Seven of Wands
Cranky, headachy, tired, frustrated, sullen…
This has been my day. Little did I know, when I pulled the Seven of Wands this morning, that I would be raising my staff at the world all day today.
Much has been made, in various forums I’ve read through, of the mismatched shoes. Is this an indication that he dressed hurriedly to meet unexpected challenges? Is it a lack of sense? Does it represent uneven and unreliable foundations? Should he go home and change his shoes, hoping that the hordes will take a tea break and wait for him to return?
I have no idea. But when I see this card, I always notice the feet first, and wonder what they might indicate regarding his fate. He is obviously overwhelmed, yet determined. He hasn’t given up, in spite of a slight wardrobe problem. Wardrobe. Now that makes me think this is all an act. A melodramatic chapter in a cheesy play, featuring a bad actor on a flimsy stage.
And so…
I don’t know, really. But I do know that I can relate to this image. We all can, and have, at some point or other in our lives. I suppose the best thing to do, is put on whatever shoes we can find, grab our weapon of choice, and face the challenges head-on. Sometimes you just have to put up a good fight, and hope for the best.
A Tarot Relic
This is the Queen of Wands from a deck identified as Bembo Bonifacio’s Visconti Tarot. (Click on the image to get a closer look). It is in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The date they have for it is c. 1445. That would make this card 562 years old.
Think about that. A Tarot card that was created and used more than half a millennium ago. It is speculated that this deck was created to celebrate a wedding joining the Visconti and Sforza families of Milan. I’m assuming that’s gold leaf on the card, at least it certainly looks like it. I did a bit of half-hearted googling and was unable to find a description. Perhaps someone with better google-fu than me can find that information.
I saw this link to the online images of these cards on a relatively new forum called Tarot America. It’s a small but growing group of nice folk, where you will find discussions on Cartomancy of all kinds, Runes, the I-Ching and Phenomenology.
You can view the rest of the collection here. You’ll just need to type Tarot in the search field.
Making a Wand
I’ve been getting acquainted with the The Druidcraft Tarot
I don’t know a lot about Druidism or the Pagan faith, but I do know that I’m beginning to really love this deck. I’m undecided about whether or not to buy the accompanying book. The cards speak to me just fine without my understanding the Druid symbolism and lore that is incorporated in the artwork. It’s been a lovely blind date, and we’re getting along fine.
Using this deck has made me desire a wand. Years ago a good friend of mine made me a wand, and I loved it. She was neither Druid nor Pagan, her magical background was eclectic – mostly Voudon and Romani, but she made beautiful wands. It did not, however survive the move across country. So I’m going to try to make one.
I searched for ‘wand making’ using Google and came up with dozens of instructions for making a wand. The first few were all Harry Potter related, which is no surprise, and there is apparently a thriving industry of wizarding wands for muggles out there.
But this page proved to be the most straightforward and simple. The instructions are much like the ones I have for making a walking stick.
So, whenever I can get the materials together I’ll give it a try.
Three Steps to Happiness
I have simply not been feeling happy lately. I’m not talking about joy and elation every five minutes. It’s more a matter of contentment, and a feeling of satisfaction in day to day activities. It certainly doesn’t help that I’ve had a bad cold for about a week, but it goes deeper than that. The main problem is that my workplace has become spiritually toxic these days. It’s been a gradual deterioration, and it’s a shame, because at one time I really loved my job. But the atmosphere has been slowly changing due to the behavior of others. I have no control over that and I’m not yet ready to quit this job. So I need some counsel on what I can do to regain my happiness in spite of these circumstances.
Using the Hudes Tarot Deck
The second card is the Three of Wands. The standard image of this card as shown by the Rider Waite Tarot
Regarding this card, I wrote this affirmation in my journal,
Acknowledge and cultivate my personal power. Respect and honor my intellect, energy and talents. Honor myself by acknowledging that I am a good and capable person.
The final card is the Page of Cups. This counsel is to continue my studies in the spirit, including Tarot and other energy work. The advice is to focus on these things and to remain open as a child to them. To continue to learn and reflect as a student and allow my understanding to grow and deepen. This is my heart’s work and it will continue to feed and strengthen me as I continue on my life’s path.
It is interesting that the energies represented here are Fire (Wands) and Water (Cups). Fire is male/active and Cups are female/active. The strong energy of fire is flanked and supported by the strong energy of water. The male power within is focused through the female power that connects to the outer world. This is inner strength tempered and balanced by love and spirit; personal will focused channeled through God-Energy.
I will try to accept and apply this counsel through out the coming week. It will take a bit of effort and time, but if I can follow this path it will lead me back to a state contentment again.
Conflict of Queens
Yesterday, I had an interesting experience. I did my usual three-card spread in the morning to understand the major influences for the day. I drew the Five of Swords, the Queen of Cups and the Queen of Wands. But the only thing significant that happened to me yesterday was a major panic attack I had while worrying needlessly about someone I love.
I can have an overactive imagination, and sometimes worries will take absolute control of my thought processes. The worries become stronger than anything, and I cannot seem to prevent them from overriding any rationality or reasoning that I normally use to calm myself. It is like being in a car with no brakes and no steering and going down a steep hill very fast. You can only pray that you don’t crash and burn. I don’t know why I get like this, but I do.
I tend to read the Five of Swords as “cheating” or “gloating after winning”, but sometimes I find it signifies a mental imbalance of some kind. When I pulled the card in the morning with the two Queens I immediately thought that I would have some sort of confrontation with someone who would be the Queen of Wands, and one of us would have a bad attitude about the outcome of the confrontation. When I pull the Queen of Cups I usually think that it is me, as this card tends to signify myself in readings. But I could not determine who the Queen of Wands would be. All the ladies I work with would likely be Queens of Swords, Cups or Pentacles. There is only one co-worker who could be the Queen of Wands I had no confrontations with her that day.
So, in retrospect I think this spread was warning me of my impending panic attack. But I can’t quite figure out how.
It could be that the two Queens were opposing aspects of myself (Cups=Water, Wands=Fire) with the resulting turmoil in my psyche (the Five of Swords) causing the disturbance. I can also note that at certain times of the month I tend more toward panic attacks than at other times. The presence of the two Queens in the spread could certainly point to such a state in my body and mind, with the Five of Swords representing the mental imbalance that can result from that state.
Whatever the meaning and however it might fit the events of the day, I will continue to ponder it. The cards speak clearly, it is just sometimes hard for us to understand what it is they are trying to tell us. This is why a daily spread is such a good learning tool for those who would understand the Tarot. Comparing spreads with the daily events can help us understand how these various elements interrelate, and work together to form a meaning and a message.
