ELEMENT
Fire
WANDS POWERWORDS
Energy / Sexuality / Adventure / Creativity
NINE OF WANDS POWERWORDS
Strength, Courage, Outside Comfort Zone
QUICK MEANING
This card means that you are right now outside your comfort zone. You are being challenged to think outside the box or find the internal resources to cope with what is happening.
TRADITIONAL MEANING
Traditionally the Nine of Wands means courage in the face of adversity or challenge. The ability to keep going despite how hard it is.
CARD DESCRIPTION
A man stands firmly and leans on a staff. He has a wound on his head. He looks tired and glances back from where he came. Behind him are a row of staffs in a row – like a wall or boundary. In the far distance lie rolling hills and mountains.
SYMBOLS
Man
The man leans on his staff. He is exhausted. He has a wound on his head (overwhelm in the realm of the mind) and it is bandaged. He is not giving up but he finds his situation hard. We assume he will keep going no matter what but it will be his decision. We also could not blame him if he gave up because we know he tried hard till now.
Body Posture and Clothing
He leans heavily on his staff. He is tired and worn out. Yet he is still standing. The colors of his clothing show optimism and hope.
Nine Wands
8 wands stand behind the man and he leans onto one. It seems the way back is blocked. The only way is forward.
Stable Ground
The ground is flat and stable. His feet are firmly on the ground. This man is fully in his body and 100% aware of what is going on around him.
Mountains
The mountains are not high and they are green and fertile. No matter how hard we feel the current situation is, ultimately it will pass and we can choose to grow from it or stay where we are.
LESSONS ON THIS CARD
I think it is super important that we step outside our comfort zones now and again. Otherwise we never grow or deeply develop as an individual. You know the feeling. You have the driving test and once you have passed it you feel amazing. Or you need to face the bully in work and after wards you feel more empowered. There are many examples where as women we need to step outside our comfort zone. Sometimes stepping into the unknown can transform our lives and literally the world around us.
Look at Rosa Parks who defiantly sat on a bus seat and refused to move for a white skinned person. Segregation laws made black skinned students walk and white skinned students could sit on the bus. Total racism and tolerated by the society at the time. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) became an American activist in the civil rights movement and the United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU EXPLORE THIS CARD MORE
What is pushing you outside your comfort zone right now?
Do you know how to pull your courage and strength from within?
Are you ready for some more hard energetic work?
Are you allowing yourself to rest so you can keep going?
Can you see the big vision that gives you the courage to go outside your comfort zone?
Can you keep going? What support and resources do you need to accomplish your task?
Perhaps right now it is NOT GOOD to be outside your comfort zone. Do you know if it is or not?
GOLDEN DAWN / QABALA
The Hermetic title for this card is ‘Lord of Great Strength’.
On the Tree of Life, the Number Nine cards sit on the Sphiroth Yesod which represents Foundation. After the energy from the Divine enters Kether at the top of the Tree of Life, it next flows to Chokhmah. Chokhmah is the place of wisdom. The energy then flows onto Binah which is the energy of understanding. Then the energy leaves this upper triangle of energy (called the Supernal) and flows down to Chesed, the energy of Mercy. Then the energy flows to Gevurah which is a difficult Sphira representing severity and possibly suffering. Then the energy flows to Tiferet which is at the center of the Tree of Life. It represents balance and harmony. Next we move to Netzach which is victory and then onto Hod which is splendor. Then we move onto Yesod which is Foundation and directly under Tiferet in the middle pillar. It is balanced. It is the place where all the above energies now have the ability to become manifest and real. What we think, we become. More importantly, what we feel and decide to think, we become. So Yesod and the Nine of Wands suit this position.
ASTROLOGICAL
Ruled by the Moon in Sagittarius
NINE OF WANDS REVERSED
When this card is reversed the card tells us that you are not standing up for your beliefs or stepping outside of your comfort zone. You need to decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
Two important questions to consider with a reversed Nine of Wands:
Do you see that right now you are not following the next steps?
Do you want to give up? Is it right to give up? Perhaps this is the time to give up?