three of wands // a flame to warm the spirit

hello, friends, and welcome to march. before we dive into this month's card, i want to tease a little something that has been in the works for a long time: an accessible and affordable way to access some of my most popular courses. if you've been patiently sitting on the waitlist for devils & digits, couldn't swing magician's lens at the time, or were disappointed to miss out on strength & starlight earlier this year, then get excited — something brand new is on the way. newsletter subscribers and everyone on the waitlists for these courses will be the first to receive more details later this month, so stay tuned.

and if you've already taken one of those courses, or any of my others (yes, even the free ones!), i would love to hear feedback from you so that i can continue to create resources that serve and inspire this community. i've created a very short survey that you can access right here. i truly can't express how valuable your feedback and testimonials are, so if you have a few minutes, this is a free and extremely impactful way to support my work.

now, let's dig into the next card in our 2024 wands series: the three of wands.

following the ace's spark of a new idea of flash of inspiration, as well as the two's patient contemplation and awareness of the joys and risks that this new commitment to passion may bring, the three of wands is a moment of triumph, power, and creative expression.

while one and two tend to live in the realm of the theoretical, the philosophical, the imaginative, three is the moment that an idea takes form, a project takes shape. this is the rough draft, the initial sketch, the first melody. and combined with the soul's fire, within this card we find a roaring flame that is eager to be celebrated, enjoyed, and utilized.

there's an unselfconsciousness to this initial expression, a joy and pride that refuses to be drowned out by timidness or uncertainty. at its absolute best, the three of wands is the kind of excitement a confident and supported little kid displays when they've made something that they want you to look at and praise. you know the energy i'm talking about? this little human is utterly unbothered that they might have to explain their vision explicitly: that this line is a person they love or a favorite stuffed animal, that this smudge represents their house or school or park, that this color is one they invented themselves to represent how they feel. the kid doesn't mind that you don't get it — they do, and that's what actually matters.

this is fire that needs to witness and be witnessed.

the three of wands speaks to a moment where our creativity and our passion, and whatever we have been working on within ourselves, starts to take up space and be recognizable by other people. with the three of wands, we are allowing our work and our vision to crystallize and clarify, to become tangible in a way that other people can recognize, interact with, engage with, and perhaps even start to understand.

and beyond that, by creating fires that others can engage with and by engaging with the fires that others have lit, we build an ecosystem of light, heat, expression, passion, that has the potential to sustain all of us. because when we see someone being brave, taking a creative chance, and standing up for their beliefs, it inspires us to do the same.

it helps us all stay alive.

one of my favorite aspects of this card is that it's not that the creation itself is flawless or perfectly done or without fault. it's not that the first effort is so good that it doesn't need any adjustments. it's instead that a sincere effort has been made towards making something that other people can look at and appreciate, and it's now gotten to a point where we want other people to see it and praise it and celebrate it. where we are showing them our fires, and witnessing their own blazes. where we start to consider how our fires might feed each other.

the three of wands is about showing up, putting in the work, and being proud of that initial outpouring of creativity and passion and intention, whatever it may be. even the most shy, introverted, self-conscious person still needs to be seen. we all deserve witnessing, appreciation, and attention.

so many examples come to mind for this card, but right now i'm thinking about my friend heather, who has been learning to draw and recently started sharing her art on various channels. this recent essay, on negative self-talk and how much easier it is to be mean to ourselves than to celebrate our earliest efforts, feels like textbook three of wands energy in both of its forms: how sometimes it's not easy to be proud of those early attempts at making something, how we might struggle to really articulate our idea fully on the first shot, how we might doubt its value because it isn't immediately perfect. and yet in sharing those drafts, we can provide so much joy, so much delight, so much warmth, to those who love and support us. that it's not about the quality of the creation, but instead about the fact that the creation exists at all.

those first sketches, those initial marks on the page, those earliest drafts or ideas or expressions, represent so much goddamn courage:

because it's not always easy to try something new, different, challenging.

because it's not always instinctive to say to ourselves that we're going to make something when we know that it won't be perfect right away.

because it's not always uncomplicated to let our ideas take up space in a tangible way, and to offer those ideas up to the eyes and minds and hearts of other people.

yet the three of wands does it anyway. the three of wands knows that perfection is not the goal: doing the damn thing is the goal. the three of wands is not interested in finishing, but in starting. the three of wands knows that expression leads to awe, and that awe can be the foundation for true magic, deep beauty, and lasting connection.

remember that the three of wands fits into the empress constellation, the constellation of three: truthful expression, unfiltered communication, passionate generosity, eager outpourings, clear-eyed authenticity, joyful noise. this is about delighting in the process and simultaneously recognizing the impact that tending our personal fire can have on other people.

when it's roaring merrily, a beautiful fire doesn't only impact us. it reveals the potential and beauty and power in everything it illuminates. and when folks see us drawing and writing and singing by the flames, when they see the power that the fire we've made holds, they want to take comfort from that fire, and also begin to build their own.

how is your inner fire growing? what are you letting others see, and what have you been afraid to share? how might you allow those you trust into your flame space, to dance and sing around the blaze in a way that energizes and excites everyone?

and in expressing your truest longings and your deepest passions, no matter how messy they may seem, how might you warm not only your own spirit, but the spirits of everyone around you?

wishing you a fiery, illuminating, and energizing march, friends. i'll be back with more on the three of wands soon.