Ace of Wands
When the Ace of Wands comes up in a reading, I get a tingle that runs up my spine. The Ace of Wands is a rush of energy. The Ace of Wands is a lightning flash and the accompanying thunder. It is the serpent coiled, about to strike.
Aces are beginnings by nature of being the first in a series of Ace to Ten. Wands represent the element of fire and the human realm of creativity & passion. The combination of “beginning” and “creativity” can signify a lot of things: a new & exciting project, a sexy connection with someone you just met, or a collaboration or job that requires communication and enthusiasm.
To be perfectly honest, the suit of Wands is the suit I find the hardest to put to words. It has that element of “Je ne sais quoi” that so many of the best things in life possess. Think of how hard it is to draw a flame with a pen on paper. You cannot hold a flame with your hand the same way that you can hold water or earth. Very much like the element of air, fire is transitory and elusive. Yet it has real power and has shaped our very world!
The Ace of Wands pendant with the Ace of Wands card from the Cosmic Tarot
With the Ace of Wands there is a message from source or spirit or God if you choose to call it such. The power of a new leaf bursting forth on a branch is such a vital part of life on our planet and it reminds us that all things are connected. All of the elements are in every being, beast, rock, and tree. To receive this card is to know that you too possess this power of emergence, of ever-newness and expanding growth.
In his book, Alchemy and the Tarot, Robert M. Place uses concepts from Carl Jung’s Psychological Types to connect the suit of Wands to the function of feeling.
“To Jung, Feelings are not emotions. He calls emotions “affects” and they can arise from any function. Feelings do not create effects in the face or body. They are much deeper than emotions. Jung says, “it is advisable to distinguish affect from Feeling, since Feeling can be a voluntarily disposable function, whereas affect is usually not.”
Feeling is a decision making function that determines if something is good or bad. As Jung says, Feeling “imparts to the content a definite value in the sense of acceptance or rejection.” Feeling motivates one to action, which is symbolized by Fire and the suit of Staffs (Wands).”
This Ace is action, interaction, conflict, exercise, and sexuality. It is the very life force that pulses through us. The wand itself is a phallic object and in many representations of this Ace it is bursting with leaves that fall from the branch in the shape of the Hebrew letter Yod, the first letter of God’s name, indicating the source as divine.
Ace of Wands sigil pendant with the Ace of Wands card from the Cosmic Tarot
The Ace of Wands pendant design is a powerful talisman for creative energy. The outer shape is an almond shape also known as a mandorla. It is a symbol of the vulva and as mentioned previously, the wand itself can be interpreted as a phallus. The flame threatens to set the wand alight and its still-green wood would crackle and smoke and send sparks or Yods of energy all around. Crowning the wand is the upright triangle, elemental symbol for fire.
The sigil on the reverse of the pendant is a lighting bolt intersecting a circle. This is a combination and modification of the astrological glyphs for the Sun and Mars, both planets of fire and passion. The lighting bolt is crossed by a stylized astrological symbol for Leo, the sign of fixed fire. The arrow atop the lightning bolt is once more the symbol for the element of fire. The circle intersected by the line is also a reference to the yoni lingam symbol of Hinduism, representing Shakti & Shiva, once more showing the uniting of divine opposites as exists within all of us.
Ace of Wands by Janet Goodspeed 4x6” watercolour on paper, 2020
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