Wands- Air --- Swords - Fire ... what do you think?

SherryZoned

Wands-Air---Swords-Fire..what do you think?

I have recently gotten the Shapeshifter deck..The Swords are Fire and Wands are Air..What do you think??

Here are my thoughts:

I do see swords as fire..I see swords as battle..ideas..thoughts..intellect..those are things of passion

Wands-You know how every person who has a wand waves it in the AIR..lol...

I am still trying to switch my mentality around..I am so used to wands-fire - swords-air
 

kayne

I *much* prefer Wands as Air and Swords as Fire... mainly because, like you, that's what I am used to and it seems to make more sense to me...

Does anyone know where this swap started (historically)? What was the first deck to make wands as fire and swords as air?
 

Thirteen

Re: Wands-Air---Swords-Fire..what do you think?

RedWood said:
I have recently gotten the Shapeshifter deck..The Swords are Fire and Wands are Air..What do you think??

Here are my thoughts:

I do see swords as fire..I see swords as battle..ideas..thoughts..intellect..those are things of passion

Wands-You know how every person who has a wand waves it in the AIR..lol...

The argument for wands "air" is that the element should not "consume" them--so as "fire" won't consume swords, they're fire, as air won't harm wands, its air. There's been, by the way, no "Switch"--some pagan groups still say "wands/air" and "swords/fire." Like those cards, it's a matter of learning and preference.

But the majority hold wands/fire, swords air. Myself, I go for that alignment and always will. Why? Swords cut--like words, like ideas. They whistle through the air, they breeze by. And sword fights are won by skill, by a keen mind, battle tactics. Just attacking your enemy with passion is not enough--you can misstep with passion, and your clever opponent will get in his cut and you're dead. Cool intelligence will win the battle more readily.

Finally, swords are COLD STEEL. Nothing hot about them.

Not like "Wands" which, as staves, can be used to club, to just strike, with raw passion. Wands are wood--alive, filled with energy, like fire. Also wands can burn--burn hot, burn up. A wand can be made into a torch to illuminate. Finally, when I see wands, I see the waving in the air, but it's trailed by sparks and light. Touch them to something and they change it. Like "fire," wands TRANSFORM.

That, at least, is my take.
 

midnightmerry

I have to agree with Thirteen. I've tried seeing swords as fire/wands as air, but I find it jarring and try to avoid decks set up that way. It's just not how I learned.
 

catlin

I also agree with Thirteen. Maybe this is why I still have not looked deeper into the Shapeshifter deck altough I like it a lot.
 

lunalafey

which way do I go?

I have decks some go one way others go the other way. Both ideas make sense to me, it's all a matter of perception. I have had no confussion in the cards when swiching over.
 

Sulis

I also agree with Thirteen, I`ve only got one deck where the correspondences are switched and I can`t get on with it. It is the Witches Tarot though so maybe if the card meanings where more traditional the air/fire thing wouldn`t bother me so much.

Blessings

Crystalmynx xx
 

Kiama

I prefer Wands as Fire and Swords as Air. Not only cuz of what has already been said...

In battle, it is necessary that you think clearly and objectivey, with no feeling for the man you just killed... You annot afford to make any mistakes.

The suit of Wands seems to involve alot of the homely things, alot of feelings and passions... They indicate a wamrth which is not found in the cold, desolate cards of the Swords. (I'm thinking the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of Swords here!)

The Ace of Wands is virility, the begining of a new venture: Something you embark on with all your energy... Very fiery.

The Ace of Swords has two sides, both equal in sharpness, to indicate the ibjectivity of th mind and the ability of cold reason and balance of arguments: The ability to see both sdes of a debte, and thereby win. As all those who studied Philosophy will know, it does not pay to be passionate about what you are arguing for, nor what you are arguing against: To let in any kind of emotion will not appeal to th eopposition, and certainly will not win you the argument! (I've been here, I know! :D)

Usually, I am okay with decks that switch things round the other way, as long as they do not base the meanings ofthe cards on the elements, cuz then I start trying to read the 2 of Swords as enterprise and business patnership, and the 2 of Wands as being stuck between a rock and a hard place...

Kiama
 

jmd

Without the forge of the smith, and the fire wielded to transform the raw material, there would be no sword. The sword, like all metals, arises from Fire.

The Staff, on the other hand, arises from the growth of the plant, from the Air and Light element of photosynthesis.

These two elements, then, have at least these two associations mentioned above.... and as I mentioned in another thread, yet another elemental correlation made by some is between Cups and Air!
 

Liliana

I was going to post exactly what jmd said, in magical workings swords are fire and wands are air for me, but I cant say it affects me much if my Tarot reverses it, which most do

:THP