Thoth Study Group - Ace of Wands

Even though we are progressing through the Majors for the Thoth Study Group, I have started on the Minors Wands for those who were keen to start at the Aces. That way everyone can join in when they are ready.

See other existing Thoth Study Group Threads via The Thoth Study Group - Table of Contents.

Ace of Wands

From Banzhaf's - The Handbook to the Cards ~

Instinct: Energy, initiative, passion, willingness to take risks
Goal: Self-realization, new goals.
Light: Courage, decisiveness, potency.
Quality: Pioneer spirit (the ace is always to be understood as an opportunity that lies within us and wants to be put to use)

The picture shows a flaming staff (the "phallic ace) as symbol of creative fire power that is the basis of all external endeavours as an invisible inner impulse.

From my notes from the 78 week study:
The Thoth Ace of Wands is a card for me that is just sizzling with energy and fire from within and without - with all the reds and yellows, flames and lightning bolts. I see an incredible amount of energy in this card - energy going in all directions that may need to be harnessed and directed to achieve ones goals.

The flames from inside the wand make me think of the fire within you that gives you the enthusiam, confidence, courage and passion to try new things, start that new project or creative endeavour. I see the lightning bolts or electricity around the wand in two ways - one as a result of the fire within you often "charge" the people or situation around you with renewed energy, excitement and inspiration. I also see it as sometimes outside influences, opportunities or other creative endeavours fire or inspire your own creative fires and imagination. To me this also can work in a circular aspect as well, your inner fire inspiring outside energies, and then the creative energies around you in turn further fueling your inner fire.

CreativeFire


PS. Have attached a pic of the card for ease of reference.

It is a shame that we have lost the great posts to this study thread as there were some excellent observations made and discussion going on!

However, to get the "spark of creation" going again for our study group ...

I came across this from Banzhaf's book which I liked for this card:

The inner restlessness arises from a creative urge to burst the framework that has become too narrow for the awakening fire spirit.

It does look like there is a lot of "bursting forth" going on with this card - and crackling - I remember that word because I wrote it down in my journal from reading the posts in this thread. Crackling with energy!

CreativeFire

CreativeFire said:

It does look like there is a lot of "bursting forth" going on with this card - and crackling - I remember that word because I wrote it down in my journal from reading the posts in this thread. Crackling with energy!

Click to expand...

Totally. I completely agree with that. The Ace of Wands is literally on fire. It strikes me as a very energetic, and very enthusiastic card. Duquette, in his book, Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, writes that the card portrays a 'huge Tree of Life ablaze with ten flaming sephiroth'. Ziegler, in his book, Tarot: Mirrors of the Soul, writes, 'After the Sun card, this card is the second highest energy card in the deck'.

Ziegler writes, ''This card signifies the power of free flowing dynamic energy, liberated from restrictions and fears. The bolts of lightning that go in all directions represent the explosive force of this flame. The impact of the bursting energy shakes up and destroys all seemingly secure limitations that we tend to cling to. This breaks open up a new door to our true creative potential.' Is this not very similar to the Tower card?

If I can remember correctly, then the lost posts contained some discussion of the similarities and differences between the Ace of Wands and the Tower. For instance, the Thoth Ace of Wands looks almost similar to the RW Tower. The Thoth Ace of Wands looks like a burning Tower... lightning flashing around it. I think that we came to the conclusion that the Tower was more about loss of control, and new events arising from that, and the Ace of Wands was more about control, and the new events arising from that. Hmnnn... I may not be remembering that correctly!!! I think that the energy in the tower is destructive and lacks control, but ofcourse there is a positivity that emerges from that...

Argh... if only we had those old posts back!

Centaur said:

Is this not very similar to the Tower card?

If I can remember correctly, then the lost posts contained some discussion of the similarities and differences between the Ace of Wands and the Tower. For instance, the Thoth Ace of Wands looks almost similar to the RW Tower. The Thoth Ace of Wands looks like a burning Tower... lightning flashing around it. I think that we came to the conclusion that the Tower was more about loss of control, and new events arising from that, and the Ace of Wands was more about control, and the new events arising from that. Hmnnn... I may not be remembering that correctly!!! I think that the energy in the tower is destructive and lacks control, but ofcourse there is a positivity that emerges from that...

Argh... if only we had those old posts back!

Click to expand...

The Tower in RW often means something unexpected happening - something will be destroyed, something born - so I don't see the energy as totally destructive. Otherwise, I think the similiarities are somewhat incidental.

The Thoth Ace is a literal image of the tree of life, with a Yod of fire at each sephira. Fire, of course, is related to wood, is drawn from wood, so the wand is a perfect image for that. It is interesting to show the wand literally bursting in flame, (like the bush that burns but isn't consumed?) rather than the flowering wand shown in the RW.

But that could also be a danger. Raising Kundalini when you're not ready, looking into the sun, can be dangerous and out of control, whereas a natural flowering of that energy and passion is healthy and life-giving. Maybe people are seeing a similarity to the tower because the image in Thoth's Ace of Wands is not one of controlled energy, and so intuitively, we know that is dangerous.

So many of the Thoth images, to me, seem in a great hurry.

I want to say, "don't push the river."

U.k

the Ace of wands looks like a very energetic card with Bolts of Lighting in the background.

Ace of Wands
Root of the Powers of Fire

This is the first ace I’ve drawn for my IDS, card number 40, first card of the second half of the deck. Appropriate, I suppose!

We see the end of a big wooden wand aflame. The inside of the cross section looks like paths on the Tree of Life, and there are large flames for each of the sephira. The wand and flames are the same yellow with orange lines. Interesting that on the wand, the colors look like wood, and on the flames the colors look like fire. In the background, green lightning/electricity shoots out from the wand over a red background. They seem to be throwing shadows on the red, so they must be very bright?

Crowley: Obviously phallic (but he had to say it!), so masculine. The flames are yods (which can also be seen as sperm from the wand). Wands/fire (and Knights) are related to the first letter of the name of God, Yod.

“Energy of the Divine manifesting in matter” makes me think of the snake and egg symbol. The egg is matter, the snake is the energy of the divine (or life). They are just about to get together (egg and sperm?). So this card with the Hermit would just scream beginnings and masculine creative energy. Hermit is yod, also. This stuff actually is making sense!

“At so early a stage that it is not yet definitely formulated as Will.” So Ace of Wands by itself is not “Will,” but “Divine Energy.” Good to know.

In the “Four Aces” section, Crowley implies that the aces are to be correlated to the element of Spirit, as the court ranks are related to the other elements. The point on the top of the pentagram and the point on the top of the yod. Important for a reading. Just as when you get stuck with a court cards and fall back on “fire of water,” you can do the same with aces—“spirit of fire.”

In addition to princesses as thrones of the aces, the section says aces are the link between the small cards and the courts, through the princesses. Part pip card, part court representing Spirit. Not something I’ve thought about before.

So astrologically, the Ace of Wands represents not only the element of fire, but also summer, along with the Princess of Wands.

In a reading: A great explosion of force is coming! Now is the time to begin something, especially something creative or something that requires lots of energy to get started. Something good with happen in the summer?