Eight of Wands
Secret whisperEight staves fly through open sky; the message is already on its way.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsspeed, movement, news, swift action
Things move fast now: news, travel, quick progress. Act while the momentum is with you.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsdelays, frustration, waiting, misdirected energy
Delays and crossed wires. Slow down and make sure you are aiming in the right direction before you let fly.
About the suit of Wands
Wands belong to Fire: will, passion, ambition, creativity and work you care about. They speak of energy and action, of what you want and how boldly you go after it.
Reading the Eights of the tarot
Eights move: progress, mastery through effort, and change of direction.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Activity in undertakings, the path of such activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally, that which is on the move; also the arrows of love.
Reversed: Arrows of jealousy, internal dispute, stingings of conscience, quarrels; and domestic disputes for persons who are married.
The picture
The card represents motion through the immovable-a flight of wands through an open country; but they draw to the term of their course. That which they signify is at hand; it may be even on the threshold.
