Sequential Exercise 5-7 Wands

tarobones

The LWB for the Fey Tarot: “Choose one card at random and then choose the cards which precede and follow it. (for the 3 of Swords, take the 2 and the 4 of the same suit). Think about how the card’s nature is a consequence of the nature of the card which precedes it and how it leads to the one which follows. This exercise is very helpful in viewing the cards not as monolithic rocks but as moments and dynamic descriptions. It also helps understand the relationships which exist between the various cards.”

Sequential #1
5 of Wands
6 of Wands
7 of Wands

I chose this trio because the 6 of Wands intrigues me at the moment. How do the playful Fey lead to the Fey Ambassador in the 6 of Wands? Perhaps the playful spirit itself is what is being shared. In the RWS version the young men seem to be sparring playfully and energetically with their wands, and some have suggested they are learning to collaborate. If they collaborate, they together will “build a pentacle symbol out of wands.” Intriguing. In the Fey 5 of Wands I can almost hear their joyful giggles. They are so enthusiastic, I feel drawn in, even though I haven’t swung from a tree in many a year! LOL. Notice the diversity! Every Fey is a different color. Yet they enjoy each other so totally. A lesson there for sure, in our world where differences can lead to a very different conclusion than this card……..play or violence……..I’ll choose play!

The Fey in the 6 of Wands that are receiving the Ambassador certainly look like they need a day or two of play!! They don’t seem all that happy, rather they seem hesitant, curious but still. The celebration of differences! A victory over suspicion and prejudice. I like that take on it. The Fey in the 5 send an ambassador to a new community in need of their gifts.

The beautiful bonsai appears in golden form in the 7 of Wands, as the Fey fights the shadowy figures (hehe, I keep thinking of Dementors in Harry Potter). Struggles continue in the 7 of Wands. What is the difference now that they have received the visitor in the 6? The changes that the visitor no doubt introduced into the new community does not mean the end of struggle, the end of darkness. But the gift he brings is well worth defending from those dark creatures!

There is a lot more to this sequence, but these are my initial thoughts. I like the exercise. Helps me appreciate the images more. BB, Michael
 

dadsnook2000

Some comments

The Five, Six and Seven of Wands:

Viewing these three cards in sequence, I'm drawn to the focus of each card. 5/W has the participants focused inward among the group. 6/W has the focus outward, forward to a destination within a state of slow progress. 7/W has the focus also outward but without progress, standing in a defensive mode.

Appropriate for the wands, each card shows a plant/wand in different situtions: the 5/W utilizes the Tree to support its playful interactions and struggles of the game. The 6/W offers a small plant which is being carried forward as a gift of some sort. 7/W has a glowing, valued plant being protected by a Fey with a wand. Does the plant-gift represent what the large tree already is, and will it be valued as the small plant being defended?

If we look at the posture of the Fey's within these cards we see first a group engaged with each other, then one Fey among other coming forward, and finally a Fey in defensive mode. The six and seven Fey's face each other, both are ignored by the five Feys. Can we draw something from this: Those within a group tend to interact in familiarlarity with each other, those that "arrive" from without the group are viewed but not interacted with, those that receive "outsiders" tend to battle the unknown and defend thier values. This suggests that even non-threatening advances which offer benefits and are slowly, carefully engated in tend to be received with suspicion and concern.

This is so unlike my first impressions of the Fey. I used to see them as being advantaged by their movement and knowing of what lies on both sides of the line between the physical world and spirit world. So, does that hold here? Some authors such as Raechel Pollack review the tarot working back from the 10s to the Aces, seeing the story told in that fashion to make more sense. If we were to do that here we might see that fear and concern over what our values are is best addressed by being open to wider perspectives and input from others -- this acceptance will lead us to a joyful intermingling for all.

Its an interesting study to look at cards from differing views. Dave
 

tarobones

both

Hi Dave, thanks for your post. I enjoy reading your posts all the time. I appreciate both views. Perhaps after I do one sequence I should look at the reverse, as Rachel P. suggests. In either case, the sequential process as suggested by the LWB intrigues me, and helps me focus my study. I hope to meditate more on these three and then venture forward with another trio. Any ideas?

BB,
Michael
 

dadsnook2000

A suggestion, yes.

We need to expand the way we look at and interprete the indivdual, and even the groups of three cards. When I look back at many of the daily draw threads they seem to become flat after awhile -- many of the participants doing little more than describing the card features that strike them more fully and the reasons for that.

When we use the cards in a reading the cards are positionaly and meaningfully part of a spread -- a longer story when more than a 3-card spread is used. As such, each card takes on variations and emphasis in its meaning to the reader. So, here is my suggestion.

We should consider evaluating each card in several ways:
1) the SITUATION and ACTION that the card can represent.
2) the VALUES and BELIEFS that the card can represent.
3) the RELATIONSHIP ISSUES that the card can represent.
4) The ASPIRATIONS or GOALS that the card can represent.

These four views of a card can be related to the four angles of a horoscope, which is where I took the idea from. These are the cardinal issues that most readers deal with in terms of the general questions that are asked in one guise or another. Together they offer today's LIFE LESSON to guide us. So, if we briefly consider all/most of these for each card we will improve our sense of how the card can work in a reading for the benefit of the client. This will provide many values to us as list participants. Dave
 

tarobones

great idea

I agree completely with this idea. Daily draws are important to me, for other reasons, but the description and reaction process is an important one for me, to get to know the cards a little. I do NOT use them in a predictive way at all, but as a means of studying one image perday. The suggestion you have for these is excellent and I think we can do that easily. I will try to incorporate this in my next trio, following the process Riccardo Minetti laid out in the document (LWB) for 3 card sequential studies. Thanks for the suggestion!
 

dadsnook2000

Ammendment to my suggestion

I've had another thought now that I'm awake -- the other four steps were a result of my last night's sleep. Although not all spreads have an "outcome" card/position, many do. We should add a fifth step: 5) the RESULT or OUTCOME of the reading -- to the extent that we can make a statement of this type without the rest of the spread to guide us. Just a generic statement.

I believe that including all/most of these five interpretations will both help us be flexible and open to details of the reading as well as push us into looking deeper and keeping us from shallowness in our interpretations. Dave.
 

tarobones

good morning!

Good morning.........the suggestion grows and deepens. In some ways it is starting to sound like a spread. But I agree to focus on these dimensions for each card is a good discipline. My simple non-positional 3 card spreads will improve by this kind of reflection I am sure. But at the same time, depending upon circumstances and the intuition of the moment, I would not use all of the dimensions of a card in all readings. I look forward to your posts about this.
Perhaps, as a plot, we could wade through all the threads on the Fey and reflect on these cards using your template. Maybe we would awaken some folks to return to the study groups. :) Michael
 

Sophie

Good categorisation, Dave! I might not use it systematically for daily draws, but it seems like a good way to get to know a card; also, even in daily draws (or actually, any readings), bearing these categories in mind can help us past a blank spot, give us more depth, etc. I might give it a go in my journal at least.
 

dadsnook2000

For Helvetica

Yes, these categories are good for starting one along the process of deeper understanding of their cards. I personally find it hard to understand how one can draw a blank on a card in a reading. If you know your cards they speak to you. You might not understand the card at that position when you first encounter it, you will have to come back to it after looking at the whole spread, but it will fit. Even if to point out a contradictory issue.

Not every card in every reading fits into a nice "flow" or story line, in my experience. Just as it happens in life, so it happens in the cards -- you come across an odd bump in the road that doesn't fit with the other cards. This is when you either dialog with the client or make a statement about this out-of-whack card -- often such a statement will induce the client to respond and clarify it. Then you get deeper into the cards, deeper into the question, deeper into the client -- and then we benefit from a great learning experience. Dave.
 

tarobones

odd bumps

I must respectfully disagree with you on this small point, dadsnook. I've found the "odd bumps" that don't seem to fit are problems due to my lack of perspective, not to the bumps themselves.............nowadays when I encounter an "odd bump" in life or in a reading, it intrigues me most of all. I do agree that the cards all "fit." Without odd bumps, life would be flat indeed. BB, Michael