find myself at the top of the water, which is brown and muddy and moving swiftly. 'I should have let go,' I say to hubby. 'I should have let the water take me.' But saying it, I feel afraid, imagining myself swept away, at the mercy of the water, dashed against rocks. I know I have failed, then suddenly the situation resets itself. I am given a second chance. I'm back at the bottom. And yet, I still cling to the post, still suck in my breath, still hold it, still feel the heavy water, still can't swim. I feel the oppressive weight of the water and my lungs are nearly bursting when the alarm clock rings. I scramble for my notebook and pen before the details of this dream can fade.

9 of Wands. Strength. 
Lesson: Letting go takes more strength than hanging on. 

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like a very scary dream, but well done on having the confidence and assertiveness to stand up to one of your managers. Sometimes we have to address the things that bother us. I know from experience that it is better to do that than to leave things to fester, where things have the potential to become overblown and become unmanagable!!! For years I had the reccuring dream where I had a very awfull Christmas - I did't understand it because I usually have a brilliant time. But Christmas just gone was really awful! The only bad one I have ever had. Sometimes dreams can be profetic but I don't see you drowning in a big valley though. I think this is something more symbolic xxxx :-)

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    1. Well, it wasn't so much a standing up, but just saying something during a meeting to support the points a colleague was trying to make.

      I do think the dream is symbolic. Most dreams are!

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  2. or metaphoric!!! x

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  3. my understanding of the astrology is basically...Sagittarius is a fire sign, usually taken to represent a certain kind of enthusiastic optimism, dynamic energy, sometimes a certain bluntness/lack of tact/heavy-handedness...like of the three fire signs leo is showy, directs that fire energy at outwards, expressive, leadership...aries is more aggressive, assertive, more temper and charge forward. saggitarius is most...optimistic, internalized confidence/energy.

    moon is the usual emotions, intuition, dreams, mood, inner self etc stuff so combined its like...channeling that confident optimism and energy on a deeper, intuitive level, on the level of dreams. finding it even when stuck in the more 'loony' aspects of moon and using it to drag yourself towards the light...Power from within, which goes with the title and the image of the card, where we have arrows coming from the light to pierce the darkness...

    intense dream and does seem apropos to the card... :0

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    1. So would you say the card signifies that the dream is important to some sort of enlightenment?

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  4. Wow, thanks for sharing your dream. I'm currently reading a dream book and one of the things it suggests is to pay close attention to the emotions of the dreams - actual feeling and metaphors of emotions.

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    1. Is it a book by Ann Faraday? I have two of her books. :)

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  5. Ah, letting go! That is definitely my lesson of the week... Did you find what it was you needed to let go of?

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    1. Ah well, I guess if it's important you'll get another go :)

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    2. It just hit me while I was typing an entry on my other blog. Floods of tears.

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    3. Had me in tears, too. (((Hugs)))

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