{"id":28857,"date":"2010-09-18T13:57:13","date_gmt":"2010-09-18T18:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=28857"},"modified":"2010-09-24T07:02:06","modified_gmt":"2010-09-24T12:02:06","slug":"the-weekend-tarot-reading-7-of-wands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/daily-astrology\/the-weekend-tarot-reading-7-of-wands\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weekend Tarot Reading: 7 of Wands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note<\/strong>: This is the first article in a weekend series on tarot, where we pick one card and see where it takes us. If you want to experiment with the cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator<\/strong><\/a> using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article<\/strong><\/a> tells you how to use the spread<\/em>. You can visit Sarah’s website here<\/strong><\/a>. –efc<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sarah Taylor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 7 of Wands from the Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck. Wands are typically associated with spirit and creativity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is with not a little certainty that I suggest I am not the only one who has had a humdinger of a year.<\/p>\n

This certainty comes from several sources, most notably the experiences of family, friends and friends of friends; the events that are playing out in the world, politically, economically, environmentally; and from what I read about the astrology of our times here on Planet Waves.<\/p>\n

One of the prevailing words that sum up what is happening in my own life is flux. Nothing seems to want to settle. It is as if something is working to keep me on my toes, to see how flexible I am, to prod me whenever I start falling into old thoughts and behaviours. It is often not a comfortable place to be, and at times I am given to wonder whether there is a constructive purpose to it all, or whether it’s just a rather nasty habit I have fallen into: in short, whether I’m in the grip of a pathological fear of just stopping in acceptance and realising that this is it. This<\/em> is my life. Not something that’s just around the corner, waiting for me. It is here, now.<\/p>\n

I believe this is what this week’s single-card musing is about.<\/p>\n

The card I drew is the 7 of Wands… or, in my Xultun deck, the 7 of Staffs. This card is widely accepted to symbolise the concept of ‘valour’. My Pocket Guide to the Tarot<\/em> describes it thus:<\/p>\n

A strong figure is able to defend himself against all odds…. Enemies and difficult forces retreat, and there is victory ahead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think there is sometimes the temptation to see this card in very straightforward terms — of ‘fighting the good fight’, where the opposing wands are there to thwart the figure, and his purpose is to prevail over them. Or maybe I have tended to approach it this way in the past. Today, however, I’m looking at it quite differently.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Take a closer look at both cards — the Rider-Waite Smith and the Xultun.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 7 of Staffs in the Xultun tarot deck. The deck was designed by artist Peter Balin and is based on Mayan imagery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In both, the figure is solitary: this is a battle that he is waging alone. The other wands might be pointed in his direction, but there is no physical attack. At most, there is the threat of attack in the way that the wands are pointed towards him. In spite of no physical damage, the figure seems to be having a\u00a0hard time of it as he grimaces in the face of his aggressors.<\/p>\n

There are two other things that interest me. The first is the progression of the cards in the wands suit, which in itself tells a story. The previous card, the 6 of Wands, suggests a moment of victory and recognition, as a man rides through a crowd of five jubilantly raised wands, his head and his own wand decked in laurel wreaths. The next card, the 8 of Wands, depicts swift movement as all eight wands move together in flight. There is cohesion and forward motion. Seen in this context, the 7 of Wands feels like a hiccup along the path — a moment where the hero is unexpectedly waylaid by invisible forces.<\/p>\n

The second thing that interests me is that in the Xultun card, the seven staffs appear again below the figure, all standing together. On some level, they are united and form one unit.<\/p>\n

Is this man doing battle with himself, I wonder?<\/p>\n

Wands are about spirit; libido; what lies within waiting to be birthed; the gifts and talents that you bring to the world. These come in many forms, whether practical skills, ideas, sexuality, or works of art.<\/p>\n

And so I ask when I look at this card today, what things awaiting expression are the very things that you fight to suppress in yourself? There might be battles to wage in the world out there, but when does the fight begin and end with you as an individual? What do you avoid acknowledging in yourself because you see it as ‘the enemy’? If you stopped and invited it in, what would come into awareness?<\/p>\n

“Is this all there is?”<\/em> you might at times ask. It is a question that has certainly crept into my consciousness of late as I edge towards my forties. And you know what? Maybe it is. But what if we took a moment to put our weapons down and examine what it is that is giving us grief? Might we also find a release valve to the creative potential that lies within?<\/p>\n

Maybe this is the true meaning of ‘valour’ in this reading: the courage to engage in the struggle for self-acceptance. It can feel like a war, but perhaps it is one that needs to be waged before we can be liberated into the decisive and integrated motion of the 8 of Wands.<\/p>\n

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. — Gautama Buddha<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a weekend series on tarot, where we pick one card and see where it takes us. If you want to experiment with the cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1,183],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}