Find Great Strength in Times of Trouble:
In times of great stress, we can all use an occasional helping hand. Do you ever notice that it is usually right before you see the end of your troubles that you start to feel relaxed and most grateful for the companions who have joined you? When our journeys begin, we are filled with great ambition and imagination, and everyone around us seems to support our visions of the future. More often than not, though. we soon discover that the work that is expected of us is greater than we first imagined. Along the way in our struggles, we find ourselves embattled with more than just the project at hand – but every little thing elsewhere seems to mount and add to our stress. Fortunately, we have the power to discover who our true friends are, who are really looking out for our best interests and in it for the long haul, and who are just hangers-on. Time to get rid of those fair weather friends. Then the journey seems a little lighter, even joyous! And suddenly, Shazzam! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and looking back at all our travels we are filled with great reassurance that all things where beneficial, even the mistakes we made, and our gratitude begins to swell.
I’ve just described the first nine cards of the Wands suit in the tarot. And it is at this point we are in the Nine of Wands stage of getting things done, that moment when our “second wind” arises and we may even be able to tell our friends “thanks, you’ve helped tremendously – now you can relax and I can finish carrying this load.”
Battered and embittered, there are times when we feel as if we can’t go on. These are the times when we know we will need the greatest strength of them all, and if our path is true and sure, miraculously somehow we discover we’ve had that strength all along. Call it inspiration to carry on, call it a second wind, or call it that moment of adrenaline when our “fight or flight” responses kick in – call it whatever you want. We all know this moment and we are all grateful when it arrives, because there are very few moments more joyous than that one moment right before the end of your task when you know… you just know… you are going to actually see it through. It can actually make success turn into an anti-climatic moment, because even the rewards of success don’t feed us that excitement we felt just a moment before. (This, by the way, is why it can become so easy to be an adrenaline junky – ask my older brother.)
This card isn’t all roses though. If negatively affected by surrounding circumstances (or, in some spreads I use, if it comes up reversed), this card can arrive to help us discuss past grudges we might be held accountable for or holding against others. Maybe what it is discussing isn’t the victory ahead, but the obstacles that stand in our way. We have the final choice at this point to turn back and give in to things beyond us. It might be time to move on in your life and let the past’s ambitions fade away. At that moment when you’re dogged tired of it all and you just don’t know if you are going to carry on, that’s some times when you have to make the most decisive choice of them all.
Now, before I finish this piece and give you part of my keywords collection – let me mention a little discussed aspect of the tarot, a hint of the secret of the initiates. Every minor arcana card is associated with a 10-degree portion of the astrological wheel (called Decantes), and by knowing well these decantes we learn so much more about the nature of the cards. The Nine of Wands is associated to the degree of the Zodiac given the decan of “Moon in Sagittarius.” This function of the tarot, among many other things, tells us that the card known as Temperance (or Art according to Crowley) is related to this Nine of Wands. And Temperance is described in temple magick as suggestive of the nature of what we call our Holy Guardian Angel (Higher Self, Oversoul, or any other name will also do for the moment). So remember that when this card arrives in a reading, this moment in your life is somehow actually very closely related to something your “Higher Self” is trying to communicate to you. And another thing (just to enjoy a minor play on words with the cards), this is exactly when your temper or metal is going to be tested.
Keywords:Nine of Wands [Moon in Sagittarius]
TIMING: December 3 to December 12
Power. Health. Success after opposition and strife. Tremendous force. Recovery from sickness. Victory after apprehension and fear. Illustrates the aphorism that "change is stability".
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(Regular) Eventual victory, plans coming to fruition, resolve, good health. Determination, commitment to an issue or belief. Acknowledging past grief.
(Averse) Rivalry, obstacles, time to move on in your life. Loss of rights, isolation. emerging from pain and isolation.
