Four of Wands for today

I am starting a Tarot card a day to better learn and understand the cards. I have no claims to being a great Tarot Reader, but I will be one day. I thought I would put them online as I was able, to help myself see the journey as it unfolds. You are welcome to come along with me. And, feedback is always welcome.

I pulled the Four of Wands today and was thrilled. It denotes a time of celebration and a reaching of a milestone in your life. There is a feeling of anticipation of being in the air as you jump over the last hurdle . Your feet have not touched the ground yet and your heart is racing. The joy you feel, the exhilaration, is racing through your body. In that moment you are flying and free.

Safety and a place of shelter are also associated with this card, as those depicted were safe enough that they held the celebration out side in front of the castle and not inside. The happiness shown here almost requires a safe space to be had and the friends in the background are seen as safe and trusted friends to be present at this ceremony.

Often this card is seen as success. Other names for this card are "perfected work" or "Lord of Perfected Work." The illustration denotes two people in an outside celebration likely a marriage or other publicly acknowledged transition point in life recognized by the community. It could be a handfasting, a naming ceremony, an ordination. In short it is a shared public recognition of a transitory point in someones life, and a positive one. This is a point hard worked for. They wanted this ceremony and worked hard for it. Now they have it.

Gail Fairfield, the author of Choice Centered Tarot is quoted as it, "manifesting a new identiy."
I find this very true. Each time we achieve public recognition, such as a marriage, we change our identities. My wedding is one of my happiest memories. The love and joy of my family at that moment in time was freeing and I felt like I was floating. My identity changed publicly. I was married to my partner. My internal identity changed. I was someones husband. I can easily see the ties to identity in this card.

The last part I will point out is what I feel in the symbolism of the wands depicted here. As always with the wands they show growth and life, symbolized by the leaves sprouting at their ends. Here those leaves reach for the sky, and the arbor across the tops of the wands creates a doorway. The couple must walk through the doorway towards the reader of the cards. To me it symbolizes the compleation of a joyous journey and the begining of another one as a different person. Not as a completely different person, but one who has grown and changed and brought their sense of self to a new place. The couple must step up onto the platform the wands are on to step through the doorway they create. This means conscious thought, and informed decisions. That is how they got to this point, and after a brief rest they will continue on with their life from a foundation of community and success.

Summary: Success, Joy, Celebration, Completion, Payoff from hard work, Safety at home and in the community, possible end of a journey and beginning of another, and Getting the things you want after working for them.

Thanks,

Gatekeeper