Nine of Wands
The nine of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man leaning on his staff before eight others standing like a palisade. A. E. Waite read it as strength in opposition.
Meaning
Waite describes the card: "The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves—erect, in orderly disposition, like a palisade."
What does the Nine of Wands mean?
Waite's meanings are "the card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build shews"; reversed, "obstacles, adversity, calamity". His list of additional meanings adds "generally speaking, a bad card".
In older decks
In Italian packs the suit is bastoni, clubs: the earliest suit marks, the British Museum's catalogue of 1876 records, were coppe, danari, bastoni and spade, "cups, money, clubs, and swords". Papus, who calls it the Nine of Sceptres, reads it as "realization of success; success is continued".
See also
The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant.
Sources
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by A. E. Waite, William Rider & Son, London, 1910 (the sacred-texts.com transcription, on the Internet Archive), The Lesser Arcana; Some Additional Meanings of the Lesser Arcana
- The Tarot of the Bohemians, by Papus, Chapman & Hall, London, 1896, translated by A. P. Morton (scan on the Internet Archive), The Divining Tarot, second lesson: the minor arcana
- A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum, by W. H. Willshire, Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1876 (scan on the Internet Archive), General history: the marks of the suits
Last reviewed September 28, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research