( Eight of Wands – Rider Waite tarot)

I’ve been travelling a lot by motorway lately, and something struck me.

The 8 of Wands tarot card above, is a lot like the following road sign – Well I think so anyway!

(image from Pinterest)

The 8 of Wands is traditionally a card about messages coming in fast.

Wands as a suit denotes action, and 8 of them would be lots of action coming forth very quickly.

Some Tarot readers interpret this in the modern age, as many text messages, emails and phone calls.

I have always felt it just meant that something was coming.  Something good as each wand is blossoming.

  However also perhaps something a little bit shocking and dramatic, as the wands take up pretty much the whole card, and they are coming in fast!

Maybe what first appears to come in, is not quite what it seemed. Perhaps the fast nature takes you off balance and what can seem like a disaster is a blessing in disguise.

(Blessed – Wisdom of the Oracle by Colette Baron Reid)

It got me thinking.

In current society where we are able to communicate through so many fast forms; such as instant messenger and email, we are not giving ourselves much time to really think about what we are saying.

Meditation helps with learning how to respond rather than react, but when we are faced with multiple quick and easy ways to get a message across – how can we ‘stop look and listen’ first?

(image from Google Images)

Which then brings me on to the motorway sign.

On a road where cars get to travel at really fast speeds, there are signs in order to direct this.

Similarly, there are signs in our fast paced lives telling us how to navigate our way forward. We just have to heed them, like we heed the signs on a physical road.

I have mentioned in a previous blog post, that the word ‘Tarot’ means ‘ The Royal Road’ in Egyptian. Therefore the above analogy  makes perfect sense.

So how can we heed these signs in life, even when messages and circumstances seem to come in thick and fast.

How can we learn from what we heed and move forward?

It really is about stopping, looking and listening.

Stop

When you are hit by an unexpected circumstance or situation that came along fast – before you react, cry or shout out in anger, stop.

What is it trying to make you do?

What is it trying to tell you?

This can only be ascertained if you let the impact stop you in your tracks and you look at what is confronting you.

Look

Once you have stopped, you can look at what is in front of you.

And I mean really look. Examine what you are seeing, examine what is being shown to you and examine what is not being shown to you.

The devil really is in the detail.

Look beyond what appears to be on the surface. Look at what is deep within the hearts of the  people involved  – and look within your own heart.

Listen

What are you really being told?

It is not always what you are hearing.

Similarly, what you are hearing may not be what the other person is meaning you to hear.

Listen to your gut. What is your gut reaction. Examine that.

Sometimes we are lied to by omission, by what is not said. For good, for bad or for protection.

As the eighties power ballad says: Listen to your heart.

Only once you have heeded the signs, by stopping, looking and listening – will you be able to move forward with courage and clarity.

Much love

Txx