King of Wands

The King of Wands is the Prince all grown up and seasoned now, and come home to stay more put. His time as a prince on the move has served him well, as he built a broad understanding out of narrow, specific lessons. He likes having his lessons already learned, and might even know he’s not done with this yet. He now sees several sides of an issue, which helps when serving as judge. What wisdom this life has taught him has begun to look like intuitive wisdom, but despite all that life itself has learned and passed through the genes, one is not born a sage or an elder. The identity that we evolve is confirmed, or scaled back, and polished by experience until it seems second nature. Sometimes we are even made stronger by what has failed to destroy us. The King should know his mind fairly well by now, and that his own best interest is the same as his domain’s. Empowering his people also serves him well. One of his more challenging lessons is learning to learn second-hand. The fact that none are allowed by right to tell him what to do doesn’t obscure the fact that it’s most embarrassing to make public mistakes that could have been avoided. It’s not always right to read the instructions or ask for directions, but reading the signs that say when we ought to is often a useful skill. So the King has lived and learned, with much beneath and behind him now, and this is what has become of him, with his choices based on his precedents. But he is now capable of truly original ideas and plans, seeming to arise out of intuition. The Yijing counterpart, Gua 51, Arousal, emphasizes the development of maturity and self-possession. These give us a mastery over our impulses, and particularly, our tendency to react to a stimulus instead of responding. We learn what starts and startles us. This is a King we have here, or a natural aristocrat, an alpha male, born to lead, a hunter of power who can turn nearly any situation to his advantage. He knows when and how to act when others only cower. Taking charge is what he does. When provoked, he is swift to respond, without the predictability of a reflex. High energy is his element, and this is his version of grace. As such, it serves him well to know the difference between action and reaction, between response and reflex, between impetus and impetuousness, between impulse and impulsiveness. If he needs just a moment for this, he can take it: this is the wiser side of deliberate. And if he seems composed and dispassionate, just be aware that control is not the end of his passion. Having viable visions are best, and this means keeping one’s eyes on the road ahead. Being headstrong works best when the head in question holds senses and reason. Being independent works best when we can independently seek out the help that we need, or delegate those tasks that it makes little sense for us to do by ourselves. Self-starters will function best when they know the right place to start from. A great leader will want to be surrounded by talent, even by those with more skill than his own. To be proactive and autonomous is not about not seeking feedback or counsel. Conviction and firmness are traits to be much admired, except when we are deluded or wrong. The flexibility we need in this case is our lifelong education. It isn’t vacillating, flip-flopping, or waffling. And it takes a lot of nobility and dignity to do this, to back up and think twice. When you can’t still learn, it’s maladaptive. This is when pride makes us fools. It takes a lot to learn competence, more than most people have. Another of the great alpha challenges is how to bring out the best in the betas, something good in the gammas, and anything at all in the deltas. But frustration must be seen as reaction for an alpha who would be a good leader. He cannot be impatient with the slow-moving folk or bothered by the slow-witted. And there is really only one great way to compel them: to lead by compelling example. And with regard to authority, that is a thing for authors, not readers.