EXPLORING THE ACE OF WANDS

TODAY'S CARD is THE ACE OF WANDS (AW). The first version below is an unusual one, from Tarot of the 78 Doors. I can almost hear that man exclaiming "Open Sesame!" and that nicely echoes the magical aspect this ace can have:

The next below is from The Giants' Tarot. I like the trickster aspect of the AW this mythological Loki figure carries:

This last below is from the new, visually gorgeous The Ghost Tarot:

And for COMPARISON, here's the AW in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck:

THE ACE OF WANDS: At last! With this AW post I've completed the sharing of my collected meanings for all 78 cards in the Tarot (plus a 79th, The Cauldron [XXII] that I've designed). I started this blog in the spring of 2006 so it's only taken me eight years (LOL). In my defense, I've been making many, many other kinds of Tarot related posts here during these eight years. And be forewarned, I have a folder, thick with notes for more meanings for the cards that have come to my attention since first posting about each. I suppose given this the AW is a highly appropriate card to wind up being the last I had left to do. For though this posting is a completion, it's about a card of beginning. A last little observation: as I transcribed my notes on the AW I saw how often I used exclamation points. Beyond being able to see an exclamation point as a tiny glyph for a single wand, the intensity indicated by one echoes that of the AW.

MEANINGS/INSIGHTS/READINGS FOR THE ACE OF WANDS, SOME LESS COMMON OR EVEN QUIRKY -- Please note: The below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with it. (Given my heavy reliance on projection of my feelings and experiences onto the cards, I recognize that I may very well reveal more about myself here than I do about any particular card. However, this is exactly my point: I use the cards as a path to self-discovery and healing. I hope what I post here that comes out of that process will be useful in some way to other seekers.):

-- Aces in general: "Not necessarily" or "It's too soon to tell." The suit may offer a little detail as to why.

-- You have a lot of creative energy in your hands right now. Don't hold on to it without using it for too long. Or you could get burned. E.g., you could wind up depressed, or very irritable, causing unnecessary upheavals in your life.

-- Passionate urge, either creative or destructive. The difference between may not always be clear as hot is hot.

-- Watch the tendency to use your passions as a shield. As a way of keeping those you are close to away from or simply unaware of your vulnerabilities.

-- Just as fast as this liaison has begun, it will burn out. So don't invest too much in it. You'll have fewer ashes to clean up afterwards.

-- You have too many brands in the fire. Their combined smoke is blocking your vision. It may be best to whittle down to one project and let the others burn out. Or you may lose the urge to complete any of them.

-- Sexual feelings enter and possibly disrupt an established relationship.

-- Don't let this success go to your head, inflate your ego, fill up the space that's your creative buffer.

-- You can't hoard flame, only memories of it. Open your grasping hand and welcome the emptiness.

-- Appearances may be deceiving here. You can only be certain that this beginning has great energy and may be difficult to stop if you change your mind.

-- This beginning needs grounding in concrete action or it will wind up only a rain of ghostly ashes.

-- There's a fiery form of intuition (I usually relate to intuition as watery), one that burns past our intellectual blocks to hearing it. And as such, it can present as irritation.

-- You may have to accept being out of balance for a while. This new effort needs a lot of the intense energy and effort you'd normally apply elsewhere.

-- Accept this creative challenge. Even should it not pan out you will learn a great deal in the process. And plant seeds for future efforts.

-- Be patient. The creative growth you are yearning for has begun. It's just underground, as seeds usually are while they germinate.

-- Let your past experiences with following your impulsive urges be your guide here.

-- Often seen as a birth card, both literal and figurative.

-- Hold it out to the world proudly, this "baby" of yours. Those who resonate with it will delight in it. But more important is the act of offering, for that is what actually completes what was begun.

-- Creativity stands as the protective action between your deepest passions and the world. A protection that shields both ways, even as it acts as a conduit.

-- Yes! It's here! Waiting only for you to accept it's offer of energy. Now, apply it in hard work.

-- As an ace, it may be only potential, but what potential! Of all the aces it has the greatest ability to sweep us along, no matter how tired, or scared, or doubting, or unprepared we may be or feel.

-- Go ahead! Dance for joy! The breakthrough you've been waiting for is here.

-- Don't let anything or anyone pour cold water over your feelings for this project. Shelter it as you would the flame of a candle from the wind.

And that last comment is a good place to end. Shelter your own creative flames, they are unique and our world (more than ever it seems) needs what they just might bring to this life.

* * * *

N.B. A small thing, but just in case: some of the extra reference links offered at the very end of my oldest (years old) posts no longer work. As there are so many posts here to go through I am choosing not to find and change all of those links that are "dead." If you are interested, you can try Googling for the name of the site or article referenced. I've found that some are still around in new locations or incarnations, some not.

'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever ways it comes to you in your life,





[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS) (charter member); Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.