The Barbara Walker Tarot

Six of Wands: Glory The solar hero rides triumphant with a wand of power. As resurrection follows sacrifice, the six’s triumph follows the five’s impotence. Mounting a horse often signified godlike status in ancient iconography. Like the sun, the hero “rose again.” His card means a period of victory, fame, adulation, possibly a perilously short season in the sun.

Five of Wands: Impasse In a mysterious night ceremony, five faceless, hooded figures surround a victim. After the sacred marriage, ancient kings often ruled only for a predetermined time, then served as ceremonial victims for the sake of fertility, or to absolve the sins of others. Shiva became the bridegroom first, then the Condemned One. A rite like his svayamara or love-death survived in the British Isles as a mummer’s dance called the Rose: five men with swords or rods danced around a symbolically slain “Fool.” Five wands imply powerlessness in the suit of power. Security fails. The impasse seems hopeless, though this may be an illusion.

Four of Wands: Success Under the marriage canopy, the bride crowns her bridegroom as he kneels before her, receiving her ritual apple, symbol of fruition. Sacred marriage signified success for a king or god. Crowned with the bridal wreath, he entered into his kingdom, embodied in the Goddess and her earthly representative the priestess-queen. The ceremony was essential to kings’ coronations in ancient Egypt, India, Babylon, Akkad, and early Palestine. Four world corner-posts are wands upholding the sky-canopy over home, the center of the earth, marriage, security, reward, the fruits of effort.

Three of Wands: Fate Virgin, Mother, and Crone are linked together in their traditional colors, white, red, and black. India called the colors of the female Trinity gunas, “strands.” White was for the Virgin/Creatress, new moon, birth, springtime, flowers, the past. Red was for the Mother/Preserver, full moon, passion, summer, fruit, the present. Black was for the Crone/Destroyer, old moon, winter, seed, prophecy, and the future. The same three Fates were known elsewhere as Moerae, Fortunae, Norns, Morrigan, or Weird Sisters (from Wyrd, the Saxon Fate-goddess). Three wands represent creation, invention, fortune, commercial activity, reward or punishment, the power of…

Two of Wands: Alliance The Sun-god gazed into the mirror of the Abyss; and sees his reflection as his female lunar twin, the Moon-goddess. Apollo the Sun once needed the power of his sister-consort Artemis the Moon before he could act, as Asian gods needed their Shaktis as their “souls.” That a reflection shows the soul is a very old belief, giving rise to superstitions about breaking mirrors or stirring reflective waters. The card shows a meeting of powers at the interface: synergy, association, responsiveness, partnership.

Ace of Wands: Power The Goddess raises the fire serpent, who bears the wand of power. The original consort of Eurynome/Eve was her fiery serpent, seraph, or dragon, variously called Leviathan, Nehushtan, Ophion, Vasuki, Sata, or the Gnostics’ Ouroboros. His wand stands for the masculine fire element with power to create or to burn: vigor, heat, aspiration, rivalry, competition, avidity; on the darker side, oppression or violence, needing the Goddess’s control.