Exploring the Ace of Wands

Welcome to Tarot Thursdays! This week we will be exploring the Ace of Wands and how it can be used as a prompt or brainstorming in our writing.

Tarot is an interesting thing. It’s based upon symbolism and metaphors through imagery. With these images the subconscious mind is tapped into through the story provided. Not everyone gets the same thing from a piece of art. Each piece will influence each person in a slightly different way.

Introduction of the Card

Since I have already run through the Swords Suit over on my Chaos Pen blog, I’ll be moving on to the Wands Suit here. The Ace of Wands is card number 22 in the deck within the Orphalese program and the first card of the Wands Suit in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

Let’s take a look at the following examples of Ace of Wands below.

Card Examples

Notice the similarities between them and take note of their differences. Do any of these move you more than the others? Take your time and allow these cards to tell you their story.

My Analysis of These Cards

In the first two cards, a figure is holding a wand of power and is contemplating how to use it. In the images of the other two cards, a wand of power is presented and is ready to be claimed.

Themes of the Card

Each card has a set of keywords associated with it that serve as themes for its image. These keywords will vary somewhat depending on who you ask.

According to the Learning the Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

CREATIVE FORCE
ENTHUSIASM
CONFIDENCE
COURAGE

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

According to the Biddy Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

INSPIRATION
POWER
CREATION
BEGINNINGS
POTENTIAL

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

What this Card Means to Me

Like all the Aces, this card is the budding energy of its suit. Here we can feel the warm flames of our soul beckoning to us. We are encouraged to draw upon this energy of our creativity to empower ourselves. With these sparks of inspiration we find the confidence to seize the day. These are all the things that embody the soul and they are born from within each of us, but we need to remain mindful not to forge ahead blindly.

Almost every anime and manga has at least one hot head among the ranks of heroes. This character is quick to act and speak. Despite what this character faces, when the odd seem impossible they have a way of coming up with unusual solutions. Ed in Full Metal Alchemist comes to mind here for me.

The key phrase I choose for this card is: THE GIFT OF THE SOUL.

Music Playlist

In this spirit of all this, these are the songs I have picked out for this card.

The Writing Exercise

This exercise is a free write. Permit yourself to write whatever comes to mind based upon the theme of this card. Choose a keyword or key phrase and run with it to see what you come up with.

I would love it if you linked or pinged back what you wrote so I could see where you went with this.

Happy writing!

Mythic Tarot by Liz Greene (Author), Juliet Sharman-Burke (Author), Tricia Newell (Illustrator) © 1989
Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson (Author), Peter Pracownik (Author) © 1996
Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo (Author), R. De Angelis (Illustrator), A. E. Waite (Designer) © 2001
Tarot of Dreams by Ciro Marchetti (Author), Lee Bursten (Author) © 2015