Three Of Wands

I bowed my head and reached into
the light inside and out I pulled
a ribbon and another
(spiral up in to the trees)
ravelling out and out and then
in my hands
the world.

white smoke-threads in my branches
and in my hands
the world.


So whatever's in that Ace spills out, revs up the Two, and then becomes a form. The fire inside becomes the blueprint for a whole new world - and most Threes of Wands have this 'but now what?' expression; a mixture of pride, awe and confusion. This one has taken his creation straight from the fire, and seems to touch it gingerly, as if it burns. The ribbons are trails of smoke. If he had a name, it might be Fëanor. What has he done now?

One suggested solution to this card is that thing Fëanor didn't do; humility. Another is simply to let the awe roll over you and keep your hands in the furnace. Three is Binah's number; a two is wisdom (a tool), and a three is understanding (the scope of a tool, the work it's done. We speak of Fire here; if we spoke of Water, then I'd say a Three is the glass that catches the flow of Two). It's natural to pause in the hope of gaining understanding, but truly understanding the way your dreams are coming to life in your hands requires that you keep sodding working.


Images of the Three of Wands:

'Experiencing' from the Osho Zen. The point here is that world around you is, if you just choose to commune with it, divine. Awe is a perfectly natural response to that. The Osho Zen in general puts a great emphasis on doing, which is the natural realm of the Wands in any case; you trip up over the Three of Wands because its potential has suddenly become real, and when that happens, it's hard to just keep doing it.

The RWS, an image that some refer to as 'Alexander' - okay, so here's India, but wtf have I done? The Robin Wood image is similar, but the figure seems to send a different message.