VI, Suit of WandsSix of Wands tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedSix of Wands in shortIn short
The Six of Wands is victory. A rider in a laurel crown comes home on a white horse, a wreath on his staff, men with staves walking beside him. Success that others can see.
- Victory
- Recognition
- Pride
Piece oneThe footmen
Men with staves and laurel crowns walk beside him: footmen at his side, says Waite. They helped win this, and they share it.
"...footmen with staves are at his side."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereA victory needs witnesses. The footmen walk beside the rider with their own staves and laurels, so his win belongs to a group. They're the crowd and the team at once. Without them the laurel crown above would be a man praising himself; with them the triumph is public.
Piece twoThe white horse
He rides a white horse with a red bridle and a green cloth. Waite says the card also means great news, the kind a royal courier carries. The horse brings it home.
"...it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King's courier..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe horse lifts the winner above the crowd and carries the news through it. On foot he'd vanish among the footmen; mounted, he's seen from far off. The red bridle and green cloth dress the animal for a parade. It walks calm and steady, a horse for a procession.
Piece threeThe rider
The rider wears a laurel crown and a red cloak and looks straight ahead. Waite calls him a laurelled horseman, a victor in triumph. He knows people are watching. Head high.
"A laurelled horseman bears one staff adorned with a laurel crown..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereHe's the winner, and the card is about being seen winning. He looks ahead, chin up, laurel on his head, staff in hand with its own laurel tied on top. The footmen walk below him. The pride belongs to the meaning: this is a victory in public.
Piece fourThe laurel crown
A laurel wreath is tied to the top of his staff with a red ribbon. Waite calls the card expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope. Your hope came true, in plain view.
"...it is expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe laurel is the prize made visible. Tied to the top of his staff with a red ribbon, it rides higher than anything else on the card, above the rider, the horse and the footmen. Waite's crown of hope belongs here: the thing he wanted, held up where everyone can see it.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
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The footmen
The footmen wear the rider's red and green: same story, same side. Their staves rise beside his and make a forest of wood around the horse. In the Five of Wands young men swung staves at each other on open ground. Here the staves point up together, all carried the same way.
Also in -
The white horse
Cream and red: a bright horse for a public moment. The Sun has a white horse too, carrying a child under a huge sun. Death rides a white horse too, a knight in black armour above a fallen king. The same pale horse can bring joy, an ending or, here, a win.
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The rider
Red cloak, green crown: fire, and the leaves of victory. A rider in fire colours comes back as the Knight of Wands, a red plume streaming from his helmet. The Six rides at walking pace through a crowd. The Knight's horse rears, all speed and no parade.
Also in -
The laurel crown
Olive laurel, a red ribbon, pale blue sky: an old sign of victory, held high. The Four of Wands hangs a long garland of leaves and roses between its staves for a homecoming. The World draws a whole oval wreath around its dancer. The Six keeps its wreath small, a single ring carried on a single staff.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Six of WandsUpright
Victory and recognition. Waite says the card covers several meanings: a victor triumphing, great news carried by a courier, expectation crowned with its own desire.
It follows the struggle of the Five. You won, or you will, and people notice. Enjoy it, and thank the ones who walked beside you.
Six of WandsReversed
Waite's words: apprehension and fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery and disloyalty, as of gates opened to the enemy; and indefinite delay.
Success is late, or someone close isn't loyal. Watch who you trust. Wait to count the win.
Yes or noYes.
Yes. Victory and good news.
Six of Wands in your lifeIn your life
Love
A happy, proud time. You win someone's heart, or people admire what you have.
Work
Promotion, praise, a public win. Good news is coming.
Money
A reward for effort: a bonus or a good deal.
Health
Confidence and recovery. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Progress. Share what you learned, and keep it humble.
Advice
Take the praise. Share it with the people who helped.
As a person
Confident, admired, proud. A natural leader who likes the spotlight.
Past, present, future
Past: a win. Present: success and good news. Future: a public victory.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Wands
- Element
- Fire
- Astrology
- Jupiter in Leo
- Sephira
- Tiphareth
- Upright
- Victor
- Reversed
- Apprehension
QuestionsCommon questions
Yes. Victory, good news, recognition. Reversed, Waite warns of fear, disloyalty and delay.
A proud, happy time, or winning the person you want. Other people admire the two of you.
Yes. Good news is coming.
Laurel is the old sign of victory. Waite calls the card expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope. The wreath on the staff is that hope, come true.
Jupiter in Leo, the second decan of Leo, in the Golden Dawn system. Fire is its element, Tiphareth its sephira.
Waite gives it several meanings at once: a victor in triumph, great news from the King's courier, hope crowned with what it wished for.
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