Can we talk about the 9 of Wands...

[Siri5]

Hi all,

 

I was wondering what your thoughts and experiences are regarding the 9 of Wands. 

 

I have been working almost exclusively with RWS-inspired decks, and my impression, going by the artwork, was always that of a guy who is pretty defensive and miserable. Dude is exhausted! He looks like he's standing his ground, but he's had it, basically. He looks grumpy and kind of stubborn, and doesn't appear to be having any fun with those wands. This seemed to go with some of the often-used meanings of the card, which also seem to underline this: boundaries,, dedication to a cause, persistence of purpose, defensiveness, holding a line, inflexibility, I've always been a little indifferent to the card - not one I dread, but also not one that speaks to me particularly, and with the limited way I was interpreting it it felt rather close to the 7 of Wands, which is also quite a defensive card. 

 

The two decks I had were the classic RWS and the Golden Art Nouveau Tarot, where the poor guy, if anything, looks even more grumpy:

 

   

 

I very recently obtained a new deck, the Tarot of the Holy Spectrum, which is again RWS-inspired, but does offer a slightly different twist on some of the artwork. Here the guy is lying down on his wands, having a nap: 

 

 

The artwork doesn't really contradict any of the classic meanings - he's lying on top of his wands, he's not letting you take them! - and yet there is a slight twist which made me take a fresh view at the card. What struck me was the peacefulness of it and it made me think about the card in the context of where it sits in the suit - it's a 9, the fulfilment and end-point of the suit's endeavour. They've achieved what they desired, what they were striving for, it's been a hard battle and they are not unscathed. Their exhaustion is a result of the challenges they have encountered. BUT it's also a card of achievement. It may have cost them something, but for better or worse, they got there, and what I'm getting from this interpretation, in addition to the usual meanings is a sense of 'resting on one's laurels', or 'taking a well-deserved rest'. He's still guarding his wands, but he's also taking a moment to regroup. This meaning isn't absent from the RWS artwork of course, but I'd never really thought about it much, and seeing this interpretation made me look at the card in its context more. 

 

This made me think - what encounters have you had with the card? What meanings does it have for you? And do you have any artwork that has changed your view of the card? 

[DanielJUK]

One of the concepts I like about this card is the idea of "the last stand". They have to defend or persevere because there is no other option here. They are determined to succeed.

Some people see him as protecting those wands behind him. I see this card like a soldier, tired and wounded and the wands are a defence, like a bunker or something. They are in this place and to keep protecting it.

 

This is a 9, so there is really nearly completion with the 10. It's when you are exhausted out and using your last strength. It takes faith and resilience.

I think this is quite a distrusting of others card and also avoiding taking any additional risks.

 

I like the Wild Unknown version with the difficult spiky stairs to the Moon....

 

[Laura Borealis]

In the Fey Tarot we have the figures holed up in a hollow tree, rather than guarding (or guarded by) a row of staves. You still get the sense of vigilance and defending your position. But having two figures makes the protection aspect more personal. One can rest while their companion keeps a sharp eye out for trouble. There's a sense of someone having your back. You're not in this alone.

 

 

 

[Deian]

One way to view it is as someone that had a long cycle of endless opportunities that were all too fickle or too unstable to lead to anything. So in detached state they are looking at endless new opportunities arise and disappear, with no desire to chase them at all now.

Alternative reading can be that they aren't seeing the other ones as they are holding one of them and can't let go.

In both cases, the number and the type of card, suggest one has a lot of opportunities they aren't seeing and are holding one of them. Carrying the idea they(the opportunities) may be not entirely real as well. Also explains the holding of one.

Just a structural meaning, each person will have their own view/contract with that, as well, yet in some cases when a situation needs it cards go back to their structural meaning I think. At least as far as I'm aware.

[Misterei]

On 3/17/2024 at 5:25 AM, Siri5 said:

... taking a moment to regroup. ...

Definitely. It's the burnout card how I read it. Being a 9 he must finish [10]. He needs to regroup to do that. IN RWS he ends up putting all those wands on his back to carry.

[Siri5]

Apologies all, for seemingly abandoning this post. I seem to be constantly ill this month so things have slipped a bit. I'm (hopefully) better now, so I'll have a proper look at everyone's replies today! 

 

 

[Siri5]

On 3/18/2024 at 10:47 PM, DanielJUK said:

One of the concepts I like about this card is the idea of "the last stand". They have to defend or persevere because there is no other option here. They are determined to succeed.

Some people see him as protecting those wands behind him. I see this card like a soldier, tired and wounded and the wands are a defence, like a bunker or something. They are in this place and to keep protecting it.

 

This is a 9, so there is really nearly completion with the 10. It's when you are exhausted out and using your last strength. It takes faith and resilience.

I think this is quite a distrusting of others card and also avoiding taking any additional risks.

 

I like the Wild Unknown version with the difficult spiky stairs to the Moon....

 

 

The more I see of the Wild Unknown Tarot artwork the more this deck appeals to me. It's so evocative!

 

I really like this interpretation - the sense of achievement, with the wands that have been won forming a staircase into what comes beyond and isn't known yet, but they are also uncomfortable, spikey, both hard to climb for us, and a deterrent for others, kind of like barbed wire protecting the path. 

 

I tend to see the 9th as solitary achievement and fulfilment and the 10s as beyond that, an opening up of achievement and fulfilment to include others, to step beyond the self, so here I'd see the wands as what has been won, the achievement that allows us to then step beyond and see the path after our focus on what we initially desired and strived for. I guess that's how I understand the 10 of wands - shouldering what we've gained, good and bad, and taking it with us into further adventures. 

[Siri5]

On 3/18/2024 at 11:37 PM, Laura Borealis said:

In the Fey Tarot we have the figures holed up in a hollow tree, rather than guarding (or guarded by) a row of staves. You still get the sense of vigilance and defending your position. But having two figures makes the protection aspect more personal. One can rest while their companion keeps a sharp eye out for trouble. There's a sense of someone having your back. You're not in this alone.

 

 

 

 

This is such an interesting visual interpretation. Some of the aspects are there, and fully represented, such as, as you say, the defensiveness and protective aspect - guarding what you've gained - as well as the need to rest, to regroup and take a moment's pause, but I agree, the fact that it's not one person is fascinating. I tend to see the 9s as kind of solitary - 9 of cups as finding emotional fulfilment in yourself rather than others, same with 9 of Pents, comfort and independence without reliance on others, the 9 of swords... well, crying and overthinking alone, so not much of an achievement, really, but still a natural progression from the 8 of swords... the 10s seem to me more communal, about opening up that sense of achievement to include others, re-entering the world and including it in the sense of fullness. This interpretation points more towards the idea that your wants and desires could be shared, that they really don't have to be just our desire but could be a shared drive. It's rather lovely I think, because it takes away that feeling of hollowness that I sometimes get from the victories of the 9s, that sense of loneliness.  🙂  

[Siri5]

On 3/19/2024 at 2:22 PM, Deian said:

One way to view it is as someone that had a long cycle of endless opportunities that were all too fickle or too unstable to lead to anything. So in detached state they are looking at endless new opportunities arise and disappear, with no desire to chase them at all now.

Alternative reading can be that they aren't seeing the other ones as they are holding one of them and can't let go.

In both cases, the number and the type of card, suggest one has a lot of opportunities they aren't seeing and are holding one of them. Carrying the idea they(the opportunities) may be not entirely real as well. Also explains the holding of one.

Just a structural meaning, each person will have their own view/contract with that, as well, yet in some cases when a situation needs it cards go back to their structural meaning I think. At least as far as I'm aware.

 

An interesting take on the card, and I could see it fitting and adding depth to a reading, depending on context. Any achievement is also a kind of choice, isn't it - you've chosen one path and followed it to its completion, so there is an element of exclusion there because you can't follow every path, every opportunity or you'd never get anywhere. So any win is also a loss, any path taken also a choice not to take another. 

[Siri5]

On 3/19/2024 at 11:27 PM, Misterei said:

Definitely. It's the burnout card how I read it. Being a 9 he must finish [10]. He needs to regroup to do that. IN RWS he ends up putting all those wands on his back to carry.

 

Yes, the 10 in the Holy Spectrum deck also has the person hoisting all the wands onto their back to carry them onward, so it's very similar to the RWS interpretation with that.

 

I've said this above, but I kind of see the 9s as completion and the 10s as beyond that, opening up your achievement to others, to the world. Can work out well, as in the case of the 10 of cups or pents, which I think are generally positive cards (though of course any card has also potentially negative elements), or badly, as in the 10 of swords, where opening your private hell of overthinking outward leads to your complete downfall (but also hopefully a closing out and fresh start since you can't take it any further). Here he rests on what he's achieved and then in the 10 of wands he takes those wands, his spoils of war, and carries them into the unknown, into the world. 

[Deian]

3 hours ago, Siri5 said:

 

An interesting take on the card, and I could see it fitting and adding depth to a reading, depending on context. Any achievement is also a kind of choice, isn't it - you've chosen one path and followed it to its completion, so there is an element of exclusion there because you can't follow every path, every opportunity or you'd never get anywhere. So any win is also a loss, any path taken also a choice not to take another. 

 

Sure. I think it depends what structure we view it from. If we view it from 9 step cycle then this is very much  valid. If we view it from 10 step cycle its still valid, but focus may be stronger somewhere else.

I have decided to view it from the Tree of Life, as mention in the other topics. And at first glance may look like what is done in many books out there, but if one reads it carefully, may notice it isn't. Can't go into why, yet.

 

But from that point of view, the structure goes like that:

Wands - Opportunities

9 - Well, its complex what 9 is there, so lets just say Imagination. A place/state where we try new Images and without knowing it(sometimes) decide what we will keep and manifest in the world around and what we won't. Strongly relates to "reflectivity" in there, so Images in the sense of an reflection on a surface of a lake, much more then Image as etched in stone(second one more fitting a different number).

9 - Also showing "many".

 

So we have a place(9) that is unstable, by design. Where ideas and views are tested, some are kept, others dissolve with time. It gives birth to endless Images all the time, and most of them disappear soon after...

And we have a person that receives endless stream of opportunities(because of "many" image) in there. Suggesting that opportunities will show then disappear when he tries to catch them. Then show from another direction etc.

With time he holds on to one, turns his back on the others and ignores that their very existence is also preventing him from moving freely.

 

Is this move valid... I do not know. : )

But its attempt to fix something that was broken long time ago. If you just use your intuition/knowingness then there isn't much to fix, doesn't mean it will be perfect, but its yours. But if someone decided to use "structure" the old structure for tarot may have contained... Some lies. Some misunderstandings and other stuff. And that is worth correcting if appropriate.

[crystalballer7983]

I think it's funny how the classic character looks a bit like Egon Spengler (from Ghostbusters).
 

"We're getting close. Something is definitely trying to stop us."