This is the third installment of the Weekly Tarot Card. You can read the first two installments in the following links:
On Monday and Tuesday we spent some time developing our own experience with the 3 of Wands, delving into the card itself through meditation and observation.
Today we’re going to look at the element and number of the card, the two components that give a broader understanding of the 3 of Wands, before we get into the specific imagery tomorrow.
Fire – Wands
The Wands correspond the element of Fire. We need Fire to survive. It nourishes plants which in turn nourish us and animals (who also, in turn, nourish us). It is how we cook our food, boil our water to make it safe for consumption—and as such, it is our protector.
Fire fuels us, it is what burns inside us and pushes us into action through passion. When we want something, need something, it rivets us so that we can’t sit still. We must act on this energy, this passion, this push. Thus, as a result, it’s what generates creativity into creation. It is the element of action. It can manifest as something artistic, something communal, it can manifest as something sexual. But it will manifest.
However, this action can easily topple over, be too much. It can become a heated rage, a ravishing appetite. When a Fire is out of control, it stops at nothing until it is stopped. Because of this, we must be certain that when we tend our inner flames that we know what and when is to much, and how to push back against that overflow.
Three
The number 3 is the number of creation. While the number 2 and 1 have many different definitions that are all tied together, 3 is simply creativity/creation. It is the fist number with which a shape can be formed.
When we consider that 1 is a point, and two 1’s (2) create two points between which a line can be drawn, then three 1’s (3) then create a shape. This is the first shape created, and with it, building can commence.
With creation is expansion. 3 is the result of 1 and 2 added together, expanding beyond themselves. When there is one person, and another joins, they have the potential to create something together. That something is neither of them as it is separate of them, yet it is both of them, since it was created of them. Thus, the number 3 is an expansion.
Fire and 3 in the 3 of Wands
The Fire of the Wands is taking the the concept of the 3 and applying the creative and passionate energy into expansion. However, there is something to be noted specifically in the 3 of Wands. The figure in the card is holing on to one of the Wands while two of the Wands are behind them. There is a division between moving forward by applying the original idea/concept/passion of the Ace of Wands, to the fruition of the 2 of Wands and moving forward. With the 2 of Wands there is accomplishment, but the figure still holds on to the 1, the inspiration, and is holding onto it as they look out over the water and to the future.
