Pearls of Wisdom - Ace of Wands

Rede Seeker

Fire in the Hole!

From a volcano erupts a flourish of fire and a river of flame. Dancing on that river of flame is a masked woman. She smiles and waves to us. Her hair seems be be in cornrow-like braids - there's something twined in her locks. Odd that with all the fire around her, her hair isn't singed. I can't make out the symbol on her necklace. It's not a pearl. She holds a wand overhead. The wand is of living wood with a green ribbon, a yellow ribbon (straw perhaps) and pearls wrapped around it. The headpiece is a yellow globe, twin to the sun over her head. The smaller sun of her wand appears to rest over the volcano just as the true sun appears to rest over her head - all part of the magic of perspective. Interesting that in the distance we have Nature's representatives the true sun and erupting volcano. In closer perspective we have Nature's offspring, the dancing woman and her smaller sun-tipped wand. There is vibrant green on both sides of the river or trail of fire and flame. No sign of singeing on either side.

The sky is pink, purple, orange and yellow with a plain sun in the center. The sun has no swirls or beams eminating from it. It's like the sky is soaking up all the heat and light and giving the pinkish sky in return. Is this the 'red sky in the morning' that gives warning to sailors - or is it the 'red sky at night' the sailors' delight? It doesn't seem to make a difference to the Fire Dancer. It's the flame that fans her delight, the joy of the journey.

There are lit torches on both sides of the border, but their flame doesn't seem to burn as vibrantly as the river of flame or Fire Dancer's costume. In the lower right corner is a green bush (I don't recognize the species). There is also a hatching chick and something else that I can't quite make out. Higher on the right border is a club and the Rune Uruz. On the left side is a wand of living wood topped with a yellow, smaller sun-like globe. This wand is wrapped in greenery, a yellow ribbon/straw and strand of pearls.

Uruz is the second Rune of the first Aettir (first row of eight Runes in the Elder Futhark). Uruz is the 'Rune of vital power and will. Rune of formation and organic structuring' (ref. The Nine Doors of Midgard by Edred Thorsson). In readings it can represent strength, tenacity, formation and luck. An interesting choice for the Fire Suit because part of the Lore of Uruz comes from the rime-encrusted ice blocks flowing across Ginnungagap. Audhumla, the cow of Creation licked these blocks and formed the first man-like beings. Uruz represents the fire of Creation as opposed to the Need-fire (Nauthiz) or fire of unbound Life Force (Fehu).
 

Sulis

There's so much energy in this card (as there is in all the Aces) but this one just looks so vibrant and alive.

I don't think her hair is singed because she is the spirit of the fire.. She is the fire so it won't harm her.

Could this be the same volcano in the 8 of Wands?

Fire is transformative, the flames from the mountain and running down this path will remove anything unwanted so that new growth can take place..

And the little chick hatching from the egg in the bottom right corner... Gorgeous... I'm not sure what that is next to the chick either, I'll have to invest in a magnifying glass. I think it could be a germinating seed though.

I love this deck.

As an aside - did you every get that fanning powder for your sticky cards Rede Seeker?
 

Rede Seeker

Fanning Powder

How's this for Wyrd - a few days after posting the question of my cards sticking together, the problem went away. Either I wore the 'tooth' from the cards or it was a Karmic thing after all.
 

Marli

Red, Gold and Green Influence

What a celebratory card! And yes Sulis, I do agree that she seems to be the spirit if the fire, for even her feet are upon what looks like "fire flowers". I also noticed what looks like a downward pointed arrow in the top centre of her mask..any thoughts?

I also noticed the clubs symbol, both on the right hand column of the card under the torch, and she repeated them on each side of the banner that the card title is written in at the bottom.

And yes it is a seed germinating, facing the hatched chick, if you look carefully you will see where the plant has started the process of trying to reach the surface, (I have a magnifying glass... by the way, if you don't have one, you are really missing out on the 3d effects of the cards)

As for the green in her necklace, it is attached by a red cord, and her costume is red and gold. I also see a repeat of the Red, Gold and Green as "stones" embedded in her wand, both the one she holds, as well as the one on the left side of the card, now, in a thread I had recieved a message from Roxi aka Hexi, and she mentioned the strong Caribbean influences in this deck, and if you look at it from this perspective... then, the Red, Gold and Green come from the Reggae Colours, linked to the Rastafari religion - and each colour has a specific meaning:

The red is for the blood of all living things in the world.
The gold is for the sun and Jah's light that shine on people.
The green is for the earth that people walk on.

These things combined, all lend themself to the thought that yes, the fire is cleansing, making way for the new and the chick and seed add to the fact that after one cycle is completed another begins. And most importantly, if one of these things were missing, then it would render the others futile, for what is the point of clearing the way, if nothing new takes the place of what once was. So ultimately, this for me is a card of renewal!!!
 

Rede Seeker

Thank you for sharing the color symbolism

One of the many things I like about this deck is the way different cultures are blended into the imagery. There is no feel of 'this is the suit of the Carribean', 'this is the suit of Northern Europe'. It all works together.

As for the downward facing arrow on her mask - I see diamonds on both sides. of the mask I wonder if they aren't intended to indicate the Air (suit of Spaces) and Earth (suit of Diamonds). I don't see any Hearts representing Water, though - which is probably a good for a Fire card. There is water somewhere because the grass is so green.