Card of the Week: Ace of Rods

Rods represent energy in its many forms, including action, creativity, desire, passion and spirituality.  It is the suit of ambition, drive, enterprise, initiative and risk-taking.

The Ace of Rods represents raw power at its strongest, such as a burst of creativity or a vital action initiating a chain of events toward a desired goal.  It suggests a new beginning or commitment, the launch of an important new project or a major new business endeavor.  It should encourage you to stay positive.  Within a spread, it should draw your attention to the subject of its position.

Inverted, it may refer to a decline, a loss, or merely a false start or a missed opportunity.  It should caution you to not make a current situation worse by acting spontaneously or making snap decisions.

In “Arena” the Enterprise finds the remote Federation outpost on frontier planet Cestus III under assault by an unknown alien race.  The Enterprise’s pursuit of the alien ship is abruptly halted by a third race who call themselves the Metrons.  The Metrons announce their intent to end the dispute on their own terms, one-on-one combat between the two ship captains.  The winner and his ship will be free to go; the loser and his ship will be destroyed.  The Metrons transport Captain Kirk to a neutral arena world to face the Gorn Captain, one of his most memorable and physically powerful foes.  As they battle one another, Kirk learns that the Gorn view humans as invaders of Cestus III.  When the Gorn Captain’s brute strength is eventually overcome by Kirk’s ingenuity, Kirk asks that both ships be spared, to the surprised approval of the Metrons.