Finding The Light In The Dark - Ten of Wands

There are those of us who are afraid of the darkness, or find it oppressive and depressing. Some embrace the darkness, especially those who live in the North. They find a beauty, and peace in the dark of the North, that many Southerners may never experience or fully understand. I was blessed to have been able to have lived in Northern Canada for three years. Initially it was an adjustment, but I adapted quickly to the lack of daylight. I will say the excess of light in the Summer months made up for it, and because of this, I actually found it more of an adjustment when I moved back to the South,  if you can call Nova Scotia being the 'South'.

An over active imagination can contribute to our fears of the dark, but if we can learn to embrace the darkness we will eventually find the light, and be able to overcome our fear of the unknown.

Upon first impression, the Ten of Wands, the last numbered card of the suit of Wands, gives a feeling of heavy oppression, because it speaks of taking on too much, and feeling overwhelmed. We have lost enthusiasm for our once new creative project or undertaking. Here we see Jason surrounded, and bound by burning Wands, with the Golden Fleece on the ground, and the once great Argos is beached and wrecked in the background. You would expect a different scenario after Jason's accomplishment.

Being surrounded by the burden of the Wands on fire, we ask ourselves, what now, and how am I going to get out of this situation? Will I ever get back to were I was once was creatively? We all experience what some call creative blocks, or what I call a kind of spiritual dryness where depression can follow a particular creative or happier time. Often when we are feeling oppressed, this can lead to suppression, and eventually unconscious to repression all this can stifle our creativity, and happiness.

We may feel like, some how we have lost our way, and are out of touch with ourselves, maybe we are feeling burnt out, under the weight of many burdens.
Although this fire can hurt us, if we let it, it still provides us with a light that points to the way out, and can illuminate our path on the pilgrimage of life.


For me, the Winter Solstice is the time to deeply reflect, take an inventory of my life at present, to prioritize, and to apply the slogan, ' first things first'. I need to discern what it is I need to unburden myself from, and perhaps add to, or reorganize my life in order to restore my vision.

When we hit the darkest low points in life, I do believe, we can only go down so far, before we begin to come back up, as my strong mother, and wise mentor would always say, in so many words.  The darkest hour is truly just before the dawn, when the restorative life giving warmth of the sun, will come shining through.

This past year has been a difficult one for me personally, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Today seemed to be the culmination of a rough past two weeks. As I was writing this post, there came a knock at the door, and I found a very dear, kind friend, who reached out in generousity, and I was overwhelmed with emotion, in  great gratitude.

The Crescent Moon Bear- Catherine Meyers

Knight of Wands - The Explorer

We all need to take risks in life, follow our bliss, and challenge ourselves, as this is what enables us develop our self-confidence. When we challenge ourselves, we can learn what are capacities are, and develop our human potential as human beings, fully engaged in living, and experience personal growth.

When I reflect on taking risks in life, I think of the book I read many years ago by Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. Standing on the sidelines of life,  or simply being a bystander, may seem like a safe and best place to be, but it is not the path to happiness or fulfillment. Having a proactive attitude and being a participator is what leads to living life to the fullest.

 This is the card and sign of the explorer, who is energetic and who yearns for new adventure. A change is as good as a rest it has been said, and the craving for new challenges is indicated. Possibly in the form of a change in residence, or a traveling adventure is likely, due to the feeling of being stifled by one's environment.

A very charming figure is the Knight of Wands, and very attractive to the opposite sex; however don't expect to hold this individual back, when the call of the wild strikes, as they can not be counted on to stay put, and will be moving on. The ability to follow through on ideas and intentions is a weakness. Fickle and hot headed would be adjectives to describe this person, with their head in the clouds instead of reality. This person can be boastful and talk a great story, that people are often ready to believe.

However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, no matter how loveable, high spirited, naive, and imaginative and well-meaning this individual may be, the ability to follow through on ideas, and intentions are not all actualized into reality.
The Knight of Wands is neither a follower nor a leader.
He or she is self-absorbed, and boredom soon overtakes them, with no interest or desire to be responsible toward another, particularly in a relationship.


Often we can get addicted to excitement and even to crisis, drawn to being in a constant a state of hyper-vigilance. We loose sight of what is important to us, and are carried away by the moment. Then we become bored with our circumstance, and seek another kind of excitement, which can lead to a superficial and rather chaotic lifestyle, that is briefly satisfying, but does not sustain any kind of real happiness.  

Discernment and caution is strongly suggested if you are involved with this person. Although if you are aware and accepting of these character defects, then you are more likely to enjoy them, without having the unrealistic expectations of someone, who either can not, or will not give you what you want. There is nothing that is more crazy making, especially if you are in a love relationship with this kind of person.


The Knight of Wands can signify that these qualities mentioned, are trying to emerge from the self, or the Knight's positive attributes, such as meeting new challenges, need to be developed within one's own personality. The message is get out and explore. Go on a personal pilgrimage and follow your heart. You might unexpectedly find yourself!

“The geographical pilgrimage is the symbolic acting out an inner journey. The inner journey is the interpolation of the meanings and signs of the outer pilgrimage. One can have one without the other. It is best to have both.” - Thomas Merton