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, that he may prove a formidable antagonist"; reversed, "obstacles, adversity, calamity". His list of additional meanings adds "generally speaking, a bad card".
In older decks
Italian packs call the suit bastoni, clubs; the British Museum's catalogue of 1876 lists it among the suit marks of the earliest cards. Papus, who calls it the Nine of Sceptres, reads it as "Realization of success. Success is continued."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsTen of WandsThe ten of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man bowed under the weight of ten staves. A. E. Waite read it as oppression, and fortune that has become a burden.
- The same shape in Chinese radicalsMù 目The character for ‘eye’, and radical 109 of the 214 Kangxi radicals, under which characters for looking and seeing are filed.
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
The same shape elsewhere
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Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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