If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do it! Lessons From the Suit of Wands

When we look at the key words and images typically associated with the suit of Wands in tarot (also known as Staves, Batons or Clubs) we sometimes miss the inspiring spiritual message inherent in these cards.

Each of the four suits of tarot, known collectively as the Minor Arcana, is associated with one of the Four Elements. Typically, we associate the suit of Wands with Fire, although there is a less popular tradition that associates Wands with Air instead.

When we look at Fire and Air together, we see the thought process that brings us to a place of creative and spiritual inspiration. From that perspective, we can see how both the masculine elements, Air and Fire, inform the suit of Wands.

My preference is to view the Wands as the messengers of the Fire element, bringing us creativity, inspiration, passion and spirituality.

There is a school of thought that suggests that, in tarot, the Major Arcana delivers spiritual messages, while the Minor Arcana only deals with mundane matters.

I find mundane advice and spiritual direction in all seventy-eight cards. In fact, I wonder if the element associated with each Minor Arcana suit might give us information about the way we could approach the suit, or what magick the suit might offer us.

For instance, can we find inspiration in the fiery Wands? Can we find truth in the airy Swords? Can we heal our hearts with the watery Cups? Can we ground ourselves with the earthy Pentacles?

I often find myself pondering a particular suit, and the lessons held within it.

Just as we find a story in the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana, so can we see a Fool’s Path in each of the Minor Arcana suits.

This week, I have been thinking about the story of the suit of Wands in regards to entrepreneurialism and creativity.

So many people see, in the Ace of Wands, simply a flash of excitement or a lust for passion. Yet, this creative energy that burns within us must sustain us throughout the arduous journey toward success.

The disappointment in the story of the suit of Wands is that the culmination, the Ten of Wands, does not show success realized. In the Ten, we are carrying the product of our endeavors, and weighed down by it, as we trudge toward the town, presumably to finally sell our wares and ultimately realize our success.

I don’t interpret the Ten of Wands in a negative way, though many readers do. I do see it as a sobering reality check for those of us who follow our passions as career.

Inherent in the Ten of Wands is the artist’s burden and the psychic’s curse; that drive we have to do what we do even at a cost, the fire that burns within us, and the dream of our ultimate success.

Unlike the suits of Cups and Pentacles, it is not until we advance the story through the Court that we realize our true success.

We can see, in each of the Wands cards, part of the journey toward creative and entrepreneurial success. When we tell the story beginning with the Ace and working up to Ten, I see it this way.

Ace: A burning motivation, a creative inspiration.

Two: The planning, dreaming, goal setting and manifesting that goes into a project.

Three: That first moment when you see that your project is having some success.

Four: Building community and structure for your project.

Five: Struggle, perhaps with creative direction or resources management.

Six: Success! Your plans are working out and your project is successful.

Seven: When you are successful, everyone and everything wants a piece of you. You must struggle to stay on top of your game.

Eight: There is a moment when your project becomes its own entity, separate from you. In this energy, anything is possible!

Nine: Success comes at a price. Here, we see the responsibility of continuing the project and meeting expectations.

Ten: We can see our greater success is within reach, but we must stay dedicated to a difficult path in order to reach it.

In this story, we see the energy alternating between success and struggle. So it is in the life of any artist, reader, and entrepreneur.

Often, when I mentor other readers, or read for artists and business owners, these are the cards that appear repeatedly. And, often, the message is the same.

If you are dedicated to your goals, and willing to do what it takes, you can be successful, but it won’t be easy.

The suit of Wands reminds us that many are called, but few are chosen. When we seek success, we know that many share our goals, but many will not succeed.

The suit of Wands gives us a bit of advantage in the knowledge of the struggles along the path. The cards comfort us with the reminder that if it were easy, everyone would do it!

Love for the Tarot Artists

_{Photos: (top) Christiana with Lisa Hunt, (below) Christiana with Ciro Marchetti}

I’m a creative person. I can’t play an instrument well or draw a straight line at all. But I am creative. It’s just that all the ways I am creative rely on someone else’s creativity first. I love to dance, but I need music. I am a secondary creative person.

There is no other area in my life where this is truer than with tarot. Sometime I feel that I can really make a tarot deck sing – I know I can make it talk. With a tarot deck I can summon spirits, create healing, give business advice and help you find love. With a tarot deck I can create stories and games. I can write books and help you discover truth about yourself.

This is why I am so grateful for the tarot artists who create beautiful decks that inspire my creativity. Without them, my creative, spiritual and business life would be much less than what it is. I can’t imagine what it is to conceive and execute seventy-eight pictures to create a tarot deck – and many of the great artists of our time have created more than one tarot deck!

Of course the first ladies of tarot art are Pamela Colman Smith and Lady Frieda Harris. They set the standard for much of what modern tarot art has become. In the past forty years many wonderful artists have joined them in working with that standard and in creating new standards.

Sometimes I am surprised by new tarot decks. The art is so radically different from what I have come to expect. To me some of these decks don’t even feel like tarot. But for every deck there are plenty of readers who are able to feel the art and hear Spirit whispering through the images.

The diversity in tarot decks reflects our diversity as a community. Tarot is unique in that there is a set structure and specific archetypes. The way that structure is expressed and the way those archetypes are represented can vary a great deal. The talents and imaginings of the artists allow tarot readers to use and expand our own creative and spiritual gifts.

A tarot deck is more than a bunch of pictures. It’s a spiritual tool. Tarot images help us to tap into our intuition and our natural psychic abilities. Tarot images each carry an energy with which we can do magick.

No tarot reader will love every deck. Most of us won’t even love every card in a deck we treasure. Tarot is so personal we can sometimes become ultra-picky about each image. It's important to remember that the artists in our community render each card from their perspective of the archetype. Sometimes it will match our own perspective perfectly, sometimes it won't. But can you imagine our tarot world without the rich selection of tarot decks we enjoy today?

Let’s all show some love for our tarot artists, past, present and future. Without you our lives would be much less colorful, much less creative and much less fun.

No Fear of Time

One of my favorite expressions is "Things of quality have no fear of time." A long time ago a friend of mine had this saying on a button he wore on his hat. That friend is dead now, but the quote he wore lives on, as he dtime, qualityoes, in my mind.

Today I decided to Google on the quote and see who actually said it first. I found the quote in several places - blogs about fashion, patience and personal growth. I found memes with the quote on Pinterest and Tumblr. But nowhere could I find the quote attributed to anyone other than "Unknown."

It makes me sad to think that the creator of such a brilliant expression goes without credit. But, perhaps a person who would say such a thing wouldn't really care about that.

So what does it mean that things of quality have no fear of time? In fashion, it would suggest that classic pieces always have a place, despite the changing tides of taste. In building and furniture-making it would suggest that if you build something well it will last forever. In writing it would suggest that sometimes it takes a while to create something wonderful.

I think the expression says something to us as we get older, too. We live in a world that values the young over the old and bombards us with products and procedures to help us seem younger than we are.  This statement reminds us that if we cultivate a character of quality we can face our aging process without fear.

I often use the quote for my clients who have big dreams but worry that their dreams will take too long to achieve. If your dream is one of quality, do not fear what it will take to achieve it. Things of quality have no fear of time.

Creativity Without Fear

I think creativity and spirituality are tightly linked in humans. I believe we are all creative beings, each of us with our own talent and abilities. I think creativity brings us closer to our divine selves, our authentic selves, and our Higher Power.

In the years before modern media, every person was expected to cultivate creative talents.  Sewing, gardening and music weren’t just hobbies; they were necessary contributions to the family and the community.

 

Now that it is no longer required, many of us don’t honor our creative selves.  We suffer from lack of time, lack of motivation, and, most commonly, lack of confidence.  If our offerings are “not as good” as what we can get from the professionals, we question their value.  We are afraid we will make mistakes.

 

Both my mother and I studied theatre in college.  Each of us learned the same important lesson from our respective professors.  The lesson is that it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake on stage.  What matters is how you recover from it.

 

There are some areas in life where mistakes can be very costly, even deadly.  I am certainly not advocating a cavalier attitude in activities like driving, surgery or even tarot reading.  But I don’t think anyone ever died from a wrong chord, a forgotten lyric or a missed stitch.

 

Sometimes mistakes create something better than expected.  Years ago I had a small role in a community theatre production of “Diary of Anne Frank.”  During an early table read of a scene where Mrs. Frank discusses Anne’s budding romance with Peter, our Anne mispronounced a word.  The line was written “Mother, I have some intuition, you know.”  The actress instead said “Mother, I have some intu-shun,” leaving out a syllable.  Without thinking, our Mrs. Frank quickly corrected her.  “It’s intuition, dear.”  The director loved the exchange, and it became a permanent part of the scene.

 

During the 1980’s I saw my favorite band, the Grateful Dead, many times.  Like all jam bands, the Dead’s style was loose.  A technically perfect performance is not the goal of a jam band.  Bobby (Bob Weir, rhythm guitar and vocals, for the uninitiated) often forgot the lyrics, even of songs he had written. One night Bobby forgot the lyrics to the song “Uncle John’s Band,” very early in the song.  When he got to the line of the song that says “What I want to know is how does the song go?” he started to laugh.  Everyone in the sold-out stadium laughed with him.  It remains one of my favorite Grateful Dead moments.  Had he not forgotten a few words and found the irony in the following lyrics, that moment would never have existed.

 

To laugh at ourselves, to think on our feet and find the beauty in our mistakes can be very freeing.  When we are free to create without fear and without judgment, we honor our inner child, and we honor our creator.  In that moment we are like the Fool card in tarot, fearlessly stepping into the unknown.  We are like the Temperance card, mixing different things together to create a perfect blend.  In that moment, we are open to the inspiration of the Universe.