The 8 of Wands

Representing urgency; the 8 of Wands is a card that prompts us once again to return to momentum and forward motion. The restoration of parity brings forth a renewal of effort in our approach. Where the 7 of Wands represents our moment of respite and reflection, the 8 of Wands is our prompt not to lose ourselves in nostalgia and the narcissism found in the act of admiration of our past endeavours.

In the upright state the 8 of Wands is a sign to move on, you already possess all that you need within yourself to achieve your goal, or all that can be achieved at this point, maintaining momentum is essential as the only true failure is the failure to try. Even if you doubt your abilities, the act of creation in itself will feed creativity in turn, just as you rise from slumber and stupor, your consciousness elevates and your awareness grows the more effort you put into creating movement.

In the inverted state the 8 of Wands represents sudden change; where the upright state focuses on the internal state and how it relates to the wider world, the inverted state focuses on the wider world as an external factor and how it influences our internal state. This sudden change will impact our creative process and we will need to move beyond it in order to maintain momentum.

In the Rider-Waite deck the 8 of Wands depicts 8 wands flying through the air like javelins representing a myriad of forces directed at us, how we choose to react to the unseen adversary is the focus of this depiction. In the upright state these wands represent the attempts to unseat and derail us being made by the wider world. In the inverted state these wands represent our retaliation and response.

In self-reflection the 8 of Wands serves as a prompt to consider the element of time in your creative endeavours and whether or not the schedule and commitments you have already made need to be reconfigured. This can be an opportunity to relieve stress by delaying an unrealistic deadline or an opportunity to double down on your efforts to deliver on time.

Ask yourself “Can this be done?” and “Do I need more time?” the focus here is to be objective and realistic about your commitments; it can be helpful here to consider your task and your objective and ask whether you would expect anyone else to be able to achieve the goal you have set within the constraints you have committed to, if the answer is no then ask yourself why you expect more of yourself than you would of others.