Eight of Wands: tarot card meaning
Speed is the main subject here: things that stood still for a long time start happening one after another, within days. How the Eight of Wands reads depends on whether the target was set beforehand.
Card at a glance
- Arcana
- Minor Arcana
- Suit
- Wands
- Also called
- 8 of Wands
- Keywords
- pace
- message
- flight
Eight of Wands upright
The blockage gives way. Answers arrive, deadlines move up, someone finally calls back, a trip gets settled in two days. The Eight is the only card in the deck with no human figure on it. Things are now moving on their own, in the air, and cannot be stopped mid-flight. You have to keep up with them and make sure they are flying where you want.
Eight of Wands reversed
Reversed, the pace collapses: postponed deadlines, no reply, a message stuck somewhere along the way. The opposite happens too: the momentum is so strong that nobody asks about direction, and things fly right past the target. Sometimes it points to something sent in haste that can no longer be taken back.
Symbolism
Eight wands fly at an angle over an open landscape: a green hill, a river, a house in the distance. No one is shown throwing them and no one is waiting for them. The staves are parallel and orderly, sprouting leaves and starting to dip toward the ground, which means a flight nearing its end, close to landing. The movement is fast here, but it has a set destination and a sequence.
How to read this card in a spread
In the "situation" position the Eight speaks of several matters starting at the same time and of a short window. In the "action" position it advises replying immediately, the same day. In the "outcome" position it means a quick resolution, more often weeks than months. Next to the Knight of Wands the speed gets a rider and a specific person; next to the Four of Swords the signal is contradictory and usually means someone else is forcing the pace.
Love and relationships
The message you have been waiting for, an acquaintance suddenly accelerating, a date set from one day to the next. In an established relationship it often foretells the conversation put off for months finally happening. The card says nothing about depth of feeling, only that something has at last been said out loud.
Work and money
An approval that unblocks a project, several offers in one week, a business trip arranged at the last minute. The Eight favors handling things by correspondence and closing threads quickly. With money: transfers finally go out, an overdue invoice gets paid, but the risk grows of a purchase made on the run, without comparing terms.
Advice
Reply to what has arrived within a day, but before you hit "send", check that every one of these matters is flying in the same direction.
Eight of Wands as the card of the day
If this is your card of the day, read its upright meaning and see which of its threads describes today. A new card of the day is drawn every morning.
See the card of the day for today