I never redraw the cards for my daily readings but this morning I felt tempted to. I couldn’t make a lot of sense of this message. But after consulting the lovely Lumina companion book, I saw that this Maiden of Wands is representative of a spirit that seeks adventure in life and the breaking free from anything that makes one feel burdened or trapped. Very fittingly, The Tower is the card preceding the Maiden. So I think I get what it’s saying.

I’ve heard the Ace of Cups be referred to as the “Master Ace”. It represents potential and opportunity for a new beginning in the emotional and relational realm. Given that emotions underlie all that we do, this Ace here can be pointing to the budding of a new stage of our life in general. It is the start of a venture that affects our whole being and our relationships.

The Maiden of Wands shows not only potential, but the actual first steps into a new journey, particularly one involving the things arising from the passion of our hearts. But what stands between the potential of the Ace and the first steps of the Maiden? The Tower. It shows what needs to fall: emotional baggage; trauma; patterns of fear; inertia, paralysis. Anything that hinders or blocks the growth of our potentials into concrete action must be cut down or allowed to crumble. We can choose to destroy those ourselves. Or we can let life do the job for us in dramatic fashion.

Looking back, how many chances have we let go by for lack of strength or endurance or courage to grasp them? How many avenues for fulfillment have we missed due to our blindness? How many leaps have we not taken due to fear? Those patterns of being need not be repeated. We can identify, witness, and work to dissolve these internal obstacles. We can remediate the moldy parts of our being. Through spiritual work or through life events, we can let it all come crashing down. From the rubble, a flame of adventure and fearlessness starts to burn. It provides the fuel for an open, courageous, intrepid spirit that is ready to turn raw potential into true results.