Two of Wands
The two of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a tall man on a battlemented roof holding a globe, looking out over sea and shore. A. E. Waite read it as riches and magnificence, or else suffering and sadness.
Meaning
In Waite's words: "A tall man looks from a battlemented roof over sea and shore; he holds a globe in his right hand, while a staff in his left rests on the battlement; another is fixed in a ring. The Rose and Cross and Lily should be noticed on the left side."
What does the Two of Wands mean?
Waite's meanings are "between the alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand, riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification"; reversed, "surprise, wonder, enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear". His list of additional meanings adds "A young lady may expect trivial disappointments".
In older decks
The Italian suit is bastoni, clubs, among the marks of the earliest cards in the British Museum's catalogue of 1876. Papus, who calls it the Two of Sceptres, reads it as opposition to the commencement of the enterprise.
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsThree of WandsThe three of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man seen from behind on a cliff edge, watching ships pass over the sea. A. E. Waite read it as established strength, enterprise, trade and discovery.
- 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
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