Eight of Wands upright
The Eight of Wands is the card of speed. It shows a situation in which everything speeds up: activities and energies mobilize and move faster. It speaks of messages and communications that arrive fast, by phone, by internet or by express mail, and of business that gets handled quickly. It can also point to a trip, a flight, a race or any rapid advance toward a goal. Most often it indicates that you are making progress.
You may feel swept away by a surge of love, by big ideas or by enthusiasm, as if under a rush of adrenaline. That is why it is often called the card of love at first sight. In the realm of ideas, you may work alone while heading in the same direction as other people, who make the same discovery at the same time. You may also be putting your ways of doing things in order, lining them up or simplifying them. You may notice coincidences or fortunate encounters that confirm you are going in the right direction.
This card is linked to Mercury, to speech, light and electricity. It represents energy at high speed, without heaviness or destruction. It corresponds to everything that needs speed to hold together, whether a venture or a love affair. The cards of this number correct the error of the Sevens: the harm is done, and a reaction sets in against it. They are never perfect, but they are free of the basic errors of the Sevens. This energy is highly stimulated, with a lot of activity, and a great deal can be said and learned.
Your strengths
You love freedom, the open air, gardens, meadows and outdoor sports. You mobilize quickly and go straight toward your goal.
What holds you back
- You apply too much force too abruptly: you launch in very fast, but the drive passes quickly and burns out.
- You can be violent, without it lasting.
- You risk going too fast.
- You can be unreliable, rapacious, insolent or oppressive, depending on how you use this energy.
- You risk wearing yourself out, because this speed can't be kept up for long.
What helps
Agreeing to go with the flow. Paying attention to the signs that tell you whether you are going in the right direction. Ordering and simplifying what you do so that the speed serves your goal.
Love
You may fall in love all at once and be swept away by the surge. The card also speaks of the awakening of love.
Eight of Wands reversed
You risk rushing straight into problems. You can be too impulsive, or caught in a restless pattern that keeps repeating.
In your relationships, harmony can turn into quarreling, romantic enthusiasm into jealousy or rivalry, and your emotions run away from you. There are disagreements and squabbles. Excitement can go too far and become uncontrollable. A third person can disturb your love life. At home, this can show up as arguments and discord in the household.
You waste your momentum and your efforts lead nowhere. You may run in every direction at the last minute, when a series of small annoyances crops up. There are also the usual delays and cancellations of reversed cards, a slowdown or a halt. The card can also indicate a mismatch, something irregular or ill-fitting, or non-conformity.
The card also has a liberating meaning. It removes the limits on what is possible: you are freed from your brakes and move to a new level of experience. A woman who had been separated from her husband for three years stopped hesitating and asked for a divorce: her doubts disappeared when she freed herself from her inner brakes.
When you project this card onto others, you see them as people who create disruption through their haste.
Your strengths
You know how to free yourself from your inner brakes and move to a new level.
What holds you back
- You rush too fast and run into problems.
- You are impulsive and go around in a restless pattern that repeats.
- You quarrel, become jealous or rival-minded, and let your emotions overflow.
- You waste your momentum and your efforts come to nothing.
- You rush at the last moment, which multiplies the small mishaps.
- You see others as too hasty and a source of problems.
Work
Communications that get lost, efforts without results, delays, slowdown or halt.
Creativity
Your plans and inspirations can dissipate.
What the card shows
In the classic version of the card, eight wands fly across an open landscape. They are in the air, but neatly lined up in parallel lines. They are reaching the end of their flight, and what they announce is very near. The card shows movement through what is motionless. They are called the arrows of love.
Fire means speed and movement. This movement sometimes lacks direction, but here the image is of a journey reaching its end and of things carried through to completion. When fire finds its goal, projects and situations come to a satisfying close. The wands have come back to earth: the energy of Wands combines with the grounding that belongs to Pentacles.
In the Order's original version, four white, radiant hands come out of clouds, two on each side. They join two by two at the center and hold eight wands crossed four against four. Flames come out where the wands meet. The symbols of Mercury and Sagittarius appear at the top and bottom of the card.
This name comes from its correspondence with Mercury and Sagittarius. Sagittarius stands for fire made more subtle, and Mercury rules the card: he brings the message of the original will. Eight corresponds to Hod, splendor, which links the card to speech, light and electricity. Fire is no longer tied to combustion or destruction: it is energy in its highest and finest sense.
The meaning of the card is activity in ventures and the path of that activity. It speaks of speed, like that of an express messenger, of great haste and great hope. It also says speed toward a goal that promises assured happiness. It is often called the card of love at first sight: you are swept away by attraction, by big ideas or by enthusiasms, as in a rush of adrenaline. Activities and energies get under way and speed up. The card can point to business, quick communications by phone, internet or express mail, a flight, a maneuver, a race, or any quick advance toward a goal. You may also be tidying up, lining up or simplifying ways of doing things. In the world of ideas, you may work alone while following the same lines as others, as when several people make the same discovery at the same time. The card generally shows that you are making progress. The associated traditional meanings are country life or an outing, agriculture, the garden, the field, the woods, travel, leisure and celebrations, great activity, calm and quiet, the awakening of love, luck, rapid developments, commercial transactions, progress and direction. On the level of character, it speaks of speed, courage, daring, confidence, freedom, and a taste for the open air, outdoor sports, gardens and meadows.
Reversed, the arrows of love become arrows of jealousy and quarrel. Jealousy can come from uncertainty and confusion, in your feelings as in the other person's. The card then speaks of impulsiveness, communications that get lost, wasted energy and efforts without results. It can also say that nothing comes to an end and that the situation goes on with no end in sight.
Your strengths
You love freedom and the open air. You know how to put your ways of doing things in order and move toward a goal.
What holds you back
- You apply too much force too fast: your drive is violent but does not last and is quickly spent.
- You risk going too fast, in haste.
- Your movement sometimes lacks direction.
- You can be untrustworthy, rapacious, insolent and oppressive, depending on how the card shows up in you.
- You can live a frantic energy, like that of a fairground.
What helps
- Agree to go with the movement.
- Notice the coincidences and happy meetings that confirm you are heading in the right direction.
- Give your energy a goal and a concrete anchor, so that it leads to a satisfying end.
- Recognize a situation that does not come to an end and accept it, rather than letting frustration or disappointment win.
Love
The card is that of love at first sight: you are swept away by attraction and by what you desire. It speaks of an awakening of love and of arrows of love. It also means action in a love affair, seduction, or proposals made and accepted.
