Page of Wands
The page of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man standing with a wand, in the act of proclamation. A. E. Waite read it as a faithful young man, a lover, an envoy.
Meaning
Waite describes the card: "In a scene similar to the former, a young man stands in the act of proclamation. He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange."
What does the Page of Wands mean?
Waite's meanings are "dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival"; reversed, "anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it". His list of additional meanings adds "young man of family in search of young lady", and reversed, "bad news".
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 Knave of Sceptres, reads it as "a dark child or messenger, good".
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