Nine of Wands
Here Genetti uses the Aboriginal Dreamtime to illustrate the concept of “integration” in the Suit of Fire. She refers to the Dreamtime as
Genetti said:
. . . the connective power of the universe, which keeps the natural world in balance
In the discussion I did for the
Princess of Wands, I spoke about monocots, and their suitability as a symbol for Wands. Here, too, we see a recognisable monocot – the palm tree. The Princess draws down the power of Fire to help her village – the Nine draws down the same power for the viewer to round out experience and inspiration. The Wands in the card are didgeridus (an instrument whose sound I personally cannot stand), richly adorned with fire-coloured paintings, the pigments for which were made from ground rocks. This card marries Earth and Fire inextricably. It proclaims the Earth as the source of magic – for creative inspiration and spiritual enlightenment both.
The termite mound rears up (inexplicably, in the middle of a riverbed . . . bad ecology, that
) to remind us of the transformative power of the suit of Wands. The termite colonies do in Australia what fungi and bacteria do in other, wetter, countries, by aiding the decomposition of dead and dying plant matter. They hollow out great trees and consequently create homes for wildlife, where young marsupials and parrots are reared to adolescence. Their homes are great mounds made of dirt, chewed wood and termite spit, glued together to form an impermeable, impenetrable fortress. In northern parts of the country, these great mounds are magnetically aligned to make greatest use of the Sun’s Fiery power. Within the mound, darkness reigns, and the white termites inspired the Aborigines to tell of the stars of the Dreamtime, bound within cocoons of Earth. The card then is cyclic and endlessly self-repeating, a feedback loop of returning connections.
As an Australian, this card holds great significance for me. It brings to mind the tangle of feelings I have for my land. I share with the Aboriginals, all unacknowledged, a deep spiritual link to my country. It is a land of Fire and Earth, and little else. Life perseveres through the grace of the Fire within, in the face of remarkable adversity and extreme conditions. So when I see this card, I think of home. I think of the link I feel so strongly to my land and the spiritual home it represents. It challenges me, too, to face those parts of me that I dislike, and to transform or integrate them, as necessary, because of the political implications in our society of Aboriginal symbolism. It is a fraught subject, and one with which I struggle mightily. The card makes me think also of not being “allowed” to feel the way I do, to be told that it is wrong or culturally inappropriate, as many Aboriginals deny the right of white Australians to feel a spiritual link with this country in our own way; and of struggling to overcome prejudice within myself to see the value in something.
\m/ Kat