Mary El Tarot - Four of Wands

Bat Chicken

http://www.mary-el.com/wands1.html

What an incredibly elemental card. There are definitely echoes of the Tower here. The tall tree with its crown of branches is in the middle of a fire storm – like the Tower’s tumbling crown.

Some trees have thick bark that resists fire when they are mature, making them immune to a wildfire. The fire clears out the underbrush beneath them reducing their competition for resources and returning nutrients to the soil. May of these same trees have cones that require fire to release their seeds in order to produce the next generation of trees in the forest.

Thoughts?
 

cSpaceDiva

I have always been drawn to art from the perspective of looking up through tree branches. It usually seems so peaceful, like you are resting under a tree. This one is not a perspective I would ever want to have. No air, oppressive heat, the deafening roar and crackling, massive power unleashed with nowhere to hide. Your best hope would be for it to pass through quickly.

Yet fire is inevitable, and in fact, healthy for the forest. It prevents overcrowding in the understory, keeps damaging pests and invasive species in check, and allows new growth and diversity to flourish. Fire suppression through human intervention pushes the forest out of balance. When faced with the fire do we intervene or do we allow nature (in the event it is natural) to run its course? When we are hit with a creative spark, do we provide it fuel and give it space to grow or do we snuff it out?
 

cSpaceDiva

Many of these same trees have cones that require fire to release their seeds in order to produce the next generation of trees in the forest.

The perspective in this card is like a baby looking up at the parent. Perhaps this is the perspective of the newly released seed that will now be able to grow as a result of this fire, this creative force.