Six of Wands
The six of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a horseman crowned with laurel riding among footmen with staves. A. E. Waite read it as victory, great news, and expectation crowned.
Meaning
In Waite's words: "A laurelled horseman bears one staff adorned with a laurel crown; footmen with staves are at his side."
What does the Six of Wands mean?
Waite's meanings are "the card has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King's courier"; reversed, "apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery, disloyalty, as of gates being opened to the enemy; also indefinite delay". His list of additional meanings adds "servants may lose the confidence of their masters; a young lady may be betrayed by a friend", and reversed, "fulfilment of deferred hope".
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 Six of Sceptres, reads it as "Realization of the opposition. At last the obstacles succeed. Failure of the Enterprise in the midst of its execution."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsSeven of WandsThe seven of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man on a height brandishing a staff against six raised from below. A. E. Waite read it as valour, discussion, competition and success.
- 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
Browse symbols formed from letters and numbers, lines or squares and rectangles.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
Added . Last updated .