Symbolism & Imagery:
The Ace of Wands is closely connected with the magic wand – the most important tool in ritual magic and at the mage’s disposal. The imagery of the Ace of Wands can represent Moses’ rod (staff) which he used to outdo Egyptian mages; it can also represent Circe’s wand that she used to turn Odyssey’s companions into animals, or Hermes’ staff that reconciles the two snakes.
On the Raider-Waite’s interpretation, we can see a brown wand held by a hand that comes out of a cloud. The wand itself is full of new branches with young, green leaves – this represents the birth of ideas, creative force and new beginnings. The hand holding it is supposed to be an angel’s hand that stirs the forces of creation in the human soul.
On the card we also see a castle in the distance behind the wand, this represents the distance that the reader needs to surpass in order to create actions from his ideas, aka without action there won’t be any change, ideas are not enough to sustain the change, movement from the reader’s end is also needed in order to realize the full potential of the Ace of Wands.
Predominant colours present on this card are “fresh” brown, almost dark orange, representing the passion and fire of new ideas and beginnings, and lime-green and green, representing the need for movement and fresh perspectives. We also have a little bit of light blue seen in the passing river and grey in the cloud and the background. These two colours are urging the mage to take action and move his ideas from the mental realm into the 3D.