4 of Wands. Successful stability.

 The suit of wands is one of creativity, passion and fire. The number 4 is related to stability, foundation and security. They almost seem qualities that should stand apart. Fire and passion always seem so fleeting, certainly not qualities you imagine hang around for a while.
   Yet in this card it is exactly that. Combined they bring lasting success and that is the feeling behind the 4 of wands.
     The four wands stand upright at the front of the card creating a structure that is held together by a hanging garland. The garland falls naturally into a crescent shape, showing the natural receptivity of the shape. It combines both masculine and feminine symbolism in one structure.
   In the background two celebrants raise their arms in triumph holding bunches of flowers and wearing laurel wreaths. The laurel wreaths can be found in several places in the tarot and they symbolise success and a temporary elevation to a position of power.
    The red roofs of the buildings behind them are indicative of material success (red being the colour of the base chakra). There is a tower and city wall behind the people, although it is unclear if they are inside or outside of it. The walls and tower show stability, strength and protection in a man made form. In this instance it is a positive situation as the entire card is a bright yellow, which indicates that it is a mental structure, but one founded on a good foundation of creativity and passion.
       When you receive this card it shows that you will have success in a creative endeavor that is being made concrete, such as a new business or project. The wands represent a foundational element the celebrants; that it is a joyful occasion.  The robes being worn by the two figures in the centre of the card are violet and red, which are the colours of the top and bottom chakras. This means that there is a successful joining of spiritual and material elements.
   What this card means for me is a fresh look at the way in which I do things. I have been looking to start up my own spiritual practice and offer counsel and service as a career. I have tried several times before, but always fallen short of the mark for several reasons. Mainly it has been because of self-defeating patterns that emerge, but I have been unaware of how to remedy these particular problems. There has been several roadblocks on this particular journey. Receiving money for spiritual work was a major one. But feeling good enough to offer my advice has been the biggest current issue.
     I have suffered from the difficulty of believing that my advice was sub-par or that the information I have been getting from my guides is not 100% accurate. There has been many instances where this has been proven wrong, but doubts have an insidious way of creeping up on you even when you should know better.
    Spending time with this card has helped me understand this roadblock to my own success and see that it is all to do with phrasing.
    When one contacts your guides and higher self and even in reading tarot, there is one thing that is very important to understand... How you frame the question. I have found guides to give exactly what is asked for. This means understanding loaded questions, leading questions and the exact phraseology of the request. It's not that guides are trying to screw you over, but they have a different language set and these misunderstandings can lead to critical errors. It is almost like the wishes you hear about in faerie tales. When I began learning about spirit communication I realised that my very ideas about the universe were badly flawed and this itself would lead to jumbled answers. For example asking how old an eternal spirit is and expecting a reasonable answer. In this example I got the figure 8...which I didn't realise until later was actually indicating  the infinity symbol.
     A great deal of the time, our questions are saturated with presupposition, which leaves spirit with no real way to respond without seriously breaking down your belief structures. When they start doing this, we are often confused about how that is related to the question we asked. It is like trying to answer a child's question about how the sea comes out of a faucet with a simple phrase. The question is correct in a very roundabout way, but cannot be satisfactorily explained within the limits a child may want.
    My own background has been one of energetic healing and knowing the exact problems and dynamics of the situation can be very helpful in resolving a treatment. I have found that I have been asking about the problem and trying to relay this to a client has led mostly to resistance, frustration and an inability of the client to assimilate the information. I didn't realise that this problem has been to do with one of phrasing. Instead of asking my guides, what is the problem and how do we fix it? I need to ask...What does this person need to know to heal this?
   I used to watch Scrubs (a medical comedy) and in this show there was an ongoing issue that the surgeons had no bedside manner. The surgeons had the right idea when it came to surgery and the information they needed was critical to a procedure, but relating this to a patient often led to panic and shock. I guess I am guilty of exactly the same issue!
   With this knowledge firmly in hand I can approach the situations in a much more client friendly manner. They don't need to know the details of their energetics and in some cases this can outright scare them. All I need do is asks my guides what I need to convey to them and trust them to give me the right way to approach the issue.