The King of Wands
Symbolism
This red-haired King sits in profile to us looking out to life and his wand. He has a fiery crown and his throne is ornate with the power and strength of the lion.
There are also symbols of the salamander eating its tail, showing regeneration, rebirth and our infinite connection to the transformational fire. There is a small salamander on the platform of his throne showing his attention to detail and that he never overlooks the small things.
He has this air of being ready to get up and go at any time and you feel this openness to act. He is the fire king and his maturity dominates his passion.
Keywords
Upright: Intuition, compassion, faith, awareness, counsellor, integrity, leader, confidence, magical, wisdom, innovative and visionary.
Reversed: Dominating, manipulator, narcissist, abuser, anger issues, jealous, obsessive, selfish, arrogant, bossy, egotistic, forceful, impulsive, womaniser, inauthentic, tyrant.
Upright meaning
This King of fire is mature and dominates his passion. He is an instigator of change and will go out and actively make the transformations that he wants in life. He can help you do the same and because he is heart connected and intuitive, he will be a great guide and counsellor. He speaks his truth, doesn’t mince words and trusts in his connection to the universe just as the universe trusts him.
This King is full of passion. He is that part of us who is confident and he inspires transformation. He will often be the spark that gets the project going and he doesn’t sit in the back seat, but takes hold of the wheel and directs the show. Fire will always move things and create transformation. This king is that part of us willing to step out of the old habits and try something new.
He connects us to our fire and our light and thus to God. Spirit can speak through us when we embody this King and we can fire up the world around us. He is not afraid to get stuck into everything but his heart must be in it for him to get his hands dirty. He is better at directing others than actually doing the work himself and he knows when to step back and delegate responsibility.
This is the guy that gets what he wants by going out and fearlessly making it happen. He won’t sit back and draw it in like his feminine Queen, he will actively make a plan and reach out to the world. His passion also comes out in his sexuality and he is a faithful partner but his ideals are more about growth and independence than commitment. He asks us to keep up with him and when we do, life motors forward and never gets boring.
Reversed meaning
This Shadow king has a twisted relationship with his passion and his fiery nature. His ego has a hold over his creativity and he becomes selfish with outbursts of anger towards the outer world. His fire can also be self-destructive and his sense of self and low self-esteem is masked behind arrogance and false self-confidence. He can be the classic narcissist but it is important to remember that we all have a narcissistic trait or two.
He may have received either physical or emotional abuse as a child and has developed some controlling and abusive behaviours. Some of these behaviours will be a form of self-protection, and some because he feels safer hiding from his painful truth. It is hard to own this shadow King inside us because he has hurt other people and if we haven’t healed, he will continue to hurt us. He is not the ‘bad guy’, but he is definitely wounded and not always the safest guy to be around.
This King represses his shame and fear. He hasn’t processed his past hurt which means he will project it out on others and blame the world for what he feels guilty for. He hides from feeling the inner hurt of his little boy/girl. The pain is desperate to be heard and felt, acknowledged and held. We fight against ourselves to not feel this inner pain and this fighting spills over onto our lives onto those around us.
Because the wands relate to our sexuality and passion, this Shadow king can be addicted to sex, extra-passionate and over-eager. He may be a great lover but the depth of real love that he feels can burn out very fast. He doesn’t have a healthy self-love practice and so he has work to do before he can share from his heart instead of his loins.
He can be very successful but his success may have come at a price that others may have paid. Self-importance is one of his masks and this is why shame is his worst enemy. His identity is challenged by his mistakes and weaknesses and he will hide them at all costs. His charm and charisma are obvious but his morals are twisted. He needs a slap or two in the face to humble his ego. He still has the potential to heal himself and learn to be that father for his inner child in a way that he may never have been fathered.