Tarot Pull: The Ace of Wands
A bit late with our weekly tarot pull (hence why I began this blog with the caveat “weekly-ish”), but here we are at last!
Our random tarot pull this week is the Ace of Wands!
If you’ve read my prior posts on tarot in the creative process, I almost always lean towards “intuitive reading.” What the hell is that? In its most basic form, it’s when the reader pushes out what they’ve learned about each card in favor of what meaning comes to them when they pull the card.
That being said, the foundations of tarot are important and constantly informing how a card is interpreted even when you’re taking a more intuitive approach (you never really unlearn the basics).
Pictured Left: The Ace of Wands card from The Wild Unknown Tarot.
For that reason, I think it’s helpful to highlight commonly accepted keywords associated with the Ace of Wands:
Upright: Expansion; inspiration; new opportunities; growth; potential; enthusiasm
Reversed (if you choose to read tarot in reverse): An emerging idea, lack of direction, distractions, delays; endings; lack of motivation
For a great traditional breakdown of the card, see Biddy Tarot’s article on the Ace of Wands.
Now for the fun part -
Typically, when I pull this card, there’s always some sort of ‘victory in thought’ theme. I pulled this card for inspiration on a day when I was buried in revisions, hoping against hope that it would be the day I finally finished stitching THE HIEROPHANT back together again. You can probably imagine how excited I must have been (finally - this month’s long surgery will be over!) The card basically screamed back at me “You’ve got this!”
And guess what? I finished the last major revisions on THE HIEROPHANT that evening.
Pictured Right: The Ace of Wands from the Ethereal Visions deck
But I don’t think that’s quite the end of the story.
As reflected in the traditional keywords listed above, the Ace of Wands represents growth, inspiration and potential. Not only is completing the major revisions a reflection of growth and the potential that is within the manuscript, it holds promise for further inspired creative endeavors as well…
Pictured left: The Ace of Wands from the Rackham Tarot Deck
The day I finally cranked out my novel-monster in its new configuration, my brain sparked with a ton of new ideas for a project I’ve shelved for nearly ten years. It’s enough to dust off the 27k novella, re-read and re-build using the knowledge I’m so lucky to have gained over the past two years studying the writing craft in earnest. Two days later, I have the bones of an outline for the full novel (THE NEW WORLD).
Bing! - the Ace of Wands says “you’re welcome, and go get ‘em”
Excited to move THE HIEROPHANT into its next stage and breathe THE NEW WORLD into full existence.
As always, please feel free to tell me your thoughts and share any stories you have of using tarot to inspire your art! Until then, have fun and look for inspiration in every nook and cranny of the world around you.
-Allison
