Wands represent the source for all energy – internal and external and they are a synonym of human willpower, and creative potential. In a tarot reading Wands often suggest themes of innovative projects and creativity.
The Suit of Wands, sometimes also called Sticks, Rods, Staves, or Staffs is one of the four Minor Arcana Suits, often described as dealing with everyday events. In a deck of playing cards, Wands corresponds to Clubs or Trèfles.
What season of the year and what element are connected to the suit of Wands?
Take a look at the Wand cards – do you notice young leaves blossoming on plane Wands in the entire Suit? The suit of Wands is connected to the spring season – a sign of finally waking up and manifesting, flowering, creativity and new ideas. All Wands speak for the power of manifestation and this is why they appear in Major Arcana cards, too. The Fool, Magician, Chariot, Hermit and the woman in the World card, they are all holding a Wand, reminding you to take your Wand and start manifesting your dreams and thoughts into reality.
Which astrological signs are connected to the suit of Wands?
Wands belong to the astrological element of Fire, an active element of energy and action, passion and ambition. Fire is hot and full of helpful energy – it warms us, it helps us cook food and is so powerful it can even melt and change the shape of metal. But in extreme circumstances fire is also expansive, aggressive and unpredictable – it quickly burns anything into ashes, takes it all in and nothing can be done. No one stays alive at the fire site and everything has to be rebuild from scratch.
If you observe the Wands Court cards, you will quickly realize they are all in the desert. Their surroundings are dry, hot and sandy, and they are dressed in yellow, orange and red robes. Wands court cards portray people with the astrological sign of Fire – either Aries, Leo or Sagittarius and they typically have very energetic, passionate, warm, charismatic and even divine characteristics. These astrological signs are know for their spontaneous and competitive spirit, which is full of inspiration and creativity. Wands people often have careers in business as leaders and are typically entrepreneurial and sales focused. Fire signs – the feistiest of them all, are bold, even to the point of being brash. They are the ones who are pro-active and like to get ahead. With all these traits and exceptional vitality, they are often also accomplished athletes.
The energetic fire belongs to the masculine element – it represents enthusiasm, ambition, willpower and also sexuality. Wands and fire rule your sexuality and sexual organs.
What Chakras are connected to the suit of Wands?
Some of the more esoteric Tarot decks bring up the relationship between the Wands and the life force, also known as Qi, Kundalini, or Prana. It is not possible to live without it – primal energy is the vitality that fills everything living with vibrancy and spirit. Wands bring up to the surface the basic driving force of vitality through youthful optimism with eyes wide open.
In addition to the above, Wands and fire are also in close connection with Solar Plexus Chakra (contains elements of Water and Fire), and Sacral chakra (consisting of Fire and Earth). Both solar and sacral plexus are about your power, energy, your passions and most of all a call to action. And so is the Wand suit. It is a call to action – it is the energy of fruitfullness, invention, creating something new, having advanced ideas, expressing that entrepreneurial spirit and moving up. If you look at Wands through these pair of glasses, they are coupled to your career, and your sense of purpose.
This suit is all about new beginnings and creative destruction as long as the fire is controlled. Imagine the controlled use of fire to clear the land and prepare it for planting and new crops.
The Wand Suit is all about the things that motivate you, all the things you like the most. At the first glance one would say they are materialistic. No, not at all. They are all about your purpose in the world. They don’t care about the money, it is not about golden coins, you can pick your wand in the forest, it is there, nature created it for you, you only need to pick it up, add some inspiration and create something new with it.
What Do The Wands Tarot Cards Mean In A Reading?
Wands pinpoint straight to the core – they are associated with the action of the willpower. They are all about spiritual and physical energy – they encompass both internal and external vitality. Wands are about the concept of your personality, your ego, your desires and passion – what you want on your conscious level, what is your sincere life purpose, what drives and inspires you – what your career is about and what you want to bring to this world.
Since Wands are also related to passion, charm and desire, they are not about careers only. Wands bring a positive message when you’re searching for love enlightenment, too.
According to Aleister Crowley’s 1944 The Book of Thoth, the meaning of the suit of Wands as a whole focuses on ideas associated with primal energy, spirituality, inspiration, determination, strength, intuition, creativity, ambition, expansion, and original ideas.
What is the negative aspect of the Suit of Wands?
When we want to bring out the negative aspect of Wands, we need to either reverse or over-exaggerate the positive aspect. Following this logic we could say that the negative characteristic of Wands manifests in feelings without real meaning, a direction without a purpose, a life without a goal.
A person with negative aspects of Wands turns the positivity of self expression into egoism, and the positivity of passion into impulsivenes, hastiness, and reckelessness. These people have an inflated sense of self-importance and are self aware to the degree of excessive need for attention and even narcissism with a serious lack of empathy. They often become delusional about themselves or other people and ideas.
What is the message in the cards if there are mostly Wands in the reading?
The Suit of Wands and Fire is the source of all energy and it represents human willpower and creative potential. Therefore, when Suit of Wands dominates your Tarot reading, view it as a bold call from the Universe to start acting and investing additional energy and creativity into starting a new business or kicking off with a project, learning things that you’re passionate about, or start searching for a new job.
Wands signal that you’re not dealing with practicalities, you’re not in that stage yet. Instead you’re in the first stages of evolution and you should focus on searching answers to initial concepts – focus on making ideas and possibilities into reality.
Predominantly Wands in your tarot reading could also signal you’re seeking to understand your life’s meaning or your sense of purpose in this world – the things that tick you and wake up your internal motivation.
What is the message in the cards if there are reversed Wands in the reading?
Reversed Wands could signal the weakness of the Suit. The Wands are prone to change and easily switching modes – imagine the powerful destruction the fire can create – from pleasant warmth to burning down brutally everything in sight: ruthlessness, aggression, explosiveness, and volatility are the main keywords that the Universe is sending you when Wands in your reading are reversed. Is your behavior manipulative or even mean-spirited? Are you distrusting of others?
The search for life’s purpose that Upright Wands are so proud about turns upside down: reversed Wands signal absence of purpose and perception of meaninglessness. They are a symbol of self-centered, egocentric, selfish and even pompous and delusional behavior. The Universe is trying to warn you that you’re being narrow-minded, maybe even thoughtless, careless, impulsive and hasty, even to the point of being overly optimistic – a signal that you should stop and really think about where you’re heading. Reversed Wands are often a sign to hold your horses because you’re moving too fast.
What is the message in the cards if there are no Wands in the reading?
Wands are a source of inspiration, they drive us to act or even change something and having no Wands in the reading signals the opposite: stagnation and sluggishness, not being able to move on either because you’re lazy or maybe because fear of failure is clutching you back.