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Eight of Wands Meaning

The Eight of Wands Minor Arcana card is one of speed, haste, and action. It represents swiftness and fast news and developments coming to us, write down your insights of inspiration before they’re gone! Following on from the perseverance and grinding of the Seven of Wands, it seems that things have certainly picked up pace for us here now.

Read on for a full Tarot card description including its Astrological and Numerological correspondences as well as what it can mean if it shows up for you as a reversal and in a general, career, or love Tarot reading:

The Eight of Wands Tarot Card Meanings

The Eight of Wands usually comes to us when we are busy and action-packed, when the wind has caught our sails. It is a card of quick energy and potentially messages coming to us. Either way, it’s fast!

The Smith Rider Waite card, and in many other Tarot decks, is one of two Minor Arcana cards that has no figures in it (along with the Three of Swords), depicting to me that sense of rushing and busyness that can pull us outside of ourselves, a feeling of being ungrounded like the Wands flying through the sky. It also adds an element of depersonalisation, an invitation to come back to the self but also to take things as they come- the Muse will simply move on to another if you’re not receptive to her!

Within this, the invitation is to roll with the punches and remain open to flashes of intuition, to take things in your stride, but to make sure the ground doesn’t fall away from beneath you. Take a moment within the speed to come up for air.

With this rendition there is also the question of which way are the eight Wands falling, are they coming down or have they just been launched?

If they are soon to land, they are going from left to right, past to future, a generally linear progression. We can take solace in that we are moving in the right direction and the Wands will drop eventually, embrace the energy while it’s here!

If they have just been launched, they would be going from right to left, future to past, a retrospective. Perhaps, like a Retrograde, it can indicate a chance for review and reflection.

I always look the the Tarot as a story arc, the card before it heeding a warning and the card after what’s to come. Here in the Eight of Wands, this need for not burning the candle at both ends but using this bust of energy constructively is reflected in the Nine of Swords next, exhaustion.

It can also act like a stop point instead, solace that we can harness this energy as best we can because it won’t last forever, soon we will rest with the Nine.

When this card shows up for me personally, it is nearly always a mentally active and busy day. Lots of errands are being run and things getting done, new ideas, and plenty of computer work! Sometimes, due to the electric-looking nature of the Thoth deck (which is what I use) this card comes up when I’m experiencing internet difficulties or a sense of frazzled energy in my body.

Like running around like a headless chicken, this card reminds me to check in that I’m being busy and effective, rather than being busy without accomplishing much- those moments when our head is in a million different places and our energy is pulled in different directions.

Upright Eight of Wands

Speed, haste, fast energy, quick developments, news, insights, rushing, movement, busy

Generally, the Eight of Wands upright is an invitation to ride the waves as they come and embrace this swiftness without fretting. It can represent life feeling fast with lots of news, information, messages, insights, and developments coming to us, remain open to downloads! It can also be about general movement and progressions, or a sensation of not too many things and not enough time.

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Astrology of the Eight of Wands

Astrologically, this is a Mercury in Sagittarius card, where it is detrimented. Mercury is the speedy Planet of the intellect, it represents our mind and communication. As the psychopomp that could travel between the worlds, it is the fluid messenger. Being domiciled in the detailed storyteller, Gemini, Mercury can struggle in the expansive Sign opposite, Sagittarius.

Here it can get lost in the vast plains of the archer, ungrounded in its loops of overthinking. When there’s an infinite amount to learn and explore, how can we grasp it all? Mercury in Sagittarius is the philosopher and the wordsmith, the poetic preacher.

I think this is the perfect symbol for this card, the Mercurial aspect reflecting the busyness of the mind that can be present when it shows up for us; and the Sagittarian nature reflecting the boundlessness of it.

The invitation is, again, to anchor our minds and energy into something grounded and practical, to ensure we don’t overreach or stretch ourselves when things are moving fast.

Numerology of the Eight of Wands

Numerologically, the 8s are numbers of manifestation, abundance, growth, and development. In the Tarot they reflect refinement, the ability to move on, and the power of the mind. As we begin to approach the end of the cycle of the Minors, we can check-in with the way we are going about things.

Qabalistically, the eighth sphere (Hod) belongs to Mercury, and so this is a doubly Mercurial card! Shore up your reserves of strength and energy so your physical health doesn’t get depleted in all the mental busyness!

The eight also connects it to the Major Arcana Strength card, one of fortitude and inner strength, the ability to do difficult things and be soft when it is easier to be hard.

I think this connection is twofold, on the one hand it is literally about calling upon our reserves of strength when we are going through particularly busy periods; on the other it reflects the notion of perhaps allowing the Wands to drop sooner rather than later if they are not actually efficient. The myth of “productivity” has us keeping ourselves busy so often as a means of validation and worth, when in reality sometimes it is unnecessary. Be strong enough to stop and rest.

To learn the Tarot meanings more in depth, enrol in my Intuitive Tarot Course!

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The Eight of Wands Reversed Meaning

If you choose to read reversals, a reversed Eight of Wands card could be a stronger indication that you might be making much ado about nothing. It can be an invitation to check in with the difference between fussing and nitpicking, and actual productivity. It may be a sign to stop and take a breather, to put down your work for a while.

Eight of Wands in a Relationships Reading

In a love reading the Eight of Wands can represent that things are progressing swiftly! You may be moving through stages quickly, check in that you’re not getting swept up in the excitement! Enjoy the ride, share ideas, explore— travel even!

Eight of Wands in a Career Reading

In a career reading, the Eight of Wands can be a message to ride the tides of productivity and work coming your way, but to make sure you’re not getting overwhelmed or being busy for no reason. Take things as they come and check in with your mindset. It can also be an invitation to keep moving forward and trust that your hard work paying off will be worth this period of effort!

So those are some Eight of Wands Tarot card meaning, I hope they’re insightful for you! Let me know in the comments section below if you have anything else to add or any questions.

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