Swords as Fire and Wands as Air

Little Baron

I have been drawing and doing a few readings from the Nigel Jackson tarot.

In it, swords are fire, and wands are air.

Can someone explain the whys and hows of this? In another post [I don't know where], someone said it was actually better that way.

I am finding it a bit confusing because the definitions of many of the cards are the same as Waite - same illustrations, so what is the point of changing the element? Should I just read them as I would normally and disregard the change? If not, how should I change my approach?

Help needed, please!

LB
 

YDM42

Swords are Intellect as in Fire - if you recall the gift of fire in mythology. Thinking, words, creativitry the how in pulling it together.

Air- Ideas- or Energy- Fuel for the Fire...the WHY in pulling it all together...
air propells fire or puts it out.

Something essential but not intellect which is the working knowledge... maybe stamina, drive- feelings - but not as cups which are emotions?
 

Little Baron

Thanks YDM42

It is still a tough one to get my head around.

It is like trying to do that thing where you rub your stomach in a circle and pat your head at the same time.

LB
 

YDM42

Laugh...maybe you should think of the rubbing as the sword controling your action and the confusion as the wand controlling your action.

Confusion is a concept,
Sword is an action.
 

sharpchick

And to further confuse things LB, is the fact that elemental associations with swords and wands in pagan traditions are often interchanged. There are many tarot decks with pagan influence where you find that to be the case.

If you are able to read the deck intuitively, then I don't think you necessarily have to adhere to the elemental associations of the deck's creator - I don't. For me swords will always be air (and east) and wands will always be fire (and south).
 

Sophie

I have the same problem. I can understand Swords as Fire, but not Wands (or Batons) as Air, if we are to attribute a single element to these implements.

Sharpchick - I see your point, but many deck creators put their chosen elemental association in the image. So you have swords surrounded by flames, and wands floating in air. Reading intuitively, you have to take those into account, surely?
 

sharpchick

Yes, I can see where that would be quite a visual problem. I have one deck where the elemental associations are reversed from the way I view them, but the swords and wands simply appear as swords and wands with no flames or winds, etc.

I'm not sure I'd be able to bond with a deck with visual symbols of the element displayed on the card.
 

Little Baron

Helvetica said:
I see your point, but many deck creators put their chosen elemental association in the image. So you have swords surrounded by flames, and wands floating in air. Reading intuitively, you have to take those into account, surely?
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly. The Nigel Jackson has fire throughout his sword cards and where it is especially dominant is in the courts. The Swords have fire and lamps surrounding them and the Wands have nice airy backdrops with birds flying through the image. It is just very difficult to get my brain to accept the shift. I am sure that it is not impossible but I need some good concrete reasoning to help it along.

LB
 

Sophie

LittleBuddha said:
It is just very difficult to get my brain to accept the shift. I am sure that it is not impossible but I need some good concrete reasoning to help it along.
Click to expand...
Yes, when you understand the reasoning - and the feelings! - behind the shift, then you can go along with it. I had that experience with the Crystal Tarot, which has Swords as Water and Cups as Air. That was strange at first, despite the beauty of the imagery. And then, one day, the penny dropped. The mind (sword) has many hidden depths, and can be like a deep sea or a lake - calm on the surface, but full of hidden elements - the unconscious, the ego, the superconscious, etc. It made so much sense!

And the heart - well, what better than to see the heart as a butterfly or a bird - sometimes flying free, sometimes imprisoned or wounded, sometimes transforming, sometimes simply at rest.

But it took me some time to get to that understanding, and now, even with the more classic Swords/Air and Cups/Water attribution, I have carried over those insights on the mind and the heart into my readings.
 

YDM42

Great explination Helvecticia,

Maybe we can look at the swords as intention- since air fuels the flames of fire. The swords would be the force or intensity of the action, and wands the airy lightness- deisire for the action.
Say a smile, and walking in a room with a smile that provokes an the reaction or action of another to smile or not smile back.

Wands could be enviroment or atmosphere, for the action of fire to occur, exist or live.

Helvetica said:
Yes, when you understand the reasoning - and the feelings! - behind the shift, then you can go along with it. I had that experience with the Crystal Tarot, which has Swords as Water and Cups as Air. That was strange at first, despite the beauty of the imagery. And then, one day, the penny dropped. The mind (sword) has many hidden depths, and can be like a deep sea or a lake - calm on the surface, but full of hidden elements - the unconscious, the ego, the superconscious, etc. It made so much sense!

And the heart - well, what better than to see the heart as a butterfly or a bird - sometimes flying free, sometimes imprisoned or wounded, sometimes transforming, sometimes simply at rest.

But it took me some time to get to that understanding, and now, even with the more classic Swords/Air and Cups/Water attribution, I have carried over those insights on the mind and the heart into my readings.
Click to expand...
 
Making meanings Elemental characteristics of Tarot?