Dominion

the two of wands

Rider Waite Smith

We are in the first week of the new astrological year, the first of thirty-six decans, and as I forge ahead through and to what feels like an uncertain new world for myself, I am using the astrological calendar to help guide me, in conjunction as always, with the tarot. It is Aries season, ruled by the planet Mars, and this first of thirty-six decans is represented by the Two of Wands. This feels so auspicious for me now, the perfect time to look at my life from a zoom out (astrology) and a zoom in (tarot) perspective simultaneously.

The figure in the Two of Wands looks out over his dominion and holds the world in his hands. Aries is bold and powerful, shameless and fierce. But the Two of Wands is also about future planning, decisions, and perhaps most important, discovery. I can’t help but see an explorer when I look at the Waite Smith depiction, and what it means to be an explorer, a discoverer of that which is new or even possibly hidden. What does it mean to be willing to explore uncharted territory? To be willing to define a relationship unconventionally? To live in a way which might not make sense to everyone? I wrote about The Tower card a couple of weeks ago, and the energy here is more focused and resolute but has similarities. Aleister Crowley says the Two of Wands is “fire in its best form.” (Book of Thoth) Creation requires destruction. Out with the old, in with the new. I note that our figure holds one wand in his hand, a which he will use in his travels but leaves the other behind, the duality of staying and going both at once.

Thoth

I’m thinking about this very much in terms of relationships and how they change over time, how they fade or die and whether they can be resurrected as something new and more powerful if the will and desire are present. Aries and Mars energy is about that will to create something new. I’m in process and in change like the figure with one wand out the door and one staying put. I still don’t have the security of a known outcome. But I do know more than ever that I have dominion over myself, sovreignty of my space. One breaks into two, and in my case four (with children), and then two again (when they grew up and left home), and now I find myself becoming one again. Maybe. The other wand is still here, present and accounted for.

Sovreignty is what I am now seeking, dominion over what is mine. It can feel greedy and selfish sometimes, unfair. But it isn’t greed which propels me. It is a visceral need to protect myself and what I’ve built over all these years, though notably not alone. But if alone can be a place, I live there now. And like our explorer above, if I play my cards right, I might just have the whole world in my hands. That’s some fiery Aries energy for you.

It has been a long cold winter, both literally and in my heart. To look at the future in terms of these decans, and in terms of Spring and the energy it takes to push the sprouts from the seeds through the earth to create new life gives me hope. Whether or not you are going through a big emotional upheaval or just looking at what is happening in the world and feeling hopeless, I think Spring must bring change, relentlessly, and we need to have faith zooming in and zooming out, that it will get better.

xo Hanna