Eight of Wands
speed · messages · movement · things in flight
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Wands
In a few words
- speed
- messages
- movement
- things in flight
Eight wands flying through clear sky. Speed, news, sudden movement toward a goal.
Upright
- Everything
- Eight wands flying through clear sky. Speed, news, sudden movement toward a goal.
- Love
- Messages, a fast-moving romance, someone travelling to you. Things happen quickly.
- Work
- Rapid progress. Replies come, decisions land, travel for work may follow.
- Money
- Money moving fast: a payment arriving, a deal closing quickly.
- Myself
- Momentum. Say yes to the pace and steer, do not brake.
Activity in undertakings, the path of such activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally, that which is on the move; also the arrows of love.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 182
Reversed
- Everything
- Delays, missed messages, arrows landing in the wrong place.
- Love
- Miscommunication, or rushing where patience was needed.
- Work
- Stalled replies, a trip postponed, haste causing mistakes. Check before sending.
- Money
- A payment held up. Follow up; do not assume.
- Myself
- Scattered energy, too many directions. Aim, then let fly.
Arrows of jealousy, internal dispute, stingings of conscience, quarrels; and domestic disputes for persons who are married.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 182
The card, as Waite described it
The card represents motion through the immovable—a flight of wands through an open country; but they draw to the term of their course. That which they signify is at hand; it may be even on the threshold.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 182
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.