Visual cues vs attributions in 2 of Wands

Original Rider Waite Tarot 

Today I've drawn a card that can often be puzzling. The figure in 2 of Wands stands atop what appears to be a castle, holding a globe and a staff. Behind him,  a second staff is mounted to the wall (see the mounting attaching it there?) The figure looks out toward the sea over a harbour town. To me, he looks like a merchant contemplating trade. That's what it's always looked like to me, and I always tend to associate it with business, planning, ambition, etc. And yet when we look at elemental attributions, 2 of Wands is Water of Fire (along with 5 of Wands, 8 of Wands and Queen of Wands).

What is the 'Water' of 'Fire'? Well, Fire is of course passion and drive. What could be the 'watery' aspect of Fire? Water is all about emotion and relationships, so based on elemental attributions, this card should point to passions and drive that extend beyond the self to other people, and their passions and drives. The Water of Fire personality might take on roles such as conflict resolution, moderator, crisis counsellor, trauma counsellor, a Samaritan volunteer, trained listener, and have assertive empathy/insight.

Looking at the card and thinking of those elemental attributions, you'd rather expect to see other people depicted. And yet, the figure stands alone above the town, looking out to sea. The action of looking out to sea has always tended to represent contemplating the 'rest of the world' or the 'vastness' of the world. To drive that point home, the figure literally holds the world in his hand.

This comparison of visual cues vs attributions is interesting, and when we incorporate the meaning of the number 2 into the elemental attribution, we also start to see aspects of duality, balance, cooperation, choice, yin and yang...and 2 + Fire = a choice that must be made about what action to take, because Fire is also the element of action. So the 2 of Wands points to thinking about how what you do impacts others -- those closest to you (the village) and the rest of the existence -- everyone else in the world (out to sea), and even the planet itself (the globe).

If I go by just the picture, my reaction is that the figure is dressed like a wealthy merchant, and as trade routes, especially those that led to great wealth, were by ship, his looking out to sea holding a globe logically represents planning his 'world domination' (even if in reality that just means becoming the wealthiest man in his small shipping village). This would lead me to interpret the card as something to do with business ventures, plans, marketing or whatever, and any of those could be perfectly valid readings of this card, but then there are occasions when a card turns up and your initial associations based solely on visual cues don't quite make sense. You've asked about how to deal with your monster-in-law and the 2 of Wands turns up. So what? Are you supposed to go into business with her? Focus on work or your own goals and ignore her? Not necessarily. This is where elemental attributions and numerology can add depth and solve those mysteries left by 'intuitive' meanings (which are really just your personal associations with or reactions to an image).  Using attributions, you see that maybe the card is advising you to consider things from your monster-in-law's point of view, or to take a more 'global' perspective on the situation. Maybe it's asking you to consider the effect that your little war with your monster-in-law could be having on everyone else around you, and on your future. That sort of thing.

Today is my wedding anniversary, and taking a broader perspective on how my actions affect others is a good theme for today.

Do you wanna get this done or just show off?

Tarot of the Hidden Realm (Moore and Jeffery 2013)

It's the 5 of Wands but these faerie kids are not hitting each other with sticks. They're climbing a tree. So where's the conflict?

True, the faerie-lings aren't hitting each other, but they aren't helping each other, either. They are all trying to climb the same tree, but each is doing it by himself, oblivious to the others (well, the one guy seems to be smirking at the kid who looks like he wishes he'd never climbed this far and wonders how he can get back down, but other than that, most of the others are just climbing upward.)

If these five worked together, they could no doubt quickly come up with a cooperative way to get them all to the top of the tree easily, safely and systematically. But they're not working together, they're just bashing away at the task individually. See?

Wands are the element Fire, representing motivation, individualism, conscious pursuit of personal development -- all good things. The number here is Five, representing uncertainty, adversity, activity, movement, crisis, shifts. So Five of Wands is going to represent action in crisis, personal growth in adversity or uncertainty. I think we associated Five of Wands with 'conflict' because the RWS card shows five boys hitting each other with sticks, whereas perhaps the essence that was meant to be depicted was actually something more subtle.  

Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot asserts, 'This is a card of going through the motions of activity but not actually getting anythign done. The characters are young and full of show, but all is not as it seems. Waite says it is "mimic warfare" and "imitation". In a reading, it would say to not be impressed by what appears to be happening; it could merely be for show' (Katz, 248).  Okay, so are the kids here mostly showing off for each other, and really don't have any grand desire to climb a tree? Probably. It's likely to be one of these double-dog dares (and I bet the mean-looking kid hanging from a branch near the bottom started it -- he probably won't go far before dropping out of the tree, laughing at them all and running off home!)

I guess this card could be telling me to be careful today to look out for false conflicts, petty squabbles that could just be idle posturing. Also, find ways to work together to achieve a goal -- if it turns out to be a goal you even want to achieve, and not something you may have been goaded into.

Oh look who's back

The Queen of Wands and I have never had a very close relationship. We're like distant cousins -- we've heard of each other but wouldn't recognise each other in a crowd. She turned up in my reading on Sunday paired with 6 of Cups as an outcome, and now here she is in my daily draw.

This Queen of Wands from Sacred Rose Tarot (US Games 1982) holds a staff, symbol of action and fire,  in her right hand and a red rose, symbol of passion and emotion, in her left. The right hand symbolises assertiveness, mercy, the sun, logic, giving and consciousness. The left hand represents passivity, justice, the moon, emotion, receiving, and the unconscious. Around her neck and on her head is the upward pointing triangle representing fire. The one on her head is red, for passion, the one on her breast is white, for purity or clarity. This shows a balance of polarities, passion usually being associated with the heart and clarity with the mind, you would expect to see red closer to the heart and white closer to the head. Not with the Queen of Wands -- she's got it all in balance, so that one does not overpower the other. Surrounding her are four wands in a square, a symbol of stability and firm foundations. At her feet, a bed of roses with green shoots rising up, representing flowering and growth. This is balanced by the starry twilight behind her.

I tell you what, I never felt as emotionally intelligent, well-adjusted and rah-rah-siss-boom-bah as this lady is meant to be. I guess that's why she always sort of makes me feel suspicious, cynical -- surely it's all just an act! Why doesn't she just admit her hair gets greasy, her face breaks out and sometimes she just wants to tell the world to fuck off? What is her problem??? Or maybe it's more like, 'Oh, child. One day someone's going to step on your pretty little neck and then you'll know what real life is like.' I'm just being honest. My Queen of Swords has always been waaaaaay stronger than my Queen of Wands.

Today's draw encourages me to look at my Queen of Wands qualities. 'The Queen of Wands offers advice and encouragement regarding the sacred practice of service...she personifies the feminine aspects of wisdom, which includes understanding other people and being supportive of them' (The Soul's Journey, James Ricklef, 142). When I'm honest with myself, I do that. Tarot readings do that. I am in a few groups online where I offer support and encouragement for a variety of endeavors, for example. I probably just don't do it often enough for her to feel strong enough to stand up to my towering Queen of Swords and say, wait a minute. Back off, bitch! And I don't have to just see the Queen of Wands as some fake-tanned, bleached-toothed motivational speaker from Orange County. Maybe, just maybe, it's not that simple.

 I can look for more subtle manifestations of the Queen of Wands in myself and others. Then I may be more inclined not only to recognise her but to warm to her and give her room in my life.

Sage of Flames

Recently in a Facebook group, the question was asked, 'Which tarot card represents your best qualities?' This was a question to which I had no immediate answer. Can I even identify my own best qualities? The things I value most in myself might not be the things that others see as my best qualities, and certainly may not correspond to what the 'Universe' or existence itself might consider my best qualities. So I thought I'd just ask. 'Which card here represents my best qualities?'-- and the question was open, to include anything that might lie dormant or be unacknowledged in myself, to include the most obvious and overt things. I shuffled the Sirian Starseed Tarot, cut, and drew -- the Queen of Wands, or Sage of Flames. This both surprised me and made me laugh ruefully at tarot's humour and insight.

Pieta

Our last draw from Grail Tarot gives us another court card, the Lady of Lances, or Queen of Wands. This is Mary after the crucifixion of Jesus, and the meaning given bears little resemblance to the traditional Queen of Wands:

'Sympathy, support, refusal to condemn, restoration, companionship. The Lady of Lances offers support to the Seeker at all times on their journey. When things seem too heavy to bear, she walks beside them, offering her gentle wisdom and loving kindness to restore their spirits. She suggests alternative ways to overcome fear and doubt.'

That sounds more like the Queen of Cups to me, or at a push perhaps the Queen of Pentacles.

Anyway, the only message I received yesterday was that my new timetable is still not ready and that I will probably be on a four-week rotation rather than a two-week one like everyone else. Doesn't seem like it would be rocket science to timetable me in half a week in one work base and half a week in the other, but looks like it is.

I certainly hope nothing happens today that would cause me to need the comfort of the Lady of Lances. It's Friday and I can't be asked to deal with any trouble.

Queen of Wands - on the flip side

Druidcraft

Okay, so here's the counterbalance to my rant about the Queen of Wands from the other day. There's nothing wrong with having an opinion about a card, you know, or a type of person. And just because we have a tendency to automatically think of certain traits when a card turns up (because after all, we are only human and we ALL see life through the veil of our own personality regardless of how objective or 'fair' we might think we are) that doesn't mean we shouldn't read for people who have opposite traits to ours. Anyway, we all know that each card has the full gamut of meaning, and that each card is actually present in our own personalities, however dormant. Yes, I've got some Queen of Wands in me--both her positive and shadow side.

So--here's the brighter side of the Queen of Wands.

As a fire card, she is proactive. She is not passive. She does not hesitate to take action. She is assertive. When she sees something she wants, she will go for it with gusto. She lives her life on her own terms, and is not cowed by niceties or expectations of others, if she doesn't see them as falling in line with her own ideas about what her life should be like.