Tarot Series: 8 Of Wands
W&S Health and Wellness Editor
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Tarot has been an essential tool in my spiritual and healing journeys. So much so, I've decided to start a series going over all 78 cards in detail. As a fire-sign sun (Sagittarius) whose favorite number is 8, I'd thought the 8 Of Wands was the perfect starting point.
Throughout this series, I'll be pulling cards from my personal deck to go over what they mean more generally and to me more personally.
8 Of Wands Card Description And Meaning
The 8 Of Wands is the eighth card in the minor arcana suit wands, representing fire. In the traditional Rider-Waite deck and those mimicking it, the 8 Of Wands is typically depicted as eight diagonal, staggered staves behind an open landscape of a river and a mountain.
Newer, less traditional decks tend to vary in imagery, taking their own spin in representing this card's energy.
This can be seen within my personal deck: a historical woman-focused deck by Sarah Shipman depicting Lyudmila Pavlichenko as 8 Of Wands. Regardless of the imagery, the energy channeled is unanimous across all decks.
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The suit of wands invites you to embrace volatility for the sake of some kind of necessary rebirth.”
The 8 of wands represents energy defined by an exciting feeling of progress and rapid repair. This is an action-oriented card and appears in your reading to signify the oncoming of something sudden yet positive.
With this card being part of the suit of wands, it's filled with intense energies of fire. Like many spiritual interpretations of fire, the suit of wands invites you to embrace volatility for the sake of some kind of necessary rebirth. This card acknowledges that navigating the viscerality of fire energy is uncomfortable but pushes you to understand the importance of using this urgent motion to your advantage.
8 Of Wands Keywords
Upright: rapid change, hastiness, quickness, something unexpected
Reversed: plateau, delay, injury, being stuck.
Things That Encapsulate The 8 Of Wands
Visual Art:
4 Survival 4 Pleasure, Emily Mulenga
Film & TV:
Colombiana
Little Fires Everywhere
Nomadland
Songs:
Girl On Fire, Alicia Keys
Rabiosa, Shakira
Come Down, MIA
Moment, Victoria Monet
How To Use The 8 Wands
There are many ways you can use the 8 Of Wands for your spiritual journey. For instance, I really like to use tarot as a guide during meditation. Whether you seek out the card specifically or pull it during a single spread, you can deepen your understanding of the card and channel its energies during your meditation.
Meditation can look like many things, and I suggest choosing a form of meditation that best aligns with the energies of the card you are focusing on. For an 8 Of Wands, I think first finding some physical element to represent the fire energy would be helpful. Try lighting a candle, a tealight, or even a bonfire.
Another way to use the 8 Of Wands would be to bring it with you throughout the day. As this card is about swift motion and rapid change, perhaps seek this card out and keep it with you if you have a big meeting or negotiation that requires you to be authoritative in your actions.
I'd also suggest using tarot to add to the list of "things" that channel the card's energies. Take your 8 Of Wands and allow it to guide you when seeking out media, art, and music. Engage with the things you've curated whenever you want to tap into the card's energies or if you pull it during a spread and want to meditate on what it might mean.
