What a peaceful power is this. The strong, silent type. Piercing eyes, strong hand outstretched, offering lightening. Knights are tarot’s teenagers – untamed, enthusiastic, obsessive, vital. This bear, though, from the Mary-el Tarot by Marie White, carries a wisdom beyond his years.
White suggests that the bear is not the Knight of Wands… the lightening itself is: “…seeking the path of least resistance, a good place to strike.” I would suggest that in fact the reader is the knight. The bear, emerging from darkness, holds out a tiny jolt of energy, (as the aces offer their gifts) – it is up to us to decide how we will use it. Like the Ace of Wands, it’s a flash of inspiration, a kick up the ass, a challenge, a dare. The Knight’s challenge is often to tame her/his energy, to rein it in so as to direct it productively. On the other hand it can be fun to let loose – we all need to go a little crazy sometimes, to let our hair down, ignore our responsibilities, act like teenagers.
Today I have work to do, a couple of new projects beginning, so I’ll go with the former. I’ll take that lightening bolt, thank you very much, and I’ll tuck it into my pocket, allow it to inspire me subtly. It is time for a little inspiration, and I do need a kick up the backside this week, but it’s not time to rush headlong into anything. I need to measure my fiery fuel carefully – I need drive without extreme speed. Today, I accept this bear’s gift responsibly.

I’m a 30-something writer, artist, tarot reader, and perpetual explorer of the space between thought, feeling, and action.
I believe that spirituality and ritual are for everybody. I’m about the journey, in all of its messy, non-linear, chaotic iterations. I am excited by anticapitalist business and living with my whole entire self present. I use tarot cards to bring forth hidden truth, and ritual to affirm my commitment, over and over, to my ever-shifting path.
PS
After writing this post, I was clicking around the interwebs for thoughts and ideas and discovered that Marie White writes a Mary-el blog. Joy! And her latest post featured a sketch of this very card.
Lookit:
http://tarotsmyth.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/hola/
Or read the entire blog here:
http://tarotsmyth.wordpress.com/
God, I love the internet.