King of Wands
leadership · vision · an entrepreneur · honour
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Wands
In a few words
- leadership
- vision
- an entrepreneur
- honour
A leader with a vision and the nerve to act on it. Honest, bold, expects loyalty and gives it.
Upright
- Everything
- A leader with a vision and the nerve to act on it. Honest, bold, expects loyalty and gives it.
- Love
- A mature, passionate partner who takes responsibility. Or the call to lead with heart.
- Work
- Take the big decision. Entrepreneurship, leadership, a venture of your own.
- Money
- Bold, honest business. Profit through vision and a good name.
- Myself
- You are the one people look to. Lead the way you would want to be led.
Dark man, friendly, countryman, generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in before very long.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 170
Reversed
- Everything
- Vision without follow-through, or a leader who bullies. Temper and ego in the way.
- Love
- Dominance, impatience, a partner who must always win. Or your own.
- Work
- A boss who cannot be questioned, or your own arrogance costing the team.
- Money
- Overreaching ventures, risks taken to prove a point. Step back from the ego.
- Myself
- Leading from insecurity. Real authority does not need to shout.
Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 170
The card, as Waite described it
The physical and emotional nature to which this card is attributed is dark, ardent, lithe, animated, impassioned, noble. The King uplifts a flowering wand, and wears, like his three correspondences in the remaining suits, what is called a cap of maintenance beneath his crown. He connects with the symbol of the lion, which is emblazoned on the back of his throne.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 170
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.