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Ace thru Five of Wands - Tarot Card Interpretation by A. E. Waite

Ace of Wands


Image of the Rider Waite Ace of Wands Tarot Card

A hand issuing from a cloud grasps a stout wand or club.

Divinatory Meaning: Creation, invention, enterprise, the powers which result in these; principle, beginning, source; birth, family, origin, and in a sense the virility which is behind them; the starting point of enterprises; according to another account, money, fortune, inheritance.

Reversed: Fall, decadence, ruin, perdition, to perish also a certain clouded joy.

 

Two of Wands


Image of the Rider Waite Two of Wands Tarot Card

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.

Divinatory Meaning: 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. The design gives one suggestion; here is a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst the grandeur of this world's wealth.

Reversed: Surprise, wonder, enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear.

 

Three of Wands


Image of the Rider Waite Three of Wands Tarot Card

A calm, stately personage, with his back turned, looking from a cliff's edge at ships passing over the sea. Three staves are planted in the ground, and he leans slightly on one of them.

Divinatory Meaning: He symbolizes established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery; those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, which are sailing over the sea. The card also signifies able co-operation in business, as if the successful merchant prince were looking from his side towards yours with a view to help you.

Reversed: The end of troubles, suspension or cessation of adversity, toil and disappointment.

 

Four of Wands


Image of the Rider Waite Four of Wands Tarot Card

From the four great staves planted in the foreground there is a great garland suspended; two female figures uplift nosegays; at their side is a bridge over a moat, leading to an old manorial house.

Divinatory Meaning: They are for once almost on the surface--country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these.

Reversed: The meaning remains unaltered; it is prosperity, increase, felicity, beauty, embellishment.

 

Five of Wands


Image of the Rider Waite Five of Wands Tarot Card

A posse of youths, who are brandishing staves, as if in sport or strife. It is mimic warfare.

Divinatory Meaning: Imitation, as, for example, sham fight, but also the strenuous competition and struggle of the search after riches and fortune. In this sense it connects with the battle of life. Hence some attributions say that it is a card of gold, gain, opulence.

Reversed: Litigation, disputes, trickery, contradiction.

 

Tarot Card Intertpretations by A. E. Waite


Cards of The Tarot Major Arcana

The Fool  The Magician  The High Priestess  The Empress  The Emperor  The Hierophant  The Lovers  The Chariot  Strength  The Hermit  Wheel of Fortune  Justice  The Hanged Man  Death  Temperance   The Devil  The Tower  The Star  The Moon  The Sun  Judgment   The World


Cards of The Tarot Wands

Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five of Wands  Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten of Wands  Page, Knight, Queen, and King of Wands


Cards of The Tarot Cups

Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five of Cups  Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten of Cups  Page, Knight, Queen, and King of Cups


Cards of The Tarot Swords

Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five of Swords  Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten of Swords  Page, Knight, Queen, and King of Swords


Cards of The Tarot Pentacles (Disks)

Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five of Pentacles  Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten of Pentacles  Page, Knight, Queen, and King of Pentacles