Ace of Wands: Fire Stick
The Wands are the only suit in the Tarot represented by a purely natural object: simple wood.
Above: Ace of Wands from the Marseille Tarot (Jodorowsky version)
To tap into the potential in this card, take a look at the Ace from either the Marseille or the RWS.
A hand appears from a cloud, grasping a giant stick. It is shoved into the viewer’s vision; proud, attention-seeking and active. I imagine that hand as the hand of Fire itself, a messenger from the Sun, a representation of the first spark of fiery energy to have ever been deliberately lit by human hands.
How would that have felt, for that first human who figured out the power of Fire, to have sparked up such formidable and dangerous energy from a natural object in their possession, such as a stick?
Let us try to reach into that experience.
Please go and find a piece of wood, right now. Preferably a stick, but anything made of wood will work in its place.
Hold it in your hands. Take a moment to notice any warm parts in your body as you do this. Notice how your skin feels in the precise places where your hand connects to the wood. Recognise the potential in this stick to spark a fire. Recognise the warmth of the fire-sun in your own body, the same energy.
Take some deep breaths, and spend a couple of minutes with your entire focus on the wood, every now and then calling to mind the fire-energy that it holds within it. If your mind waders, which it will, just gently come back to your breath and the warm points in your body.
Pay attention to its tiny details, any shapes or patterns you can notice. Again notice how it feels to the touch. But mostly, just be with it.
Be with the potential of the Ace of Wands for as long as you can. When you are done, put your magic stick or wooden object back wherever it came from. Take a look at a traditional Ace of Wands card – a hand holding a wooden stick – and see if you can recognise any new insights into it now.
Keep this awareness of fire-energy with you for the rest of your day, particularly whenever you notice wood or trees. Silently appreciate the spark of energy that everything holds. That is the spark of the Ace of Wands.
That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions and my courses embracing Tarot and Nature if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.
Smiles from Scotland,
Stephen
