Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the master craftsman who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Imprisoned within his own creation after aiding Theseus’s escape, Daedalus sought freedom for himself and his son by fashioning wings of feathers and wax. Before their flight, he warned Icarus not to soar too high, lest the sun melt the wax, nor too low, lest the sea dampen the feathers.

Overcome by the ecstasy of flight, Icarus ignored his father’s warning. He flew higher and higher until the wax melted and he fell into the sea — the Icarian Sea, named in his memory. Daedalus, heartbroken, survived to tell the story.

Icarus represents the impulse toward transcendence — the human longing to surpass limitation, to touch the divine, to know freedom at any cost. Yet his fall reveals the danger of imbalance — when aspiration loses its grounding in wisdom.

When this card appears, it invites you to explore where you may be flying too close to the sun — driven by ambition, perfectionism, or escape — and where you might need to listen to the voice of experience within or around you.

Myth and Meaning

1. The Wound —
The wound of Icarus is disconnection from guidance — the pain of not listening or being unheard. It speaks to rebellion born from longing: the desire to rise above limits, to prove your own wings. This wound can show up as overreaching or self-sabotage when your passion outruns your patience.

2. The Mask —
You may wear the mask of the Visionary or the Dreamer — confident, fearless, chasing light. Beneath it lies a fear of failure, of being ordinary or bound by human limits. The mask hides vulnerability and the need for mentorship or grounding.

3. The Trigger —
Criticism, restriction, or reminders of your limits ignite this archetype’s wound. When others try to guide or slow you down, you may feel controlled or diminished, stirring the urge to break free — even recklessly.

4. The Medicine —
Balance. The medicine of Icarus is humility paired with faith — learning to fly with awareness. It invites you to integrate wisdom (Daedalus) with inspiration (Icarus). The two belong together: vision must be tempered by patience, and freedom by respect for natural law.

5. The Gift —
Your gift is radiant courage — the willingness to leap, to try, to believe in what has never been done. You remind others of the beauty of risk and the necessity of passion. When guided by discernment, your flights become breakthroughs rather than falls.

6. The Path Forward —
Listen to your inner Daedalus — the voice of experience, ancestry, or intuition that understands timing and consequence. The path forward is disciplined flight: dream boldly, but tether your wings to wisdom. Icarus teaches that transcendence is not escape from the human condition, but its illumination.

Chiron Healing Journey Spread Interpretation For Icarus