MINOR ARCANA
Nine of Wands Tarot Meanings
With the Nine of Wands, we’re encouraged to make that final push, to muster up that little bit of energy we have left and really drive ourselves forward. It will probably take some inner strength and mental resilience, but it will help you to get that step closer to the finish line.
With the Nine of Wands being the penultimate card of the wands suit, it symbolises a lot of experience and wisdom. We’ve been through it by this point and we’ve learned a lot along the way. Now we have to take all those skills and put them to use so we can finally reach our goal.
Nine of Wands Upright Meanings
In the upright position, the Nine of Wands is a card of encouragement and support, it wants to give us that last little bit of motivation we need to make that final push forwards. Some of the key meanings of the Nine of Wands are:
Pushing on
Exhaustion
Confidence
Experience
Expertise
By this point, we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs within the wands and we may be feeling a little beaten up and exhausted. What the Nine of Wands does is show us that we’re close to reaching our goal and if we can just muster up a little more strength we’ll be able to finally achieve what we’ve been working so hard for.
Nine of Wands Reversed Meanings
In the reversed position, the Nine of Wands shows defeat, it has no more left to give, no gas left in the tank. This doesn’t always mean giving up though, it can also mean that we need to take a pause and rest up until we feel ready to get back on the horse. Some of the main reversed meanings of the Nine of Wands are:
Giving up
Defeat
Defensive
No energy
Hesitant
The wands suit can be a heavy suit to work through, it demands a lot of energy and perseverance, so if you do feel like you have nothing left to give, it’s important to not give in to defeat and instead learn to rest and recharge ready to come back stronger.
Reading Nine of Wands in a Tarot Spread
The Nine of Wands is one of those cards that when it comes up people think they’re about to get put through the wringer, but in fact, it’s more of a pre-warning that energy may be running a little low and you need to take action to prevent a complete burnout. Tarot is a tool for self-care and self-preservation, so when the Nine of Wands appears don’t see it as a bad omen, see it as a gentle reminder that we need to take better care of our wellbeing so we can sustain high levels of power and motivation.
If you’re using the Rider Waite-Smith deck, imagine you have to find a way around that wall of wands and that the wand the figure is holding is that last little bit of energy you have to give and see how it supports you to overcome this challenge.
Nine of Wands as An Invitation
When the Nine of Wands shows up as an invitation it’s an invitation to take a breather, to collect yourself and decide your next move. This could be a decision to take a brief pause or to keep pushing on to reach that end goal you’ve been working towards.
For Nine of Wands, this invitation could be the following:
An invitation to remind yourself of how far you’ve come and how close you are to the final destination
An invitation to acknowledge exhaustion and decide whether you are able to continue
An invitation to collect all your experience in order to overcome this next challenge
An invitation to assess why you may be hesitating from taking the next step along your journey
Nine of Wands as Sage Advice
The advice that the Nine of Wands often offers revolves around reminding you of your own strengths and capabilities. It also helps to guide you to the best solution that not only solves the problem at hand but does so in a mindful and compassionate way.
Some advice Nine of Wands may offer is:
Decide how much you have left to give, you know yourself better than anyone and only you can decide whether you push on or take a rest
Never give up, rest up for as long as you need and then continue where you left off
Remember how much you’ve been through and what you’ve learned in order to get to where you are. All those things are your proof that you are capable of achieving whatever you put your mind to
Nine of Wands as a Lesson
As a lesson, the Nine of Wands teaches us a lot about resilience, determination and perseverance. Themes that we’ve seen touched on a lot along our wands journey.
Some lessons that Nine of Wands may offer you are:
A lesson in pushing yourself further than your conscious mind thought possible
A lesson in pushing yourself but also remaining mindful of your wellbeing
A lesson in acknowledging your own expertise and allowing it to support you when taking risks and trying to reach bigger and better goals
A lesson in identifying the root cause of hesitancy and procrastination
Nine of Wands as a Redirection
When the Nine of Wands shows up to redirect you, it usually means that you’ve been pushing yourself too much for too long. You didn’t make sustainable choices along the way and now you’ve used all the energy you had stored up.
As a redirection, Nine of Wands could symbolise a need to:
Take time out to regroup, recharge and rest, so that you can continue on
Walk away from an uphill battle that isn’t going anywhere
Embrace the confidence you have deep in your gut and allow it to motivate you
Not see this as a defeat but as a lesson in paths that don’t work for you and your goals
Wands
The wands are the suit that directs us to look at our actions, our passions and what fuels us. They are our motivations and the fire in the pit of our stomach. They help us to take action on decisions, make ideas into reality and take a stand when challenged.
The wands are a tool that we can wield to do our bidding. Like how you can’t hammer a nail without a hammer, you can’t get s**t done without the wands.
Fire
All of the Tarot suits are linked with one of the four elements. The wands have the element of fire. This means that the wands adopt all the traits and behaviours we associate with fire.
These fiery traits help us understand both sides of the wands. One side is the ability to create and manifest and the other side offers destruction and chaos. Which one you get depends on the other cards in your spread or even just your perspective on your wand card.
Nines
The minor arcana suits run from Ace to Ten, so the number nine signifies that last little stretch before the finish line. We then apply that to the suit and we get the meaning of our card.
The Nine of Wands is a card that symbolises the struggle we often feel when we’ve nearly finished a long task. A great example is when you’re out on a run and you know you only have five more minutes before you cool down, and those five minutes feel like five hours. It’s a struggle, but one that you can get through if you can push through mentally.
