In both its upright and reversed depictions, The Four of Wands is a harbinger of pure joy and celebration. It corresponds with Venus in Aries, introducing correspondences with The Empress (number 3 major arcana, ruled by Venus the planet of love and expression) and The Emperor (number 4 major arcana, ruled by the cardinal fire sign of Aries and its corresponding planet Mars of war and expansion.) I find myself steeped in the energy of this card after a beautiful weekend celebrating the union of two of my very favorite people on earth. On Saturday March 18th 2023 we watched friends Julianna and Greg tie the knot in marriage surrounded by a sea of well earned friends and family. Their wedding date is of The Sun card’s domain via numerological reduction (0+3+1+8+2+0+2+3=19, 19 being The Sun in the major arcana.) Arthur Edmund Waite of the Rider Waite Smith system that we utilize once said that The Four of Wands and The Sun are two cards full of so much pure joy that even the appearance of a reversal could not diminish them. It is my honor and my privilege to elect these two pillars of love in our lives as our archetypal Emperor and Empress, and to elect their wedding day as our archetypal Four of Wands. Because The Sun can also be tied to The Wheel of Fortune via numerological reduction (1+9=10, 10 being The Wheel of Fortune ruled by Jupiter and themes of fate, fortune, and destiny) I also invite in the deeply intertwined energy of The Ten of Cups (covered in our post A Tale of Ten Cups) to color this ode to love as celebratory ritual.

Julianna is a Taurus sun, and someone who I have repeatedly drawn The Empress card for throughout our exchanges in recent years. Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus, and The Empress corresponds with the planet Venus. She is a technicolor force of nature, bringing grace and kindness into every space she chooses to inhabit. She is a dedicated art teacher and a shepard of children, introducing the youth of our community to the power of their imaginations through the magic of their hands. She consistently and authentically chooses kindness and demands beauty from her surroundings. She is one of the most deserving Empress archetypes living among us. The honor of being the most recent initiate into her soul tribe is never lost on me. For nearly seven years we have woven a friendship filled with art, laughter, depth, and support. I was honored to join a gorgeous rainbow of friends from all walks of life to celebrate milestones over the past year and a half and to commemorate her special day with photos celebrating the platonic intimacy that also rang so abundantly throughout the celebration. As a self identified hedge walker, there was a strange healing made available to me in the Venusian embrace of these special women. Julianna is the ultimate manifestation of the Venus correspondence in our Four of Wands. 

Greg is not necessarily one to utilize astrology even casually, and therefore I would prefer to leave his planets and placements out of this. If we are going to be good stewards of the hedge of spiritual autonomy, I feel that includes resisting the urge to peek into someone’s chart who is not abiding by this applied philosophy. I will, however, take this opportunity to draw friendly parallels between my beloved friend and the archetype of The Emperor for the sake of this story weaving (and with his permission.) The Emperor, in its most exalted form, is the picture of consistency and foundation. The Emperor is number 4 in the major arcana, and 4 is the number of stability. There are four sides on a square, four legs on a table, and four posts on a bed. Fours are reliable and sturdy, and epitomize the mellow and steadfast energy of my friend Greg. My spouse and I had the once in a lifetime experience of living beneath Greg and two other beloveds for one sacred year. With an adjoining hallway, we lived with front doors unlocked and an open living room policy. He is a living embodiment of “the more the merrier”  , constantly opening his door to friends and family and stoically overseeing the camaraderie from his preferred station in the kitchen. He does not speak to fill dead air, and when he does have something to say it often ends in eruption of laughter to the point of sore ribs. He shows his love through acts of service. He will feed you, he will bring you your spare key, and he will order you ice trays when he realizes you don’t have any. Greg is the manifestation of the number 4 (correspondences: Aries, The Emperor) in The Four of Wands.

My spouse and I have been on speed dial for these special people for the majority of seven years. We have traveled together, embraced each other’s families, and held the torch for each other through transitions and somber times of life. When I picture Julianna it is all music, color, and light. When I picture Greg it is all forest clearings and dry shelter. They come together like a poem dedicated to the Two of Cups, allowing each other’s strengths to nurture the other’s areas for growth like water through soil. Through their differences, new understanding delivers us all the way to the patchwork rainbow that is The Ten of Cups, commemorated in the ultimate celebration that is our living Four of Wands.

Rainbows come in endless forms, but ultimately they are all creations of the sun. We have watched these two people metaphorically dance beneath their rainbow, choosing to embrace the beauty created by the contrast of sunshine and rain. She fills his world with space for self expression and he brings her to mountain tops she may have never climbed otherwise. So today and every day, we raise our grail in a toast of celebration; To love as abundant as Venus, as stable as the number four, and as pragmatic as rainbows.

Cheers,

Sarah