“The card represents motion through the immovable-a flight of wands through an open country; but they draw to the term of their course. That which they signify is at hand; it may be even on the threshold. Divinatory Meanings: Activity in undertakings, the path of such activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally, that which is on the move; also the arrows of love. Reversed: Arrows of jealousy, internal dispute, stingings of conscience, quarrels; and domestic disputes for persons who are married.”
-A. E. Waite
Catholic monk Thomas Merton once famously said, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”
Certainly Eight of Wands indicates that you are not only climbing the ladder toward success, but flying right up those rungs! “Activity in undertakings, swiftness…great haste, great hope” all characterize your personal program at the moment. You’re established enough in your habits that it’s no longer a daily battle to complete the necessary tasks. At the same time, if you followed the advice of Seven of Wands last week, you’re introducing new innovations to your program so that you don’t get bored. You may even have already planned another reward for yourself, as you did with Six of Wands, so that you always have something to look forward to.
In short, you’re getting into the swing of things and beginning to see real progress. Now what’s necessary is to double-check and be sure that your ladder is leaning against the right wall. This is spelled out in Eight of Wands, which describes speeding toward an end “which promises assured felicity.” This week, you need to shade your eyes, squint ahead, and decide whether or not your current end is indeed promising; if not, you’ll need to adjust your plans accordingly.
So the first step is to check which wall your ladder is leaning against. Consider these questions:
It may be tempting at this stage to give up, to say “It’s just not working for me,” or to slide back into easier habits. You must resist this temptation…but you must also be honest about how this program is affecting your life.
For example, say my program involves caloric reduction and intense exercise in order to lose weight. It’s possible that I am indeed losing weight, perhaps even exceeding my own expectations. I feel great about that! However, I’m also groggy at work because I’m getting up so early to run, and my hunger is making me irritable and snappish with friends and family. At this point, I now need to evaluate just what my priorities are. Is the weight loss worth my constant bad mood and poor work performance? Can I adjust my program to accommodate these unexpected side-effects?
Or perhaps I’ve embarked on an ambitious spiritual program involving daily meditation. I’m probably seeing benefits already. However, I’ve also done research and tried other techniques, and am tempted to embark on a different plan involving more yoga, prayer, trancework, etc. At this point, I’ll need to weigh my desire to change things up, with the knowledge that meditation works best when practiced persistently.
If you do decide that your ladder needs relocating, so to speak, there’s a few things you’ll need to take into account.
Consider the intended length of your program. If your plan was only for, say, eight weeks, then it may be worth finishing your first program before starting a second, different one. Then you’ll have the thrill of completion motivating you to begin another round of goal-setting! But if your program is lengthier, you’re not making any progress at all, or you’re seeing severe side-effects that are significantly affecting other areas of your life, you’ll need to alter your program considerably before proceeding.
As much as possible, I’d advocate sticking with the basics of your plan. As I said, it may be tempting to change things up, and change may indeed be required, but you want to resist abandoning your plan altogether. Even if you’re only maintaining the basic intention—like “exercise more” or “save money”—at least you know you haven’t given up completely. This can help spare you a sense of humiliation or failure.
If these changes are required, be gentle with yourself. Remember, you’re not chopping up your ladder for kindling! All you’re doing is climbing off for a moment to lean it against another wall. Because what’s the point of doing all this work, if it’s not going to take you where you want to go?
You’ll want to really be sure this is the ladder you want to climb, because next week, with Wands of Nine we’re going to discuss various forms of internal and external opposition. Until then, good luck and wisdom to you!