Nine of Wands

Tired, wary, and almost there.

The picture

A man with a bandage around his head leans on a wand and looks sideways, watchful. Behind him eight more wands stand upright in a row, like a fence. He looks worn out and alert at the same time.

Upright

Nine is the suit almost complete, at full strength. In Wands that means the fire has been tested and is still burning.

This man has been through something. The bandage says so. He has stood his ground before, and he is braced to do it again. There is one more push left, and he knows it. He keeps glancing to the side, as though he expects trouble to come from somewhere he cannot quite see.

The Nine of Wands is resilience. It turns up when you are tired, close to the finish, and wondering if you have anything left. The answer the card gives is yes. You have more than you think. Rest where you can, keep one eye open, and finish.

The row of wands behind him is his own. Everything he has built stands at his back. He is guarding it, and it is holding him up too.

Reversed

Reversed, I read the Nine as too much. The watchfulness has turned into suspicion, and every new face looks like the next attack. Old wounds keep him on guard long after the danger has passed. The fence he built to protect himself has started to keep everyone out.

It can also be turned inward, the tiredness gone underground: the exhaustion you will not admit to anyone. If you are defending a wall nobody is attacking, you need rest more than you need another fight. Ask when you last let your guard down. If you cannot remember, that is the reading.

When it turns up

What would change if you let yourself believe the finish line is close?

If you would like the cards read against your own chart, my readings are here.

Related pages
The Number 9