Discovering the Wild Unknown: Father of Wands
~ Discovering the Wild Unknown Father of Wands ~
Today’s card draw in the Discovering the Wild Unknown series is the Father of Wands.
I want to start off by providing an important notice, which will be included in all of this series. However, other things that will be included that you can skip to are:
- Card Description
- Considering the Card, where I look at how I would interpret certain imagery used
- Traditional Rider-Waite definition
I only include the latter as a comparison, to show how wandering down your own understanding of images and symbols can bring you to a similar meaning, though along a different path with different experiences. This is to help expand knowledge of the card.
I will not, however, be including the definitions from the guidebook, as that is not the point of this. Also, I don’t have rights to that material.
Important Note
I started this series because I had read that people struggled with the deck purely because the definitions in the Little White Book were very Rider-Waite-based, and that there wasn’t much wisdom regarding the animals and symbolism chosen.
This series is to help you to decipher the meanings yourselves. I am by no means saying what I have to say about the cards are correct for anyone outside myself. However, I am providing my daily journal entries regarding the deck to act as a guide so that you can begin your own journey.
When I started tarot, I had no idea what to write in my journal, and thus didn’t. Instead I obsessively read and re-read the Little White Book belonging to the Spiral Tarot (which is why today I can completely quote the book). I didn’t trust myself to know the cards, even when I could recite the definitions. I was afraid to put the book down.
To this fear of lack of knowledge, Kim Krans, creator of The Wild Unknown, writes:
You do know enough. You’ve been a person on earth every day since you were born. You’ve experienced all the emotions and situations these cards depict. Quiet the naysayer…don’t let it prevent you from sitting down with a friend (or yourself) and using these cards to help talk about what’s going on in your life. It will be positive. It will be radical. You’ll find things start to reveal themselves through the cards that have been hidden away, covered with dust.
pp. 10-11, The Wild Unknown Guidebook
Description of the Wild Unknown Father of Wands
The Wild Unknown Father of Wands shows a king cobra, raised up. His tail wraps around an up-standing Wand. The cobra has his hood out, and looks to the right, his tongue flickering out as well.
Behind him is a lightning bolt going from the top right of the card down to just behind him. It starts red at the top, then fades down to yellow. The background is solid black.
Traditional Card Meaning
The King of Wands is the combination of Earth and Fire. Fire is the Wands, and the King is Earth. Thus, this is a grounding of energy, someone who is stable in their passion. The Wands can convert to career. If someone follows their passion well enough, and are grounded enough, they can effectively make a career out of their passion. In order for it to be successful, the element of Earth, or money, must come into it. Thus, the King of Wands is also a successful businessman who doesn’t generally work for anyone else other than himself.
What I derive from the Wild Unknown Father of Wands
The Cobra, while intimidating, and raised, isn’t ready to strike. He looks more to be observing the situation, studying it, and seeing if it is worth his energy. He coils around his Wand, as if it is the source of his energy, and calculates what’s worth putting use such a tool.
To me, the red lightning bolt is like that quick instance of passion from the Wands. It reaches from the heavens and touches down to the ground. And that’s what the Father of Wands is, Earth meeting Fire. This is a grounding of that energy.
The energy is there, but the cobra is wise as to how to use it. He is grounded, and doesn’t expend energy unnecessarily. Instead, he weighs his options. However, when he does use it, it’s powerful, killer, even.
About the Deck
The Wild Unknown Tarot is a 2016 Harper One publication, created by Kim Krans. The deck is widely available at most bookstores who carry Tarot cards, but also on Amazon. Kim Krans always wrote The Wild Unknown Guidebook.
