PROJECTS • TAROT

4 of Wands

Celebration, jubilation, community, teamwork, completion

Range of meanings

Light: Sharing in a great celebration. Sharing in a communal sense of achievement and success. Preparing for a party. Working together toward a common goal. Giving or winning awards.

Shadow: Keeping your nose to the grindstone. Recognizing good work by demanding more work. Failing to share in a group celebration. Allowing sour grapes to poison your moment in the sun. Refusing to do your part.

Questions to ask

  1. To what extent is everyone in your group doing his or her part in your “harvest?”
  2. How might a celebration (or being reminded of what’s worth celebrating) better integrate the people working with you?
  3. To what extent am I doing my part?
  4. What kind of recognition or celebration would be most meaningful right now?
  5. How might a celebration now impact community morale?

Advice

Personal Growth: You can amplify individual achievements by becoming part of a group. Without decreasing the importance of your own contribution, you’ll achieve more…and have more to celebrate, too.

Work: Assign duties, delegate, and get out of the way. Allow others to contribute, even if their contributions aren’t exactly up to your personal standards. When projects end, thank everyone involved in a meaningful way.

Relationships: Have you been together for ten years? Celebrate. Have you been together ten days? Celebrate. Do something to recognize the contribution of both partners. Alone? Celebrate yourself.

Spirituality: It’s easy to allow any ritual to become empty. Get back in touch with what your rituals were meant to teach or inspire. When you restore meaning to your spiritual practice, every prayer becomes a celebration.

Fortune-Telling: Someone is watching and evaluating your work. You may get a wedding invitation soon.

Associations

Astrological: Aries

Planet: Venus

Fool's Journey: We see a demonstration of the main character’s special gifts.

The Number 4: The Status Quo: stability, equality, persistence.

Wands: One of the four suits of the tarot. Also sometimes called rods, staves, or staffs. Represents desire, inspiration, vision, creation, and invention. Many decks depict budding Wands, suggesting the potential for growth. As a suit marker, Wands suggest the power and potency of a king’s scepter. When a Magician wants something to happen, he waves his magic wand to make his intentions manifest.

Arbor: Most RWS-inspired illustrations for the 4 of Wands card incorporate a celebratory arbor. Consider what can be celebrated.

Laurels: Laurel leaves have long been given as tokens of recognition.

Grapes: Grapes suggest both harvest and celebration.