Balance is wisdom

What wisdom does my Higher Power offer today in facing my angers and resentments?

The card King of Wands from Tarot de St Croix features Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice Great). The illustration is clearly based on the one below by Jacques Boissard, 1605. Hermes Trismegistus is credited with writing texts that espouse a system of theological and mystical philosophy that appears to have emerged around the 2nd century, around the same time as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism. He probably never existed, and the texts were no doubt written by various authors over the centuries.

The 7 Hermetic Principles are outlined in a text called the Kybalion:

1. 'The All is Mind' -- All outward manifestations of reality are in fact based on upon mental and spiritual realities.

2. 'As above, so below; as below, so above'. -- There is always a correspondence between the various planes of being and reality. Seems similar to 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction', but in the metaphysical sense.

3. 'Nothing rests. Everything moves. Everything vibrates.' Modern science now proves this is indeed true. Our very atoms and the components that make them are in constant motion. Everything is zooming around.

The left-handed king

Morgan Greer

Nice that the King of Rods should turn up. The full moon is this Friday, and it will be in Leo, and the cards associated with Leo are Strength and King of Rods (or Wands).

This card does not show the King of Rods in action, even though he is definitely an action man. He's seen in profile from more or less the waist up, facing to the left side of the card, which I always associate with the past. I would usually expect the King of Rods to face the right side, which to me is the future. Like several men in the Morgan Greer Tarot, he has a full beard and mustache. His robes and helmet are orange,deep red and gold, the colours of fire. The landscape around him is sear desert sand and the sky is bright yellow. It's a glowing image, but looks rather hot and dry. I am not sure what to make of the shapes in the lower left corner of the card, I assume he is seated on a throne and that is the left arm of it. In his left hand he holds a rod, which appears to be from an oak tree. It has three oak leaves and three acorns attached to it. Of course, the oak is a symbol of endurance and longevity, was a sacred tree to many cultures, held sacred to Zeus and Jupiter, to the thunder god Thor, and revered by the Druids.

I have to admit I've never thought much about the strength of the King of Wands. He's my Captain Kirk card, so I have always thought of him as clever, impulsive, confident, bold, charismatic, forceful, and creative in finding ways that lead to the shortest route to his preferred outcome. I suppose I've seen him as strong in small bursts. He's never struck me as 'strong' -- that's the King of Pentacles, steadfast and true. But I suppose there is a strength in the qualities of the King of Wands.

It occurs to me that facing left and holding the rod in the left hand might point to the nature of his strength. The left hand is associated with intuition, etc, and the King of Rods' strength, I believe, is certainly based on esoteric qualities such as instinct, intuition, that nebulous quality charisma, or X factor, and not on logic or anything systematic, such as we might associate with the right hand.

I hope I am not called upon to come up with clever schemes or show a lot of fiery passion or endurance today. It's just a Tuesday, and my objective is to have as quiet a day as possible.

Burn baby burn

Thoth Tarot

The Lord of the Flame and Lightning. The King of the Spirits of Fire. King of Salamanders. 

All of these are Golden Dawn titles of today's card, Knight of Wands (or King of Wands, in most decks). He is 'Fire of Fire'. So he is very active and dynamic. He can be overwhelming. But he can also burn out really fast, in a poof. (Albeit a big, showy poof).

I couldn't feel less Knight of Wandsy today if I'd woken up this morning with the specific intention of feeling non-Knight of Wandsy. So we'll just have to see what happens today that could be a manifestation of this card.

Angel Paths says that on a day you draw this card, you may receive guidance from 'odd places,' so you should be alert to random input, because it might prove to be very useful and important. Now, I would never have come up with that interpretation of this card, so let's go with that one today and see what comes of it. :)

Boldly go

This week's deck is Druidcraft Tarot by Philip & Stephanie Carr-Gomm and Will Worthington (Connections, 2005).  My deck has been trimmed of inner and outer borders on all four sides. The deck is meant to reflect the concept of 'Druidcraft', a merging of the two main streams of the Western Pagan tradition, Druidry and Wicca. The art is characterized by Will Worthington's distinctive style. It is a deck beloved by many, and I am surprised to realize I've never done a week of daily draws with it.

Today's draw is the Captain Kirk of the tarot courts, the King of Wands. His pose reminds me of James T Kirk sitting in the captain's chair. This is a person who has supreme self-confidence, is a rule-breaker, a short-cut taker, and who is never willing to believe that failure is a possibility. He will save his ship and crew even if he has to risk the lives of every single one of them to do it. The phrase 'Never tell me the odds,' springs to mind, though that was uttered by a different cocky space pilot.

I guess it's pretty obvious where this energy will be needed today, as I go forth to work to attempt to marshal anywhere from 30-150 kids (no way to know how many)--not to mention their parents and all the little sibings-- through an awards ceremony and get them all back out the door again in 1.5 hours, to allow time for cleaning up and putting everything back in place before closing. All this while also attempting to carry on with the usual level of customer service elsewhere. At least there won't be any food or drink on offer, but I foresee many trips upstairs to use the staff loos. Once one goes, they all want to go, and we've been instructed we can't so no (having previously been instructed to always say no) after a customer complaint. Ah, the capricious nature of management as it kneels before the omnipotence of the customer comment form. Well, this will no doubt be the policy until the next time a kid trips on the stairs and splits his lip.

Anyway, I like this King of Wands. I like his funky little orange tartan MC Hammer trousers, his stringy red hair and his beefy forearms. Actually, in looks he's more like Ricardo Montalban as Khan than Fatty Shatner as Kirk. That's no bad thing!

Another King of Wands

This week's tarot is Tarot Illuminati, by Eric C Dunne and Kim Huggens, Lo Scarabeo 2013. I love this deck, and am really looking forward to sharing it on the blog. I will write a more thorough review of it at the end of the week.

Today's card is King of Wands, and what a King of Wands he is! Everything about him, from his flamboyant dress to his confident posture, speaks of forthright boldness.

The Wands suit in the Tarot Illuminati is based on Persia, and so we have lots of turbans and feathers, pointy-toed shoes, and well, Persian-looking stuff. :)

I've been drawing King of Wands a lot lately, have you noticed? And Knight of Wands haunted me for weeks and weeks a while back. Something out there is trying to tell me something. Assert myself! Take charge! WAKE UP!

King o Farr

Prairie Tarot, Ator 2010

Pardon the title of this post. It's redneck for 'King of Fire.' I can use redneck because I was born one. (My mother would be none too pleased to hear that, but what else could you be when you grow up in northeast Arkansas? I'd say I left the world of the redneck, but having resettled in West Midlands, UK, I'm not entirely sure I've come that far. Ha.) This King of Wands reminds me so much of Jeff Bridges in 'True Grit' it is not even funny. I can hear that growly voice just looking at him, and I heard that same voice from just about every old man of my childhood.

Come to think of it, Rooster Cogburn is a good example of the King of Wands. He has supreme self-confidence, takes the straightest route from A to B when it comes to strategy, isn't concerned at all about following any rules that he didn't make himself. He's not a detail man. But he does have his own sense of honour, even if it might not quite match up to everyone else's. That's the King of Wands, for sure.

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit

King of Wands: Boldly Go

Pathfinders Tarot, Fontana 2011

Today's card is King of Wands from Pathfinders Tarot (David Fontana, artwork by Sylvie Daigneault, published by Duncan Baird, 2011). 

Who is this guy, the King of Wands? Fontana's guidebook to the Pathfinders Tarot has only this to say: 'The King of Wands represents the assertive yet measured and therefore well-balanced aspect of the ruler.' By that definition, the King of Wands is the perfect leader. Assertive? Yes. Measured and well-balanced? Not exactly! 

The King of Wands is self-assured, charismatic, goal-oriented, tenacious, determined and motivated. He will naturally take charge of a situation if there isn't a stronger character about (which there usually isn't!), and people just naturally do as he says, his aura of command and capability is that compelling. But he can be arrogant and dismissive of the opinions or advice of others. The ends justify the means for the King of Wands, and he is not concerned with rules, precedent, or tradition, if they get in the way of what he sees as the most direct path to the success of his mission. All is well that ends well, and he knows that a few broken rules or brusque words along the way won't matter to anyone when it's all over and everyone can see that he was right all along. They'll not only thank him, they'll laud him as the hero and strategic genius that he is! Which plaudits he will accept graciously,  tucking this experience into his vast mental store of maverick actions that got big results. 

Captain Kirk, King of Wands

Who is the King of Wands? For me, it has to be James T Kirk of 'Star Trek'. He's all the King of Wands could ever wish to be. Confident, charismatic, blessed with complete and utter self-belief. A quick thinker where it counts, unconcerned with petty details because he knows those around him will take care of all that and provide him with any facts he made need in order to make one of his brilliant tactical commands. 

A man's man, a ladies' man. Everybody loves and admires him, even those who neither love nor admire him! 

Think about it. He's always putting his entire ship and crew in jeopardy, while shouting that he will do anything to save his ship and crew. Why would he do that? Only because he truly believes that no action he decides on could result in failure.

He cheats the system at every turn. He always has! He cheated his way into Starfleet on the Kobayashi Maru, a test designed to assess a candidate's reaction to a no-win situation. As King of Wands, Kirk does not believe in a no-win situation, and so he cheats by reprogramming the battle simulator to allow for a win. Rather than being kicked out of Starfleet, he receives a commendation for original thinking. Now, can you get any more King of Wands than that? 

Give em the old razzle dazzle

I laughed when I drew this card this morning, because I woke up thinking about that used car salesman from yesterday and drew the card while still in the fug of my waking thoughts. I have always pictured the King of Wands as 'used car salesman', so when I pulled this card as the energy for today, my response was, 'What! You again!' The tarot is so adept at picking up the energies we are putting out in the moment, particularly if you have no focused question, which I did not. I was merely vaguely thinking, what's my card for today? And Billy Flynn turns up. ;)

In Sol Invictus Tarot, the court names have been changed from the traditional Page, Knight, Queen, King to Awakener, Quester, Nurturer, Master. These are apt descriptions of the nature of each. Thus, today's draw, Master of Wands, is the King of Wands. Traditionally, the King of Wands is sometimes called 'Fire of Fire', because the Wands suit is associated with the element Fire, having to do with action and boldness, will, energy, drive, passions, etc. I have always linked King of Wands to Captain James T Kirk from 'Star Trek'. He has all the qualities of the King of Wands--he is supremely self-confident, a maverick, convinced that failure is not a possibility, the kind of person who comes up with grand schemes but tends to leave the details for others to sort out. He acts quickly, trusts his instincts implicitly, likes to be the centre of attention and knows he deserves it. He takes what he wants, has a strong masculinity in the most literal sense. He must win out--failure is not an option. Even if he fails, he refuses to see it as a failure but as a 'temporarily unsuccessful' attempt, with the next attempt most likely already beginning. He has a sense of honour--but it may be unconventional and includes lying or cheating, particularly if it's cheating 'the system' and not an individual.  In the main, the King of Wands is a likeable rogue or rake. In his shadow aspect, he can be deeply deceitful, backstabbing and underhand in order to achieve the success and attention he craves.

I think it's interesting that deck creators Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips chose Giacomo Casanova to represent the Master of Wands. He is depicted standing squarely in the middle of the card, feet planted widely apart (clad in dashing bright red high-heeled court shoes), arms akimbo, holding aloft a glass of wine. At his side, an admiring fop, and all around him, masked ladies and gentlemen stare in his direction, hanging on his every word and movement. He is smiling broadly, his long curling locks flowing over his red velvet collar and ruffled cravat. Oh, how he deserves this adulation! That highlighted bulge in the front of his trousers is hard to ignore as well, and it isn't all caused by the mask stuck in his pocket, clearly! A complete creature of appetites and showman. That's the Master of Wands. Take him for good or ill, he is, as Casanova himself declared, a 'free agent'.

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher. 
~Giacomo Casanova, 'The Story of My Life'

All I can say to this draw is, we're off to the movies today to see 'Captain America' and may I not encounter a single used car salesman for the rest of this weekend!