This is a card that has a lot of potential to it – if you put in the time and attention to learn a new skill or put one we have to use. Sometimes it has to do with will, but sometimes we have a block going on making us think we either can’t learn something well or something keeping us from excavating past skills and dusting them off.
EIGHT OF STONES – SKILL
MEANING: There is an ability to utilize skill for the completion of labors of practical necessity as well as love. Sometimes, intense concentration and dedication are required.
DESCRIPTION: A man clad in skins sits in a cave working at a stone carving. Around him on the walls and the ground are seven objects which he has created. To one side is an ancient hand print the signature of the maker. Three rush lamps paint the scene with light and shadow.
READING POINTS: Since human beings first walked the Earth, we have honed and practiced our skills in all manner of practical and esoteric arts. We have the awareness and self-discipline to develop new skills to meet new challenges and have overcome nature’s most adverse and deadly conditions. Whether it was the life-saving and practical skills required to track and bring down sometimes dangerous game for food, or the growing and managing of crops for the good of the tribe or village, human beings have continually striven to invent new social frameworks, scientific or philosophical concepts and practical tools and equipment. Such discoveries require us to master new skills for the betterment of the tribe or society. This unique human ability requires patience, perseverance, and – most of all – self-discipline. Acquiring a skill that involves imagination and artistic flair require time spent learning and defining the nature of self-expression. The mastery of any skill requires you to call on the divine to bless thee effort and energy expended in the process.
The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, art by Will Worthington
Parting the Mists 
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