Tarot of Prague Cafe Club - 8 Wands

Jewel-ry

This card is quite different to what we normally expect to see in the 8 of Wands. Movement is shown by the 8 vibrant wands flying through the sky. They have a lot of energy, seen in their screaming faces. All the faces are different which could depict lots of different things on the go. They look like they are noisy, uncontrollable and chaotic. There is a lot going on and things could be all 'up in the air'. Progress is a key word.

On the other hand, the background shows angels which appear to be moving much more slowly. This may be an illusion but angels tend to be associated with guidance, grace, and calmness. They are also messengers and the message here appears to be that we have time, slow down, don't rush into things. This message is enforced by the fact that the main angel carries a lamp and an hour-glass.

The stork is also a messenger, so news, messages, journeys and communication, could all be key pointers to understanding this card.

J :)
 

Bean Feasa

More often than not, Jewel-ry and I have singled out the same cards for study -with no consultation beforehand I might add - it's been uncanny, sometimes. This one, though, is a card I might have bypassed so I'm glad you started the thread, J, 'cos it got me looking closer at this card and I've realised it's a very interesting one. There's great humour in it - each of the wands has the head of a fantasy animal, there's a unicorn, a dragon, and perhaps gryphons or dinosaurs. It's a wonderful way of expressing lots of possibilities, lots of irons in the fire, and each with its own shape, its own trajectory. That said, they're pretty much lined up in parallel too, so it's not absolutely chaotic - each type of potential is in harmony with the next, suggesting fortuitous timing. The wands look firm and straight and strong, very real and purposeful. They're tilting downwards which suggests to me that when they land, they'll take root very well.
All this vigour happens against a rather ethereal background - a woman in red and yellow robes and a chubby cherub float in a pale blue sky full of billowing pink clouds, while a stork holding a golden ball seems to stand on air in the top right hand corner. The woman holds an hourglass in one hand - seems to hint at the importance of timing again, and a golden bird in the other - both this and the stork's golden ball seem to suggest enriching possibilities and favourable outcomes.
 

baba-prague

A golden bird?

It's interesting you see it as that. It could be, it would make sense, but in fact it's a lamp - rather like an aladdin's lamp. This is a (largish) close-up so that you can see it.
The whole painting is amazing - sadly now in terrible condition - one reason it's hard to see the details (we did an awful lot of digital restoration on this one - if anyone from the German embassy ever reads this "Restore that painting please!").

I'll put up this closeup for now and then later say a bit more perhaps? Don't want to say too much - there is quite a lot to say here but it may not all be of interest!

http://www.tarotofprague.com/cats/8_wnds_close2.jpg

By the way, bit of serendipity here as I am currently working to get more images and closeups on to the site - and the Eight of Wands was the one I was working on just as I remembered this thread.
 

annik

there is indeed some humor! I like the bird resting on a cloud! I like to think that each wand carry a message to somebody. The two angels are on their way. Maybe they go to an important task. The one with the wings seems to be a little cupid. The other one seems to ride a cloud.
 

Little Baron

Just my view and how I see it.

But it seems as though the careful planning of time, offered by the angel, means very little to the rods, and they are literally knocking her and the cherub out of the way in their haste, eager to get to wherever they are going. Fire burns through the forest, not caring what falls in its way.

Things are definitely on the move. And you will get where you plan to go; at whatever cost. It might be saying 'don't worry about the natural order or the right way of doing things .. don't consider timing or others feelings ... do what you have to'. On the other hand, it might be suggesting that you are a bit like a bull at a gate when you want something and should stand back and think of those that you are pushing out of the way as you strive to your chosen destination.

Movement. Getting from A-B. Things in progress.

LB
 

yaraluna

this is one of those cards...to me...

whenever i see this card i wonder whether the wands are 'flying' through the sky, OR falling down on you from the sky, as when someone lets something falls from their hands.

in that sense, i perceive it as an abrupt line up of choices in front of you that may make you a bit unease. however, each choice has a light and shadow to it that you may see at the time of choosing it or later on when it may 'flip' on you.
as a wand, i also see it as new opps or choices that are coming fast at you or in your life (although not as fast as swords would).

what do you think>?
y