With the Eight of Wands, the wooden lattice reaches the pinnacle of its lateral expansion. The multicolored lances now form a uniform structure with unbreakable cohesive forces. The exalted passion reaches its peak. Under the impulse of an active intelligence, which white light transmutes into spirit, the scaffolding comes to life before our amazed eyes. And if it were not merely an optical illusion, the Eight of Wands would instantly teleport us to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Matter is spiritualized through sublimation. Literally and figuratively, the blaze of this card eliminates the superfluous, leaving only the essential. The cut flowers, with their blackened roots, are the sole remnant of untransformed organic matter. Homologous twins, they differ only in the number of veins etched on their blue petals, symbols of the awakened spirit under the bulb of a receptive material undergoing full transfiguration. To the left, Andromeda is in distress. Her chains heighten the sexual tension of a pose that has only the appearance of submission. The urgent charge of Perseus, whose sword is about to split the Kraken's jaws, metaphorically informs us of a very different protrusion. And when the beast’s blood is spilt, the Eight of Wands will offer its innocent protagonists much more than the sweat of orgasm. Based on "Perseus Rescuing Andromeda," Joachim Wtewael (1566 - 1638)