The Nine of Wands stands for energy on the spiritual level of human expression. Nine of Wands upright: aimfullness. Nine of Wands reversed: impulsiveness.
The original title of the ninth sphere on the Tree of Life is Yesod. Think of Yesod as an energy reservoir. Yesod of Tiphareth is the reservoir of our spiritual energy, which is the life-energy of the soul.
The soul’s life-energy is an intentional force that produces the will to live. Mind it’s the will to live, not the will to survive, which is an emotion.
Life is all about making meaningful experiences and gaining wisdom, understanding, and empathy. Hence, the will to live produces the will to have meaningful experiences. Meaningful doesn’t necessarily mean pleasant. Painful experiences can be as meaningful as pleasant ones, if not more.
An auspicious Nine of Wands calls for preserving our life-energy. This energy is the root of creative-feely, intellectual, and bodily energies and hence, the root of strength and health. Our life-energy is our last defense. When all other energies fail, we can still call upon our (spiritual) life-energy to go the last mile. This is where the secondary meaning of preparedness, resilience, strength in reserve and health come from.
Hence, an inauspicious Nine of Wands may indicate weariness, fatigue, and burn-out.
The respective power of consciousness is zeal. Dictionaries define zeal as great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. But zeal is more than that. Zeal is an expression of spiritual-intentional energy.
The auspicious use of zeal is aimfullness — the focussed and wise use of spiritual energy.
The inauspicious use of zeal is fanaticism. Fanaticism is the result of an intrusive idea infiltrating personality.
An inauspicious Nine of Wands may also indicate impulsiveness, which happens when energy gets out of hand.
Nine of Wands Symbolism
The card shows nine wands forming three triangles.
The middle triangle stands for the higher self, and the triangle at the bottom signifies human personality. Both triangles point downward toward the external world and the creation of experiences.
The meaning of Yesod is foundation, which refers to the energetic-vibrational foundation of the universe and all things, including our bodies.
Triangles suggest stability. Hence, the three triangles suggest a triple stability, which deserves the name foundation.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Nine of Wands
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life.
According to the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Nine of Wands represents Yesod of Tiphareth, i.e., energy on the intentional-spiritual level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produces either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings. Here are the five core meanings of the Nine of Wands:
- Power of consciousness: Zeal
- Constructive use: Aimfullness
- Destructive use: Impulsiveness
- Favorable internal experience: Perseverance, resolve
- Adverse internal experience: Resignation, quitting
Reflective Questions
If the Nine of Wands appears in your spread, you may want to ask yourself the following questions:
- When was the last time you felt aligned with your will to live and make meaningful experiences? If it has been a white, what about renewing that will?
- Do you remember an emergency when you had to call upon your spiritual energy to turn the tides? How did that feel?
- To what situations to you react impulsively? What about practicing emotional distancing in those situations?
- What do you do to preserve and kindle your spiritual energy?
- What are you zealous about? Do you channel your spiritual energy into this pursuit, or do you use it for less important things?
Nine OF Wands Summary
The Nine of Wands represents our intentional-spiritual energy, which is our last resource. Enlightenment practices cultivate our life-force, and maintain our will to live and have meaningful experiences.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings dominate at present because Astrology is a divination tool and favors fortune-telling. But these meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life are mixed up with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective, holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical, and hence, easier to memorize.
What do Various Tarotists Say about the Meaning of the Nine of Wands?
Let’s explore what different tarotists wrote about the Nine of Wands.
Usually, tarotists consider the astrological significances of Tarot cards. The Nine of Wands corresponds to the second decanate of Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter and sub-ruled by Aries and Mars.
This merges the aspiring-benevolent forces of Sagittarius with the pioneering-driven forces of Aries, whereby the aspiring-benevolent forces dominate.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Wands
For the Nine of Wands, Paul Foster Case offered the keyword preparedness.
Cultivating one’s spiritual energy is a great way of preparing oneself for challenges.
Paul added the following secondary meanings: originality, independence, daring, strength in reserve, health after illness, success but attended with some strife, and victory after opposition.
Originality is an Aries character trait, which sub-rules Sagittarius.
Independence, daring, strength in reserve, and health after illness indicate the presence of sufficient energy to deal with challenges.
Success but attended with some strife and victory after opposition seem a bit off since success and victory are matters of the creative sphere on the Tree of Life. Having said that, we need sufficient energy to pursue success.
Paul offers the following inauspicious meanings: danger or violence in foreign places or during long journeys, difficulties with relatives of the marriage partner, conflict with persons prominent in religion or law, and obstinacy.
Paul derived the meaning of danger or violence in foreign places or during long journeys from the Sagittarius connection. Sagittarius rules the ninth house of experiences, which also governs long journeys. The same house pertains to brothers- and sisters-in-law, hence, the notion of difficulties with relatives of the marriage partner. The ninth house also rules religion, churches, and ethics. That’s where the notion of conflict with persons prominent in religion or law comes from.
Obstinacy is the stepping stone to fanaticism.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Nine of Wands
Arthur Edward Waite wrote this card signifies strength in opposition, which goes back to having sufficient energy for dealing with challenges.
Arthur wrote that, generally speaking, this a bad card. That’s why he gave the guy in the picture a bandage. But there are no bad Tarot cards. Tarot cards represents faculties of consciosuness which we can use constructively and destructively. Giving only the inauspicous meaning of a Tarot card means pointing the querent in a bad direction.
Also, Arthur contradicts himself. His keyword strength in opposition is a good thing. Arthur even said that if attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly, and his build shows, that he may prove a formidable antagonist. This aligns with the key idea of energy in reserve. However, the term build is off since it belongs to the bodily level of human expression.
Arthur listed the following inauspicious meanings: delay, suspension, adjournment, obstacles, adversity, calamity, annoyances, and quarrels. This is a bit off, too. All of these attributes fall under the umbrella of adversity. And adversity is the name of the 26th path that connects the Higher Self with Intelligence. But one could make the point that a lack of energy may produce these types of adversity.
The inauspicious meanings of troubles from friends and lawsuits go back to the connection with the ninth house ruled by Sagittarius.
What Etteilla Said About the Meaning of the Nine of Wands
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist, offers the meanings of delay and misfortune.
These meanings don’t fit to the notion of energy, except when a lack of energy produces delays or misfortune.
What Papus Said About the Meaning of the Nine of Wands
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, offers the meaning of great success.
This is another instance of diluting the distinction between cause and effect and highlighting a tertiary meaning. Energy allows us to persist in our undertakings, which may lead to success.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meaning of the Nine of Wands
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, claims that this card signifies order, discipline, good arrangement, and disposition.
This is an odd mix of meanings. Order and good arrangement are matters of the Emperor/reason card. Disposition is the faculty of consciousness of the Lovers/Relationship card. Discipline is a secondary meaning of the World/Skill card. Having said that, the path of the World/Skill card connects Energy and Materialization, meaning Energy expresses through discipline to bring about materialization.
Gregor suggests the following inauspicious meanings: obstacles, crosses, delay, displeasure. Apart from delay, these meanings pertain to adversity and negative emotional reactions. As mentioned, delay makes sense as a tertiary meaning.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meaning of the Nine of Wands
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th century, celebrated Parisian fortune teller, said that the Nine of Wands signifies difficulty with the police, law suits, and an inheritance by will.
Difficulty with the police goes back to the Sagittaarius connection and the ninth house of religion and morality. Law suits is off since law suits belong to the seventh house of legal matters ruled by Libra. Inheritance is also off, since it’s a matter of the eighth house ruled by Scorpio.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use a faculty of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to Learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
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If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you came to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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