Week at a Glance: 8 of Wands

The purpose of drawing a "Week at a Glance" card is to get a sense of the sort of energy, circumstances, or personal qualities I might need to be aware of during the upcoming week.

For the week of March 3, 2013 I am using the Elemental Tarot with artwork by Marco Turini (Lo Scarabeo).

My card is the EIGHT OF WANDS, reversed.

I associate the suit of Wands with the element Fire, representing inspiration, passion, will, optimism, and action. In my personal system, the number Eight is a number of ambition, achievement, and power. Certainly those qualities are evident in the illustration on the Eight of Wands in this deck! The Golden Dawn links this card with the placement of the planet Mercury in the zodiac sign Sagittarius, which makes a lot of sense to me.

With the card being drawn reversed, I have to look at the possibility of delays or obstacles related to the upright meaning of the card. I get a sense of being held back, lack of movement (at least temporarily), stalling out, or losing momentum. This could be due to my own internal state or to outside influences, or a combination of both.

If I don't like the idea of this happening, I need to be on the lookout for ways I can turn things around through my own actions and decisions. If delays or obstacles are coming from other people or events, I may just have to make the best of it for the time being. But looking again at this card, I can see that turning this guy on his head is not going to stop him in the long run. He is going to bounce back more determined than ever.