"After taking some personal risks, you may be feeling the need to put intense energy into being with yourself and discovering your self.  You're so committed to your own growth and direction that you may be unaware of the rest of the world.  You may be strongly introverted now, or you may be exploring a part of your personality in a secret or hidden manner." Gail Fairfield

Knights symbolize protection, strength, ambition and questing.  Fire is associated with inspiration, energy, passion, feeling, enterprise, ambition, matters pertaining to the "spark of life", and the element of fire.  Typically this card refers to someone who is energetic and enthusiastic about life, heedlessly charging ahead in search of adventure and excitement.  The Knight of Wands can either represent qualities you possess or someone else in your life who possesses these qualities.  I know many traditions assign Knights to the element of Air but this has never felt right to me.  Knights seem to energetic, passionate and impetuous.  I associate Air with Kings - more thoughtful, wiser, better communicators and secure enough in their positions to think before acting.  So in my system Knights represent the element of fire in the court cards.  So the Knight of Wands is fire of fire.  This is one fiery, passionate, "shoot first and ask questions later" kind of person.

Looking at the Prince of Wands from the Enchanted deck I am struck by the fact that he looks a bit elaborately dressed and pompous looking.  He seems a bit over-confident and full of himself.  He strikes me as the kind of man who sweeps into court, charms all the women, loves a few and then rides off into the sunset leaving sighing and broken hearts behind him.  On some level he lacks the ability to connect with people are a deeper, more emotionally mature level because he is caught up in the excitement of the chase.  In the Star Trek movie, James T. Kirk is still in a Knight of Wands stage.  He is all fire, passion and energy.  He loves seducing the ladies but he isn't ready to commit.  I think we all go through this phase in life.  We are in love with the thrill, the passion and the excitement of pursuing a new love interest and the initial stages of infatuation.  This is not about emotional connection as much as it is about the heat of sexual attraction.  In some respects it's a primal attraction, not about bonding and love and emotional connection but about body heat.  Of course that's just one aspect of the Knight of Wands.  That same intensity and energy can be aimed at anything.  The point is that it isn't necessarily about long term investment and commitment, it's about right here and right now.

On the Celtic Knight of Wands we see a brutish, primitive looking man attired in animal skins and holding a spike studded club astride a raging wolf.  In this deck the Wands are supposed to be associated with Air but as they don't change any of the meanings of the cards I've decided to keep the Fire association.  The coloring on this image does look a bit more "swordish" but that brutish, primitive figure fits in more with fire energy to me.  This knight does not bother with charming anyone, he simply goes in and does what needs to be done.  He is primal and runs on instinct.  In many ways this is deeply connected to fire energy (at least to me).  Fire burns with no real direction.  It does not consider anything but it's own need to burn.  It strikes me that looking at this knight he is not of the noble, chivalrous type,.  Instead he is a scout.  He is the one who gets sent out into the unknown to search out potentials dangers to his tribe (as Star Trek puts it "to seek out strange new worlds; to boldly go where no man has gone before").  He put himself at risk for the good of his people.  He may not look like intelligence is his strong suit, but I will bet his has an instinctual ability to read signs and sense danger around him.  He may not read books and create poems, but he charges ahead into potential danger to protect those for whom he cares.

So, having said all that, what does this have to do with me today?  Actually, considering that this Knight is reversed for me today I think the message is less about exploring the unknown and putting myself at risk in a physical sense.  I think it's about my exploring my own inner beliefs and challenging myself to be more daring and risk-taking.  I think this Knight is bringing me a message that I need to be less scattered in how I used my energies and start to become focused and targeted.  I think it's also a nudge to be more focused on my own spiritual path.  I've been rather lax in that department lately, haphazard if you will.  Now is my opportunity to find my sense of direction and purpose.  I also need to stop thinking and talking about it and actually do things.  One of my biggest challenges has always been that I tend to stay in my head a lot.  I "know" things and I can talk to things but I avoid actually connecting on a deeper level.  I need to ignite my internal fires and move beyond those safe boundaries I have surrounding me.  Who knows, maybe once I explore beyond those boundaries I'll be able to serve as a guide for others. 

Tarot Affirmations:

• I am a passionate seeker of creative ideas, called upon to expand my spiritual horizons and broaden my creative experience.
• I am eager to experiment with unusual ideas and inspiration; I have come to trust the creative process.