Tarot of the Old Path - Study Group - Two of Rods

[huredriel]

OK just my initial thoughts on this card.

Here we have a young man. He is wearing yellow trousers and orange top. He has a red tunic with yellow piping over the orange top and it appears to have an orange belt upon it too. Upon his head is a red hat .... I'm not sure what type of hat this is though. To me, he is letting his thoughts (yellow) guide the direction in which he is going (legs). The orange denotes creativity to me, so this would be something like a project that he is trying to get going. The red to me denotes passion and energy. Again creativity and mental processes surrounding and holding in that passion and energy (piping and belt). The hat being red would also denote that this is something he is constantly thinking of and possibly consumes his thoughts.

He is wearing long red shoes ..... almost like slippers ...... and the ends then reach upwards to just below his knees and appear to be tied around his legs. He is standing upon two very long tall rods, which I take to be birch, the same as mentioned in the 6 rods. These rods take the form of stilts, with his feet upon the small branch that protudes on either rod. Upon each rod, a large frond grows, each sporting 11 leaves.

Again I feel the red denotes his passion carrying him on his journey, yet with the shoes tied, a feeling of one step forwards ....... and two backwards ..... an experience which invariably accompanies any project that is undertaken and is in the growing stages. We also have the 22 leaves in total, perhaps a reference to the 22 cards of the Major Arcana and the archetypes of people/experiences that a person will meet upon their journey, not only with a project, but life itself.

Lastly, I note the direction of the card. It appears that this man is going towards his "past" as the card is placed in front of you. To me, this reinforces that tied up feeling of his shoes.

[Rhiamon]

interestingly enough, the book says little about this card. His stilts are ash, his hat symbolizes deep thought and meditation, the red in his outfit symbolizes the fire element of the card, and it says he is in complete control and confident. Hmmm....maybe his shoes are tied to symbolize that he did everything possible to keep from falling in his travels? Just a guess..lol

[huredriel]

Originally Posted by Rhiamon

Hmmm....maybe his shoes are tied to symbolize that he did everything possible to keep from falling in his travels? Just a guess..lol

Of course, forgot to mention the balancing aspect ..... also I would have thought patience too.

[Candelosa]

Thanks for this explanation, this is a card that I didn't understand so much and I don't have the book, it has been a little complicated to get it.

[Arania]

Total mastery of what he is doing, yet not standing still and moving forward is what I get from this card.

[Jes]

I tend to read this card as a balancing card. Balance between family and work, balance between emotions and logic, and also a choice between 2 good things...

buts thats just me

[Carla]

It's a card of balance, but what is he balancing? Going about on stilts is not the most practical mode of transport. His shoes are not the most practical type of footwear. (They're called 'poulaines' by the way, and were popular in the 15th century. Some of the pointy toes actually were so long that people tied them up to their legs. Silly, no? ) He is either looking down (rather than ahead) or he has his eyes closed. Either way, not the most practical use of his eyes given that he's trying to walk about on stilts wearing freaky shoes!

Now I usually interpret 2 of Wands to mean self confidence, self-knowledge, creating goals, envisioning the fulfilment of goals, etc. But I don't see any of that here. I see someone who is stomping along on stilts and not looking too far in the direction he is going. It's a precarious situation and he's not being practical at all. That's how I'd read it. He might be able to stomp along on those stilts for quite some time (they are perfectly symmetrical and the 11 leaves on each rod also add up to 2 (1+1=2), but what purpose is it serving? What good is it doing? Is this the best way to get where you want to go?

ETA: On reflection of course he's looking down to see where the stilts are landing. But then that begs the question--if what you're balancing requires such intense concentration, is it what you need to be doing right now? Is it practical? Are there alternatives to this? How did you manage to get into this situation? How are you going to get out of it? Looks like falling is the only option. How are you going to 'fall with style', as Buzz Lightyear would say?

[Celtictarot]

I pick this card up as walking on stilts as balancing and moving forward in life.