The Wands Suit: How to Understand the Wands in Tarot

Are you curious to know more about the Wands suit in Tarot? If so, you have come to the right place!

Whether you are a beginner, a dabbler, an expert, or just someone who has been led to an interest in Tarot, it’s always handy to have an article to hand that explains more about the different Tarot suits.

The Difference Between Major and Minor Arcana

The Tarot is made up of 78 cards. 22 of these cards are known as the Major Arcana. The remaining 56 cards are the Minor Arcana.

Both the Major and Minor Arcana cards are important. The difference is that Minor Arcana cards tend to represent our everyday lives and the smaller details within those lives. The Major Arcana represent bigger life events – an overview of our lives. Often, cards represented by the Major Arcana are outside of our control – aspects of life that the universe is showing us or guiding us towards. Minor Arcana cards are more ‘in our control’ so to speak, or, at the very least, details within our lives that we can exert more power over.

The thing about Tarot is that its scope of exploration is infinite and its meanings are limitless. There are many different definitions for both the Major and Minor Arcana. Essentially, however, the core meaning remains the same. The Minor Arcana tends to represent people, events, and problems. The Major Arcana represents the bigger picture and overview of these smaller details.

If the Major Arcana are the life lessons and soul lessons, the Minor Arcana are the little details within those lessons.

This is where we come to the Wands suit, a group of cards that are a part of the Minor Arcana. Understanding the Minor Arcana and how it relates to every day life helps us to understand the Wands suit at a deeper level.

Remember, when a Wand appears in your reading, it is giving you more information about the greater life/soul lesson that you are going through at the time.

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Wands – What are They?

There are four suits to the Minor Arcana: Wands, Swords, Pentacles and Cups. Each suit represents an element and corresponding meaning which relates to our personalities and energy.

Wands are FIRE. They represent energy, ego, sex, creativity, dreams, goals, aspirations, action and inspirational ideas. Wands are associated with the astrological fire signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.

Aries, Leo and Sagittarius people are bold, warm-hearted, charismatic and unstoppable when they put their mind to something. They love new ideas and exploring exciting concepts.

Fire is a powerful element. It can generate magnificent ideas and light up the whole world with those ideas and dreams!

But fire can become out of control if not handled carefully or if handled irresponsibly. Fire can give light, but it can also burn! In the negative spectrum, a Wands card will often appear reversed in a reading or be ill-dignified next to other cards.

The Wands suit begins with the Ace and finishes with the King of Wands. Throughout the journey from the Ace and ending with the King, we learn the different stages of Wands energy and how they apply to our lives.

Below is a summary of the different Wands cards and their associated meanings.

The Wands Cards & Their Meanings

• Ace of Wands: Creative potential, adventure, excitement, new project, fresh inspiration, sexual attraction.
• 2 of Wands: Deciding which action to take, standing at a crossroads, negotiation, desiring new challenges, waiting for the right moment to act.
• 3 of Wands: Travel, the decision has been made, courage, boldness, moving forward with plans, embracing a bright future, belief in one’s success.
• 4 of Wands: Happy days, stability, celebrations, counting your blessings, experiencing bliss and harmony, happy work environment, happy home environment, freedom.
• 5 of Wands: Conflict, challenges, rat race, lack of teamwork, competition, at odds with yourself, chaos, brainstorming, too many demands being made on you.
• 6 of Wands: Success, time to shine, achievement, praise, acclaim, being in the spotlight, high self-confidence, fame, winning.
• 7 of Wands: Defending your position, maintaining power, standing your ground, rivalry, enemies, fighting your corner, being attacked, assertive, never giving up.
• 8 of Wands: Being in a strong position, everything happening at once, sudden activity, sudden messages, jumping in, taking a risk, obsession, getting swept off your feet.
• 9 of Wands: Being on guard, wounded, experienced, have been through the wars, patience, determination, standing alone, vigilant, paranoid, anxious, battles, one last stand.
• 10 of Wands: Overburdened, exhausted, taking on the lion’s share, responsibilities, challenging times, stress, keep going, the end is near, taking on the problems of others.

The next 3 cards are the Wands Court Cards. They can represent a person in your life, you, or the energy that surrounds a situation in your life. They can also represent energy that you are being advised to take on yourself.

• Page of Wands: Initiator, original ideas, creativity, inventive, inspirational, free-spirited, courageous, passionate, spontaneous, not afraid to take a leap of faith, idealistic, open to new concepts, pretty, attractive, optimistic, carefree, adoring, fiery, doesn’t look before leaping, curious, likes to explore.
• Knight of Wands: Daring, brave, adventurous, champion, very busy, go-getter, free-spirit, hates restrictions, starts projects but doesn’t finish them, charming, impatient, loves to travel, risk-taker, leader, inspirational, sexy, energetic, heartbreaker, here one minute and gone the next, headstrong, bored easily, high self-confidence, thrill-seeker.
• Queen of Wands: Mature feminine fire, independent, powerful, strong, vivacious, sexy, attractive, warm-hearted, having faith in yourself, fearless, optimism, enthusiasm, determination, psychic ability, creative, looking on the bright side of things, feeling passionate about a cause, dramatic, leadership, pride in yourself, defending the underdog.
• King of Wands: Mature masculine fire, born leader, integrity, strong principles, dynamic, commands respect, go-getter, physically fit, sexy, macho, takes charge of the situation, confident, sets goals and reaches them, stimulating, boss, role-model, charismatic, protector, assertive, persuasive, finish what you started, experienced.

These are the basic meanings associated with each Wands card. However, as a reader, always remember to listen to your intuition and take as long as you need to study the card meaning when it appears in your spread. You may find that the meaning alternates depending on surrounding cards and what your intuition tells you.

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Closing Thoughts …

The Wands cards are all about passion and vitality. They represent everything in life that makes us feel motivated and driven. From the Ace of Wands that represents the exciting spark of an idea or an initial powerful attraction to someone else, to the 5 of Wands that represents competition and squabbles that can appear in the journey to reach our goals, to the 10 of Wands which teaches us about what happens when we take too much on our shoulders, all of the Wands cards tell their own stories and let us know how they are affecting different areas of our lives.

The potential to find out more about ourselves, our lives and even our soul purpose is limitless when it comes to Tarot. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the Wands cards better. If you have any comments or questions, just pop them into the comments below! In the meantime, you can always refer back to this article if you need a reminder about what your Wands card means. 

Passion, excitement and energy swirl among the fire cards, bringing zest and meaning to our lives which can be especially helpful when things have become dull or lackluster. One thing is for certain with Wands – you will never be bored with them in your life!

Related article: How to do a Daily Tarot Reading for Your Soul 

♡  Iberia Tor