Comparative Excerpts
At the risk of being totally boring, I will give you an excerpt from the set, and an excerpt from the Handbook. The card I have chosen is the Eight of Wands.
First the Handbook:
Eight of Wands - Swiftness
Eight-Movement
Wands-Fire
The element of Fire tends toward movement, whether it be change, action or transformation. Since this is the theme of the number, the idea accelerates to Swiftness.
I Ching: 35, Chin, "Progress"
This hexagram expresses definite and positive change. For the I Ching, as for the Haindl Tarot, true progress means harmony with nature and the greater good. Progress for an individual comes when he or she fulfills the needs of society rather than just personal ambitions.
Reversed I Ching: 36, Ming I, "Darkening of the Light"
This is the hexagram found on the Seven of Swords. Anything that goes too far, too swiftly, turns into its opposite (there is more, but I'm going to stop here)
Description:
The picture here expresses the power of swift upward action, with all the Wands in dynamic harmony as they rise from a cave. It implies positive development in the person's situation. A problem may be resolved, firm action may bring change, people may communicate in a more positive way. Clarity may replace confusion, or belief take over from doubt. According to Haidl, diagonal lines that move from lower left to upper right express confidence and action.
Readings:
The card denotes movement and quick change, usually for the better. Firm action resolves problems. The card also suggests that the person is pursuing a worthy goal. Traditionally, the Eight of Wands means messages, or sometimes "arrows of love", i.e., the beginning of romance. Because of its strong positive image, we can use this card to help us focus scattered energy, or organize confused efforts toward a single goal (and there is a brief reversed section)
Now from the 2 volume set:
Eight of Wands - Swiftness
No new title
I Ching: 35 Chin, "Progress"
Reversed I Ching: 36, Ming I, "Darkening of the Light"
The title of this card implies movement, progress in different directions. Since the spears move upward, they indicate that the movement includes spiritual development. This may include a movement from confusion to clarity, weakness to strength, doubt to belief.
The hexagram for the Eight of Wands is "Progress" in both Wing and Wilhelm. This idea, too, relates to movemen, especially this image of movement upward. As a book rooted in ancient China, the I Ching sometimes includes metaphors that strike us as quaint. For Progress Wilhelm says, "The prince is honored with horses. In a single day he is granted audience three times." This implies personal progress, and recognition. It makes the card a good one to come up in readings about work or career. The modern explanation by Wing stresses that a person makes progress when he or she fulfills the needs of society. Individual ambition serves a greater purpose and so gains energy from being part of the pattern.
(there are 2 more paragraphs about the I Ching, then this)
Red, as of fire or blood, gives way to blue, the Sky. The impulse for movement comes from the fiery life energy that desires action, but that swift movement carries us to a purer level. We might recall that the Sky and the Earth are not just intellectual symbols. In ecstatic states, or even simpy in natural settings, we experience the Earth and Sky in very different ways. Rooting ourselves in the Earth (none of the Spears leave the rock) but then allowing consciousness to rise to the blue sky, gives a sense of both attachment and liberation.
The spears appear all in a straight line. When we look closer we see that this is an illusion. The card does not show an abstract principle, but an experience. The spears all move in the same direction. Swiftness comes when all energy focuses on a single goal. The movement up shows confidence. When we discussed this card Haindl told me of the symbol for the S.P.D. in the Weimar Republic (three arrows moving top right to bottom left). The downward direction gave a negative quality. The Republic fell to the aggressive energy of the Nazis (there is more of this)
The spears cross a diagonal line made by the rock. This forms eight Xs or "gift" Runes. Swiftness is a gift in life, for it can only happen when all our own efforts and the situation around us line up together, the way the spears line up.
Divinatory meanings.
In readings, the Eight of Wands indicates definite movement, often toward particular goals. It shows progress, hints at success, particularly in career issues, and suggests that the goal is a worthy one. It can indicate a person finding a direction in life, or a purpose. Meditating with this card can help to focus energy, to bring various scattered activities into line with each other. The rootedness of the spears reminds us that we should not forget basic values as we move toward our goals. In romantic situations, the card can mean the development of a new love affair - the "arrows" of love", as some call it.
There is a reversed meaning comparable to that in the Handbook.
