By Sarah Taylor
A period of coming together, which set something into motion, transitions into an experience of reconnection with the inner, and the liberation and opportunity for creation that this brings.
The Eight of Wands, also called “Swiftness”, spells a time of something being set in motion — a connection or reconnection, a return to balance after the odd-numbered Seven of Wands.
In this particular version of the card, a man and a woman face each other, their eyes filled with light, two beams connecting their third eyes.
My sense is that this is equality in action, where both protagonists are exchanging something of value with each other. This might be in relationship with someone else, or it might refer to the bringing into equilibrium and opening the lines of communication between our inner feminine and inner masculine. Or both.
This connection is taking place on an energetic level: Wands are associated with erotic energy, or life-force, which has potent creative potential. It isn’t necessarily sexual, although it is through sex that eros is encountered in one of its more powerful forms. Whatever form it takes, the feeling it engenders is unmistakable in the Eight of Wands: a quickening, a sense of current that flows like electricity, setting something into motion, bringing something into being.
This flow feeds into the next card, The Moon. Here, the descriptors feel apropos:
“End of karma,” “Examination of the subconscious,” “Threshold of the new kind of awareness.”