The Five of Wands

Strife and Conflict

From The Star Tarot, Cathy McClelland

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

The Five of Wands brings chaos and disruption with fire. Old forms and structures are burned away. Change is inevitable. Push comes to shove.

In the above image a volcanic eruption spews red-hot magma. It looks as though the stars are falling from the heavens. Sheltered in a green cloak, suggesting new life, a woman serenely holds white lilies giving a sense of hope that a purifying energy is enfolding her. The fiery power of life moves up through her chakras while she holds the balance of destruction and renewal in her heart. 

The force of fire is ultimately the Divine creative power of life. Transformation is a constant dynamic in the exterior world we live in as well as in our internal landscape. Ultimately they are connected; we are one with all of nature, one with the process of life as it manifests in our relationships, society, governments, and how we communicate with one another.

We are constantly creating with this fiery power whether it be our daily actions, a work of art, or an empire. But the life force needs to flow. When it becomes trapped in stagnant structures it pushes to find a release. Sometimes this shows up as a breakthrough in our way of living our life - a revelation that we need to liberate ourselves from rigid mind sets or habits into a rebirth of enthusiasm and activity. We start to recognize and use our creative power to express our talents and spend more time in activity that supports creativity in others. We also see that oppressing structures of government, society, even planetary cycles eventually fall to the fires of transformation. We are now witness to violent eruptions of change, upheaval and destruction. It is challenging to make sense of it all. We can feel burned-out, pushed to our limits.

We are all part of the change. Every level of our life is being burned to some degree with the purifying fires. To recognize the process as a purification is difficult. It took awhile for the pressure to build enough for all the disruption to happen and then create what seems like an explosive chain reaction. Fire burns away so new life can emerge. It can result in an epiphany or revelation of our spiritual awareness, but when a forest goes up in flames it is very hard indeed to see beyond the devastation.

As the image above reminds us, the sacred fire of our heart is where we seek refuge and find our center, our balance. This is where we can find shelter from the raging storms, create a haven for ourselves and others. We learn to live more in our heart energy, find courage, compassion, and are more able to reconnect with our creativity to bring something new into our own life and to the world we live in. 

During these challenging times may we remember to call upon the Divine Fire and to trust in renewal. May we find peace and shelter in the love we can give to one another. 

...Kathryn Ravenwood September 21, 2020

 

 

The Tower of Destruction: 2020

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

A shining, solitary tower sits high on a mountain peak with a golden crown topping its splendor. Suddenly, perfection is devastated by a bolt of lightening. The crown is split away, the tower burns and two desolate figures fall from the devastation. Disaster has struck. All is lost. Or is it?

The tower warns us against the false security of building structures that separate us from a balanced life on Mother Earth. Each brick is part of the mindset seeking to create a facade, a barrier against the “other” the unknown, the scary monsters under the bed that threaten some imagined sense of safety and protection created by fear (the preceding card in the Tarot is the Devil - Fear). A brick originally laid down as security has multiplied into layers of greed and avarice.  Reliance on leadership has morphed into authoritarianism. If one layer or level is good then surely another and another are better until the builder has locked himself into a lofty tower on a mountain top completely isolated from the world below. He may feel safe but the shelter he so carefully pulled around him has made life stagnant. The tower has isolated him from creative activity and interaction. Security has become a prison, protection has turned to illusion. Each brick was laid with a  tunnel vision of ideas, viewpoints, a controlling and even self-righteous behavior to protect the identify crafted along with the tower. The work became a tribute to an ego that is now fully invested in all the irrationalities of building and maintaining this monstrosity. The associated consciousness of this delusion is restricted and has shifted to everything “out there” rather than what is inside.

Nothing is forever. The Universe demands change to keep the energy flowing, to prevent stagnation, to provide for new growth. When things start to get stuck the Universe will send warnings. Yet, even as tremors and storms threaten, the invested ego of the tower builder ignores the pending doom and puts up more layers of hatred, illusion, barriers against change. Finally the stuck energy has to go somewhere and it bursts out in a fiery explosion. The fall of the tower is traumatic. it is not possible to hold it up with the actions of the past. 

In the image of the card we see small flames falling from the sky. These are the Hebrew letter Yod. Yod creates the world to come. Each Yod is a transformational force propelling us to new levels of experience. The falling figures’ hands are stretched out as if to reach for the ground below, directing this new experience into the currently unknown outcome of the fall. The golden crown blows off the top inviting a higher consciousness to replace the restricted and ego based focus of separateness, false science and reasoning, fake news, and irrational fantasies of will and power.

When the fire has burned the old forms and the devastation begins to be fully realized, Yods’ promise of new experience is available. How it will be used depends on the new consciousness, awareness and lessons learned. 

Are we out of warnings or do we still have time to come down from the Tower and live in harmony with one another and our Earth? Can we use communication from the the heart to bridge the gaps of separation and division? Can we raise our own consciousness to a higher level to embrace love and kindness without the ego being offended? Can we lay aside the tools of pending destruction and plant gardens?

 

There is always hope if we but call it to us. With the tower out of the way, we may  be able to see our path more clearly. 

....Kathryn Ravenwood  9.2.20