04/12 King of Wands (Ludwig)

galadrial

I drew Ludwig today (as well as the 9 of Cups- I knew that 9 of Cups energy was around!). Though Ludwig cuts a fine figure, my eyes are drawn to that unusual die. A skull, fire and a K for King. Makes me think that perhaps a Page would be overwhelmed by Death and fall into inertia. But part of the maturity of the King is to be able to conciously draw on his fire energy and start really living again after a Death experience. His hat seems to speak of a fighting spirit, as well, or as Graham says about the 5 of Wands, "There are times in our lives when we must struggle in order to succeed." Ludwig has realized his responsibility to tap into his spirit and passion so that he can lead, inspire, teach and encourage by his example; not just when things are going well, but in the midst of Death and struggle. He retains his vision of what can be if we don't give up.

Graham's booklet says: "Standing on the table is Ludwig, the King of Wands, who is a great leader, fine teacher, and very generous man. Ludwig is a king of great inspiration, and when he is with us we feel encouraged to reach our full potential. He guides and directs us, pushing us to our maximum peak.
Divinitory Meaning: Ludwig represents a figure of responsibility and friendliness. A conscientious person of true love.
Reverse Meaning: Dictatorial, intolerant."
 

spoonbender

Ludwig seems to be very charismatic, doesn’t he? He has a big smile on his face (and when I say big, I mean big!), looking optimistic and ready to face a challenge. Ludwig is such an unusual name that I decided to look up the meaning: the name Ludwig means "Famous Warrior" – isn’t that appropriate?

Ludwig wears a party hat to show his cheerful, fun loving nature. It bears the number 5, so that links him to the Hierophant (the Grand Master in this deck), probably stressing Ludwig’s role of teacher, leader and guide.

In fact, Ludwig looks to me like the circus leader himself, directing us with his wand, making us live up to our full potential. I think Ludwig symbolises that part of ourselves that drives us on to reach the top, that what makes us prove our independence and makes us show just what we are made of!

The star-shape, which seems to be very important in the suit of Wands (every wand ends in a five-pointed-star and stars form the background of the court cards), reminds me of the same. I feel stars symbolise a vision of what we want to achieve, our hopes, our inspiration. In the olden days, people had to rely on them to find their way.

A cube lies next to Ludwig, showing on its sides a ‘K’ and a fire-icon, most likely standing for 'King of Wands (Fire)'. On the last visible side, however, is pictured... a skull! It was a surprise to find it here, but my first reaction was that the skull shows our transience and time passing by, and thus tells us to create something worthwhile in our lives; we don’t have to postpone things, but we have to enjoy every day, without holding back. The skull shows the importance of being alive.

galadrial said:
A skull, fire and a K for King. Makes me think that perhaps a Page would be overwhelmed by Death and fall into inertia. But part of the maturity of the King is to be able to conciously draw on his fire energy and start really living again after a Death experience.
I like this interpretation too, Galadrial – I don’t think Ludwig is easily discouraged by setbacks!

Spoonbender
 

Little Baron

Thanks for the 'Ludwig' name meaning - fits very nicely.

Yaboot