Eight of Wands Tarot Meanings
The card of movement, speed, and action.
Last Updated: April 22, 2024.
The Eight of Wands is the eighth card in the suit of Wands (also known as the suit of blades) and one of the fifty-six suit cards from the minor arcana. In divinatory tarot, the Suit of Wands is associated with the element of fire and traditionally signifies creativity, inspiration, ambition, determination and willpower. Each card of this suit represents aspects of our lives such as career, travel and spirituality.
The Eight of Wands is all about rapid speed and moving forward through change, fast-paced situations, and actively making the choice to take action. This card brings a sense of energetic vibes and glorious positivity overall – especially with opportunities coming your way. This card brings with it the opportune moment to embrace going after what you want and knowing you have the energy and mentality to do just that.
Divination practices such as cartomancy can help us make decisions, offer guidance, and help us tune into our intuition when we are at a crossroads in our lives. Understanding the meanings of each tarot card can help you sharpen your interpretative skills so you can get the most out of your readings.
In this article, we will discuss the meanings of the Eight of Wands in various tarot reading contexts as well as the different symbols and nuances that can be found within this court card.
Pictorial Symbolism in the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck
The artworks from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck contain deeper esoteric meanings that tarotists love to decipher. The Eight of Wands is depicted as 8 wooden staffs forming diagonally across the tarot card. The staffs have small bundles of leaves starting to grow on each of them and behind them lies clear blue skies with peaceful green grass below. There is a single small mountain next to a calm stream, this would suggest that any issues faced will not be massive battles and ones that will easily be overcome. Things are bright, beautiful, and plain sailing.
The Eight of Wands key correspondences
Upright keywords | Progress, action, infatuation, speed, excitement, hurry, messages, social media, travel, hastiness, results. |
Reversed keywords | Restriction, slowness, lack of energy, impatience, bad timings, missed opportunities, delays. |
| Yes or No | Yes |
| Numerology | 8 |
| Element | Fire |
Ruling Planet | Jupiter |
| Astrological Sign | Sagittarius, Mercury in Sagittarius, November 23rd-December 2nd |
What does the upright Eight of Wands mean in the Tarot?
This will be a time when you’re feeling quite energetic and finding that you’re thinking on your feet really well and being able to take action and find successful solutions to various happenings surrounding you.
This will leave you feeling buzzing! You have the freedom you need to propel yourself forward with the dynamic energy this card will very much be bringing you. So, embrace that enthusiasm, progress will be made here!
If you’re into your social media, now is a great time for a refresh and catching up on messages with friends that you adore. If you’ve been thinking about travel, now is the time to have a look at some awesome deals!
When pulled in the upright position, the Eight of Wands is associated with progress, action, infatuation, speed, excitement, hurry, messages, social media, travel, hastiness, and results.
What does the upright Eight of Wands mean in a love reading
If you’re in a relationship, then the presence of this Eight is an incredibly good omen! You’ll be feeling all loved up right now and your relationship will be very exciting with you and your partner moving forward together at a vast speed.
If you’re single, then this Eight is typically an indication that someone will be coming your way and there will be an instant spark! You’ll very much feel swept off your feet and wooed by this individual; it’ll all happen very fast. Infatuation can be really distracting so make sure you take the time to be self-aware and look around you whilst you’re being swept off your feet…
Here’s to hoping it’s literal, and that this new person may instigate some travel for you.
What does the upright Eight of Wands mean in a career reading?
Things should be going great for you at work currently, you’ll be feeling a sense of speed and excitement with whatever you have going on, and you may even find yourself travelling for aspects of your job.
Progress is being made and this will leave you feeling highly motivated, enjoy the high!
The Eight of Wands as feelings/emotions
If you are asking the tarot how someone feels about you, pulling the Eight of Wands suggests that this is someone who feels rather excited about you! You are viewed in a very positive light and if there is a romantic interest, then this person will more than likely have quite a big crush on you.
Because of these feelings, don’t be surprised if this person ends up telling you exactly how they feel, as they may even have this in mind currently – you being their goal!
The Eight of Wands as a person
As a personality archetype, the Eight of Wands represents someone that will have their eyes on the prize! They will be very goal orientated and will know how to get what they’re going after.
This will be someone that does well in a high-stress and/or fast-paced environment/setting as this is typically their approach to life in general – they aren’t the type to go slowly. They are driven by what they do and won’t usually let things get in their way once they’re working towards one thing or another.
This card could also indicate that even if things are not good between you both right now, things will be fine again quite quickly.
The Eight of Wands as advice
If you’re wondering what to do, then know it’s time to go, go, gooooo! Embrace the fast-paced energy of this time and run with it, focus on your goal, and begin working towards it.
Move forward from the slow and stagnant energy of your recent past/past events, take the lessons from that which you need to, but then move forward to more exciting happenings with a positive mindset.
What is the zodiac or astrological sign associated with the Eight of Wands?
This card is ruled by the planet Jupiter, by the sign Sagittarius, and specifically Mercury in Sagittarius, or the dates November 23rd to December 2nd. Mercury runs the operation of communication, and whilst Sagittarius is flexible in either direction of positivity and negativity here.
Jupiter usually allows for an expansive “for your own good” outcome; it’s associated with luck, with growth, and is generally seen as quite positive.
Is the Eight of Wands a yes or no card?
Due to the fast-paced overall positive nature, in relation to progress, of this card, this is seen as one of the tarot’s ‘yes’ cards! This will be a time of bountiful opportunities and rapid progression, so it’s a good omen to receive when it’s a ‘yes’ you’re searching for.
Below are some of my interpretations, as an experienced tarot practitioner, based on different types of questions:
Querent question: “Will I get the job?”
Card interpretation: With the presence of this Eight, it’s looking very likely! And it’ll happen soon – even if it’s not the job you may be anticipating, you are looking to transition into a new job/career quite quickly, soon. It may even be a job you will be travelling for, or even travel could just be an element of your work. Overall, however, it seems to be the job you’ll be feeling satisfied with.
Querent question: “Is this new person in my life good for me?”
Card interpretation: This will no doubt be someone that goes 100 miles per hour with anything and everything they do, and whilst this may not necessarily be someone that is out to get you, be mindful that they won’t let anything or anyone get in the way of their personal progress of working towards what goal they’ve set their sights on! Overall they’ll be a positive person and they won’t be here to cause you difficulty on purpose. You may even be able to learn from this individual in the sense that they are highly adaptable and can cope with change, that moving on may be easier to do with them, that you may be able to learn from some of their traits, or even learn how best to approach your own goals with guidance from them. Just be wary of exhausting yourself if you try to keep up with their pace; whilst it may be natural to them, don’t wear yourself off going at their speed if it isn’t natural for you to do so!
Querent question: “Will I achieve my current goals?”
Card interpretation: It’s time to put the pedal to the metal as speed and movement are being favoured right now on the path you’re on! It isn’t the time for slow or steadiness with your current mission, so whatever it is that you’re going after, know that you’ll get there so long you move ahead at a speed for the time being. You shouldn’t come up against too many issues right now on your journey, anything you do face you should be able to overcome with ease. So continue on with that positive mindset of yours! It’s a wonderful time for progress currently. Go you!
Querent question: “Should I start my own business?”
Card interpretation: New adventures are very much welcomed when this Eight turns up, but this card still wants you to do all the leg work required to make sure you aren’t making any hasty decisions along the way! You will be successful so long you thoroughly explore what it is that you want to do. This card is very much about fast and positive progress, but it doesn’t mean racing ahead and skipping steps and being unsure about what direction you’re going. This card favours focusing on a main goal and doing the necessary planning required, you just don’t have to drag your feet about it or ‘pause’ before action. So go ahead!
What does the reversed Eight of Wands mean in the Tarot?
An air of negativity is most likely surrounding you at this moment in time, missed opportunities, delays, a sense of slowness, and feeling restricted in one way or another… things just aren’t great overall.
Don’t be surprised if things don’t end up going your way right now and it’s most likely you’ll be feeling very low energy-wise at the moment too. The Eight of Wands is a speedy card, always in a hurry, so this moment isn’t one to last for you.
When pulled in the reversed position, the Eight of Wands is linked with restriction, slowness, lack of energy, impatience, bad timings, missed opportunities, and delays.
What does the reversed Eight of Wands mean in a love reading?
Unfortunately, the reversed Eight of Wands typically indicates that things are coming to a halt in your relationship, you aren’t progressing with your partner in the way you wish to, so there’s a lack of excitement right now between you, and it’ll be common for there to be a level of misunderstanding and miscommunication during this time between you.
This too shall move on, if you’re open to communicating with each other about how you’re feeling, and problem solves your way out of it together. If you’re single, then this Eight usually means if you’ve recently been involved with someone that wooed you off your feet, you’ll come to see them for who they truly are – and you won’t be interested, at all.
Or this could be someone that’s about to come into your life, it’ll all happen very fast, but that instant spark will wear off fast. They aren’t the one, honey.
What does the inverted Eight of Wands mean in a career reading?
Right now you’ll be feeling like your career isn’t progressing in the way you wanted/expected it to, in all honesty. Things are coming to a halt, there are last-minute changes that are causing delays, things will be being cancelled, and overall you’re feeling a bit miffed about it.
It could also mean that you progressed within this career too fast previously and you’re now struggling to keep up with the speed and workload you have.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the 8 of Wands tarot card is a powerful symbol of progress, action, infatuation, speed, excitement, hurry, messages, social media, travel, hastiness, and results. When this card appears in your reading, it is often a sign that positive changes are coming and that you should take advantage of the opportunities presented to you. This card also signifies a time for communication, collaboration, and expansion. You may find yourself being more social or engaging in conversations with new contacts as you explore new possibilities.
Despite its association with mysticism and occultism, the tarot has grown to become much more than a simple “fortune-telling” tool. For many tarot practitioners, it is a complex system made of symbolic imagery and psychological considerations (Jungian archetypes for example) that can be used for self-exploration, meditation, and personal transformation.
The 56 lesser arcana cards relate to the day-to-day events of our lives, the more mundane aspects of our existence. Even though that part of the tarot is about the “smaller picture”, it symbolizes the constant choices we make that shape our lives, our characters, and ultimately our destinies.
Have you ever had a reading where the Eight Of Wands appeared? What was the outcome? What does that card mean to you personally? How do you interpret this card in your own tarot practice?
Share your thoughts and experiences with me in the comments below. Additionally, If you want to know more about the different tarot cards, feel free to check out my complete list of all 78 tarot cards and their meanings.
Written by Amy
Outside the weird and wonderful world of my craft, I like to cosplay and fully dive into the fantasy genre across all forms, from books to video games and everything in between.
Learn more about the Suit of Wands
This page is part of our comprehensive list of the 56 minor arcana tarot cards & their meanings. If you enjoyed the read, then you’ll love the following articles.