Two of Wands upright
The Two of Wands is the card of authority and dominion. You have influence over others, power, and mastery of what falls within your sphere. You have enough power, influence and control to choose what you want to accomplish in this area. The card speaks of your will in its highest form: an ideal will that depends on no particular object. Its force is that of Mars in Aries: a force that begins, direct and aggressive. This power may first break something, and that destruction comes before what you are going to create.
You are often in a situation of success, with wealth, fortune and magnificence. Yet this success doesn't satisfy you. You feel you have everything and you still want more. You may feel melancholy, sadness or discontent in the midst of your successes. You are bored: your accomplishments have shut you in, you are alone in your success and the world you hold is small. The taste for battle and challenge, typical of Wands, leaves you without real satisfaction once the battle is won.
You are also facing a decision. You are thinking about your next project, comparing several choices or several ways of acting, and looking for alternatives. You can settle on a position now and widen it later. You may be thinking of a trip or of taking a last look around before leaving. An opportunity opens before you, but you hesitate to seize it. You may also be waiting to see whether your earlier efforts will bear fruit. When you leave a secure situation and a past success to step into the unknown, you feel a lot of emotion: wonder, surprise and enchantment, but also unease and fear. This card speaks strongly to the woman who has long lived in a painful or unsatisfying situation and decides to change everything at once. The two wands can also mean collaboration, an alliance of forces or a balance of powers. At the deepest level, you are looking for a balance between your spiritual nature and your earthly nature.
Your strengths
- You have authority and influence over others.
- You are proud and perceptive.
What holds you back
- You are stubborn and slow to forgive.
- You can be fierce, brazen, and hold on to a vengeful spirit.
- You find it hard to enjoy what you have won: you get bored and always want more.
- You hesitate in front of the opportunity that opens up and you stay on the threshold of your decision.
- You may feel sadness, melancholy, anger, resentment and jealousy.
What helps
- Comparing your options and looking for alternatives before you choose.
- Taking a first position now and widening it later.
- Allying or collaborating, because the card also shows an alliance of forces.
- Looking for a balance between your spiritual nature and your earthly nature.
- Accepting that fear goes along with wonder when you step into the unknown.
Two of Wands reversed
The reversed Two of Wands speaks of a situation where you lack direction and feel cramped. You have few resources, or you feel limited and frustrated when it comes to deciding. A dominant personality may restrict you. You hesitate to travel or to leave home. You want something you cannot have.
This desire can make you let go of what you already have, or not pursue what you had started. The reversal does not get results through will: it gets them through receptivity. Something unexpected can amaze you or overwhelm you. It can also open up perspectives you did not know about. You may feel surprised by someone's sudden arrival, or have to give up a trip because of difficulties. A disappointment or a discontent can come as a letdown after a series of events. In the traditional sense, the reversed card says the unexpected: surprise, wonder, unhoped-for joy, but also fear, anxiety, trouble, domination and unexpected loss.
When you project onto others, you lend them all the power. Either they will not share their luck, or you are so impressed by their greatness that you feel unworthy of their attention. One of them then seems to block your path to your own opportunities.
In a spread position that combines hopes and fears, this card touches on change and on leaving a situation that shuts you in. You can both hope for and fear getting out of it: staying shut in is safer than becoming free.
What holds you back
- You lack direction and feel cramped in your decisions.
- You let someone else's dominant personality hold you back.
- You hesitate to travel or to leave home.
- You want what you cannot have, and you let go of what you have.
- You believe others have all the power and you feel unworthy of their attention.
- You risk being too credulous if other cards of deception are present.
- You hope for freedom and fear it at the same time, because staying in what shuts you in reassures you.
What helps
- Being receptive rather than forcing things by will.
- Welcoming the unexpected, which can open new horizons to you.
- Asking yourself whether you have been too credulous.
- Looking in the loss for your inner possibilities and resources, rather than counting on outside stimulation.
- Looking together at your attitude toward change to see what you really want.
What the card shows
On the card, a white, radiant hand comes out of the clouds and holds two crossed wands. Flames burst out where the wands cross. Above and below, two small wands carry the signs of Mars and Aries.
In the most esoteric version of the card, the two wands are two crossed Tibetan thunderbolts, called dorjes. The dorje is the symbol of lightning and heavenly power, especially in its destructive form. This destruction is the first step of creation: an egg must be broken to be fertilized. Faced with this force, the first reaction is therefore fear and rejection. Then, when you understand the overall plan, you agree to cooperate with it joyfully.
Six flames come from the center. They point to the Sun, which is exalted in Aries, and stand for the creative will. The background of the card shows Mars in its own sign, Aries, the first of the signs: this is the energy that launches a current of force. The reds of Aries and Mars, on a background of explosive red mixed with azure blue and emerald green, say that Mars is very much at home in this sign.
The meaning of the card: it is fire in its best and highest form, and will in its most elevated form. This will is ideal and does not depend on any particular object. The card bears the title Lord of Dominion. It speaks of influence over others, authority and power. This is the second level of the ladder of ten, where the element appears for the first time in the pure state, unmixed, in its original harmony.
In the classic tarot image, a person holds the world in his hands. It means mastery of resources: you have enough power, influence and control to choose what you want to accomplish in your field. Yet, in the midst of successes, you may feel melancholy or discontent. The two wands can also stand for collaboration, an alliance of forces or a balance of powers. At the deepest level, the card speaks of a balance between your spiritual nature and your earthly nature.
Your strengths
You have courage, resolve and daring. You are generous, proud, ambitious and refined. You have strength, a sense of authority and a taste for harmonious and fair leadership. You are also perceptive and sensitive.
What holds you back
- You can be restless and turbulent.
- You are stubborn and have trouble forgiving.
- You may give in to impudence, to the fury of vengeance or to ferocity.
- You have a lot and you always want more. You then hesitate to step through the door that opens in front of you.
- You may wait for your past efforts to bear fruit before acting.
What helps
- Weigh several choices or look for alternatives before deciding on the next project.
- Take a first position now and widen it later.
- Look for balance between your spiritual life and your practical life.
