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The court cards in the tarot are web of personality traits, philosophies, actions, and reactions, to the world. In each card, like in every person, there is the possibility for positive and negative behaviours. This series on becoming the court cards is all about exploring the ways in which these sixteen archetypes of human personality can both trap and liberate us. This post is part of series on becoming the best we can through understanding the court cards. You can read them all here.
Becoming the Princess of Wands.
The first thing we need to talk about when it comes to this card is the Princess’s temper. No matter how calm a person appears when you are reading for them there is a fury boiling beneath the surface if this card appears to describe them. They are angry and at their core they don’t really know how to deal with what is making them mad. Things are not just or fair in their lives and they can be easily set off into a righteous rage.
I want to make it clear that this person is not going off over nothing. I use the phrase “righteous rage” to describe their temper because they are usually 100% right to be angry about what is going on. That person is treating them bad. They are undervalued in their work. People do dismiss their insights. The problem is not whether or not they are justified in their complaints, but the scale of the reaction they have to anything that fires them up.
At its best this card represents the forces of activism and justice in some of their highest manifestations. People who this reflect the positive manifestation of this card are often outspoken about what is wrong in the world. Their passion when channeled allows them to motivate others to acts of charity and compassion. This is a card that to me speaks of the great people who have spoken up for a cause and moved humanity as a whole ahead to a more just and equal world. This greatness can only manifest when they are clear about what their feelings are directed towards and why.
When people come to see me for a reading it is rare that there is only one clear cut issue they are dealing with. Often frustration at work is mixed with stress at home, the pressures of family compound health issues, or a string of bad relationships leaves someone seeing betrayal in all areas of life. In all of these situations, when the Princess of Wands appears, there are two levels of problems going on. There is the list of things both past and present that is making them mad and there is a tendency to overreact to any event that pushes their buttons.
The Princess of Wands’ biggest issue is that they are unable to differentiate between the parts that make up their collective rage. They are like a giant vat of anger without any pressure release. So all their anger goes into one big bucket and when they go off about something all of their anger comes out at whatever or whoever set them off. It is much like striking a match and then trying to douse it with gasoline. The fire can suddenly burn out of control and destroy everything is touches.
This tendency to overreact then pushes people away and encourages them to dismiss whatever she has said. This cycle of explosion and dismissing her as having a juvenile reactions then circles around again and again with a bigger and bigger explosion every time. Often the first step in breaking this cycle is to find something that can work as a pressure release in this person’s life to allow them more space emotionally to resolve what is actually going.
So if this card is resonating for you ask yourself, or your deck the following questions.
- What all are you angry about? (draw a card and make a list of everything that comes to mind)
- How much anger is justified in this specific situation I am thinking thinking about?
- What am I angry about that is bleeding over into this situation?
- What can I do to install a pressure valve in my life?
- What is the most pressing issue amongst my list of aggravations that I should deal with first?
The Princess of Wands comes around to say “You are right to be pissed off, but you are overreacting in a way that won’t help you fix anything”
Andrew McGregor
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“Riot in Greece” image by “How can I ever“