Four of Wands - four pillars of success?

[firemaiden]

Perhaps we could revisit meanings for this card? I always see the huppa on the RWS-type versions card, and go, duh "marriage" ---

But my Roots of Asia four of wands shows two tigers going exploring. The blurb in the superb LWB says: "Four of Wands: Path to Success. There are four pillars or light posts on the pathway to assist us in finding our success. They are aspiration, effort, thoughtfulness, and investigation.

Divinatory key: a fruitful creation "
I like this interpretation. It fits well with the RWS tradition too, I think because there is that pathway from the castle aspect....

Thoughts? Reactions? Comments? Different Ideas?

 

[Osher]

I've always seen the 4's as lulls before the storms. It is consolidation and preparation. If the 3's are the action, and the 5's are the downers, the 4's are the rest between.

For this reason, I have always been slightly skeptical of the 4 of wands as being a 'marriage' card. If, the 3 shows you constructing a basis, forming the way forward, to my mind the 4 should be a case of sitting back and resting in your new construction.

I suppose this could be seen, therefore, as meaning settling down, but that would suppose that the next stage is a trial. One might argue that marriage is a trial! However, whilst I am not against this meaning, I would always look for supplimental evidence for this meaning, say, an Ace of Cups.

 

[Imagemaker]

I've always seen it as a public event or ceremony--may be a performance of any kind out on a stage (some marriages are).

The Robin Wood has two people dancing on a stage under the canopy, which came up a lot when I was teaching public speaking. Both for my performances and for the students'.

 

[contrascarpe]

I have always tended to see this as a "rest" card as well, just as happiness has said. I see this as a card that tells you to sit back and take stock of your achievements. Yes, a cause for celebration but don't get carried away because there is more work to be done. However, this is my "set" meaning - it depends on the situation, which deck I am using, and my mood/mindset. If I were using the Roots of Asia (which I really, really need to dig out and look at closer) it would definitely mean something different to me.

 

[Sulis]

I don't always see it as a rest card but as a card of completion and of taking the next step, time to celebrate your achievements: You've done the groundwork, now it's time to get out there and show the world what you can do.
This would work well with Firemaiden's paths to success interpretation.

Love and light

Sulis xx

 

[Jewel-ry]

I like the roads to success interpretation. I see this card as a completion and fulfilment card but I think its important to emphasise that its early success, there is still work to be done. This is my 'time is right' card, yes you've made the start, its working and is successful, now continue forward.

J

 

[Thirteen]

Quote:Originally posted by Happiness
I've always seen the 4's as lulls before the storms. It is consolidation and preparation. If the 3's are the action, and the 5's are the downers, the 4's are the rest between.

I agree with you on almost all points--including that I wouldn't read this card as "marriage" without either supporting cards in the spread OR if that was the specific question asked ("Will we ever marry?").

To tackle the marriage question AND answer the overall question, however, I see 4/Wands as the completion of a foundation. This is why it's a "rest" card also. You dig the pit, you set in the support, pound in those four pillars of success, you pour the concrete....And FINALLY, the foundation is ready. After all that initial work, you can take a break, celebrate even, and go over the plans for the next step: what you will build on that nice, solid foundation.

So, in regards to the four pillars of success, it's certainly the card that, to me, would indicate that you've got the pillars in place. You haven't succeeded yet, but with these pillars in place, you certainly can.

A wedding--and it's a wedding we're discussing with the 4/wands--is very similar. It is the culmination of all that initial relationship work. Consider--most couples marry after knowing each other for only a few years. But they'll be in that marriage--one presumes--for a very long time. So a wedding is the celebration, the "rest" if you will between the short but very important bit of work that has gone before and what's going to come after. "We've created the foundation," it says. "Now we can move on to build the rest of it," which includes such trails as: getting along with the in-laws, buying a home, helping each other succeed in divergent careers, having babies, going on trips abroad, dealing with each other's medical problems...etc.

By compare, the wedding and honeymoon are very much 4/Wands. A celebration of the foundation the couple have laid, a sealing if you will, of that final brick in the foundation, and a well earned break before facing all the tribulations and victories involved in building the rest of their now joint life.

 

[firemaiden]

I drew it as a what am I doing wrong card... perhaps the sense of rest = resting on your laurels?

 

[Thirteen]

Quote:Originally posted by firemaiden
I drew it as a what am I doing wrong card... perhaps the sense of rest = resting on your laurels?

No, I think that would be the 6/Wands. 6/Wands is a great victory, everyone applauding you. And it's very easy to keep pointing back to that victory instead of continuing on. To rest on those laurels for, well, forever. Ever know someone who never stops talking about some award they won in college or high school?

But I think if you got 4/wands for what you did wrong, it could be an indication that you may have laid the foundations wrong. Or perhaps those 4 pillars aren't as strong as they seem?

It's easy to see this if you do think about a wedding. If you said, "What did I do wrong," and you'd just gotten married, and you drew 4/wands, then you'd probably think...uh-oh. Got married too fast.

Ditto with almost any other concern. Lay down the foundations too fast, don't put in enough work or time to make sure they're solid, and everything you build atop them is in danger.

If you'd gotten 4/wands reversed, by the way, I'd read that as having NO foundations. 4/wands upright, in that position, suggests to me that you do have a foundation, you just didn't make it as solid as it ought to be for what you want to build atop it--be that your career, your relationships, friendships...your future.

 

[contrascarpe]

I think, like everything else in life, you have to keep an open mind while doing a reading. I have spent countless hours reading books and learning "standard" interpretations, but often (very often) I sense something different when reading a card - part of the intuitive nature I am trying to incorporate in my readings.

That being said, your lessons here at AT were what provided that "spark" to me when I got stuck in my studies.

Dan