Today’s random writing is brought to you by: Seven of Wands, The Magician, and Three of Wands
7W. Seven of Wands
Creativity, inspiration, the arts, attraction, achievement of goals. Victory. Go!
If reversed: Writer’s block, lack of inspiration, scattered energies, too many ideas, wrongful use of skills, failure.
On Seven, the image is of a man painting a picture of wands on a blank canvas, and just starting to add a yellow mark next to them, as if drawing something else but we don’t know what. A more traditional deck might show a man on a hilltop with one wand, confronting six more being thrust up from below. In any case it seems to stand for vision, inventiveness, courage, and problem-solving. I think I like the Witches’ version because the painter and canvas clearly emphasize creativity, though the challenge and the courage are not clear, perhaps it is in his expression. He is holding his brush between his middle and ring fingers, with the index finger taking a more passive position, so maybe this indicates that he is putting aside precision and established ways of doing things in order to take a different tactic and be unorthodox, even if a bit clumsy. It also occurs to me that the painting looks done, perfect, if a bit plain, but the stroke adding a splash of yellow is definitely bold and definitely taking the work in a new direction :)
How does this relate to me? I sometimes feel like “too many ideas, not enough action”, and I get the feeling of having my energy scattered.
1. The Magician
Querent is reaching up for the end of a goal, one over which the querent has control. The answer may lie in the goal the Querent is trying to reach. The number two.
If reversed: Querent does have control over circumstances. The future is in the Querent’s hands.
The Magician shows a woman, older, with great flowing robes and outstretched arms (ooh, big arms thing). She has a figure like a star on her forehead just above her nose, and the figure 8 sideways over her head. She stands before a block table where all four Items are displayed, a Wand, a Pentacle, a Sword and a Cup. The moon is visible and large behind her. This is similar to the Rider-Waite version and others (except for the use of a female Witch as the Magician, appropriate). The other book reports that the earlier versions of this card were called “The Juggler” and showed the four elements in their natural forms, in abundance, to signify that the raw materials are out there and available but that only the truly gifted will access them for Magic.
Interestingly the meaning is similar when reversed, just with different emphasis. You have control and you are aware of it and wield it, or you have control and don’t realize it and need to be reminded by the card that you do. The shorter interpretation refers to someone at the end of a journey and about to achieve her goal, and is in fact reaching out with her hand to grab the prize. The implication is that she has studied and worked for a long time to become effective and strong, and now experienced/wizened as well.
3W. Three of Wands
Thoughts have form and therefore direction. They have taken shape and have become clear. Understanding.
If reversed: Failure to listen. Strive to know for yourself, don’t just accept the thoughts of others.
The Three shows three women in a circle, each holding out a wand to form a triangle, and in the middle of the triangle is a flash of light, looking like it is reflected off her necklace pendant. The women are different ages, young, middle-aged and old, and the young woman is in the middle of the picture. Understanding, thoughts becoming clear, hmm. Interesting that the reverse would be described as both “failure to listen” and “know for yourself and don’t just accept the thoughts of others” which seem to be conflicting.
More traditional decks show this card as a man on a cliff, facing the ocean, watching three ships departing. Two staffs are planted in the earth behind him, and he is holding the third, the other book author describes this as “suggesting an orientation toward the future”. The various interpretations all seem to suggest creativity, and activity in a creative capacity or other profession, skill, task.
I selected these three cards randomly. Since I have not used this deck in a long time, it will take a while to get familiar with all the images again. I went through the deck to look at each card briefly and then I shuffled six or seven times. Since I kept all the cards facing the same direction, there is no significance to reversed vs. upright facing, though I find it interesting that I first started to deal them upside-down and then stopped. I usually flip them over when I deal so I will need to be aware of this, meaning that I should turn them around before starting to deal.
Anyway, the funny thing is that the first one was dealt upside-down at first, signifying writers’ block or lack of inspiration, and I put it back and turned them over and dealt again. Interesting because the random writing exercise is intended to help with writers’ block and lack of inspiration, which is why I took the deck out of storage (well out of its bag) in the first place.
I didn’t intend for this to be a “reading” for me, but it seems to have pegged my current activity and some of my current concerns. Overcome writers block, lack of inspiration, stagnation. Lots of ideas is just as bad as no ideas, if it scatters your energy to the extent that it can’t be applied. Application of an idea, and refining an idea, takes time and effort. Becoming proficient at something doesn’t happen overnight, it takes persistence and practice. Listen to others AND find out for yourself, and only by doing both will you truly learn. Don’t deal the cards upside-down.