IV, Suit of WandsFour of Wands tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedFour of Wands in shortIn short
The Four of Wands is celebration and home. Four staves hold up a garland of roses, two women raise bouquets, and a castle and a bridge wait behind them. You've arrived somewhere safe, and you're glad.
- Celebration
- Home
- Harmony
Piece oneThe bridge
At the side a stone bridge crosses the water to the house, a bridge over a moat in Waite's words. The way home is open. Cross it.
"...at their side is a bridge over a moat..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe bridge is the way in. It crosses the moat to the house, so the party in front becomes a welcome on the road home. The garland marks the gate and the bridge completes the path. A moat keeps enemies out; a bridge laid across it says guests are wanted.
Piece twoThe manor
Behind the figures stands a castle with red roofs. Waite calls it an old manorial house; ours has walls and towers. The party belongs to this home, a safe place to come back to.
"...leading to an old manorial house."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe manor gives the party a reason. It's the home being celebrated, the place the bridge leads to and the women come out from. Its walls and towers say safety; its red roofs say warmth. The four staves stand in front of it like a gateway to the house.
Piece threeThe two women
Two women raise bouquets high, flowers in their hair. Waite calls the scene a kind of harvest home: country life, concord, harmony. They're welcoming you in.
"...two female figures uplift nosegays..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThey bring the welcome to life. Two women lift flowers high in front of the gate, so the garland above them has people under it. Small figures gather by the walls behind. Their raised arms point you toward the manor and tell you the party is for whoever comes home.
Piece fourThe garland
A big garland of leaves and red roses hangs between four staves, tied with ribbons. Waite describes it. Four plain poles become a gateway, the kind you'd raise for a wedding or a harvest feast.
"From the four great staves planted in the foreground there is a great garland suspended..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe garland turns four poles into a door. Without it they'd be fence posts; with leaves, roses and ribbons hung between them, they become a gateway to the manor. It's the first thing you pass on the way in, before the women and the bridge. Waite calls the scene a harvest home, and the garland is its sign.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
-
The bridge
Pale stone over dark green water: the bridge is the light way across. In the Five of Cups a grey bridge spans the river behind the cloaked figure, a way home he hasn't turned to see. Here the bridge leads straight to the party, and nobody stands with their back to it. The way across is open and lit.
Also in -
The manor
Grey stone and red roofs: warm, settled colours for an old home. In the Ten of Pentacles a family gathers under an archway, with a tower and a red-roofed town behind them. The Ten of Cups puts a small red-roofed house under a rainbow while a family celebrates. Each card shows home as the reward.
Also in -
The two women
Teal and deep red side by side, cool and warm in harmony. Raised arms return in the Ten of Cups, where a couple lift their hands to a rainbow while their children dance beside them. The Four is the party at the gate, with the house still behind the walls. The Ten is the life that follows, out in the open.
Also in -
The garland
Leaf green and rose red on bright yellow: summer feast colours. The Six of Wands ties a laurel wreath to the top of one staff and carries it through a crowd. The World frames its dancer in a huge oval wreath of leaves. The Four hangs its garland at a gate; the World wraps one around a whole life.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Four of WandsUpright
Home, rest, celebration. Waite says the meanings lie almost on the surface: country life, haven of refuge, a kind of domestic harvest home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace.
It often shows up for weddings, housewarmings, reunions, the end of a long effort. You finished something. Enjoy it with the people you love.
Four of WandsReversed
Waite says the meaning stays the same: prosperity, increase, felicity, beauty, embellishment.
The joy may come later or feel less settled. The card stays good, only quieter.
Yes or noYes.
Yes. Waite says it keeps its happy meaning even reversed.
Four of Wands in your lifeIn your life
Love
A happy, settled time. Commitment, moving in, an engagement, a wedding.
Work
A milestone. Celebrate the team and the finished work.
Money
Stability and prosperity. Enjoy what you earned. Put some into your home.
Health
Rest and recovery somewhere safe. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Gratitude and shared ritual. Mark the season with other people.
Advice
Stop. Celebrate what you built, and share it.
As a person
Warm, welcoming, sociable. Makes a home and brings people together.
Past, present, future
Past: a happy time at home. Present: harmony and a reason to celebrate. Future: a wedding, a homecoming, or a calm stretch.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Wands
- Element
- Fire
- Astrology
- Venus in Aries
- Sephira
- Chesed
- Upright
- Country life
- Reversed
- Prosperity
QuestionsCommon questions
Yes, one of the happiest minor cards. Waite says it stays good even reversed.
Harmony and commitment. Often moving in, an engagement or a wedding.
Yes, upright and reversed.
The garland turns four staves into a festive gateway. Waite reads the card as a domestic harvest home: rest and celebration after the work.
Venus in Aries, the third decan of Aries, in the Golden Dawn system. Fire is its element, Chesed its sephira.
Waite says the meanings sit on the surface: country life, a safe haven, a harvest home, the finished work of peace.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Wands