A Guide to Tarot Card Readings

Suit of Wands

Click a card image to see more about the card.

Ace of Wands

Keywords

Desire, inspiration, vision, creation, invention

Range of Meaning

Light: Being inspired. Identifying an important goal. Being given the opportunity to do whatever you want to do. Giving or receiving direction. Seeing a solution. Creating something new. Being aroused, sexually or creatively.

Shadow: Failing to take advantage of a great opportunity. Being ineffectual or lazy. Making an inadequate effort. Working toward a goal, but lacking the resources or initiative to achieve success. Setting inappropriate goals. Failing to take a stand.

Two of Wands

Keywords

Conflict, decision, option, individuality

Range of Meaning

Light: Having a choice. Offering or being offered an option. Seeing the value of another person’s approach. Understanding there’s more than one way to “skin a cat.” Successfully doing more than one thing at a time. Being empowered to make a choice.

Shadow: Misrepresenting your intentions. Doing one thing while desiring another. Changing course mid-stream for no good reason. Refusing to change your goal even when pursuing it no longer makes sense. Disregarding the input of others.

Three of Wands

Keywords

Implementation, action, exploration

Range of Meaning

Light: Putting a plan into motion. Taking that critical first step. Making good things happen. Going beyond your limits. Blazing new trails. Hitting the ground running. Seeing your plans come to fruition.

Shadow: Procrastinating. Knowing what to do, but refusing to do it. Launching a project without a clear definition of who should do what. Rejecting an opportunity to try something new. Failing to finish what you start.

Four of Wands

Keywords

Celebration, jubilation, community, teamwork, completion

Range of Meaning

Light: Sharing in a great celebration. Sharing in a communal sense of achievement and success. Preparing for a party. Working together toward a common goal. Giving or winning awards.

Shadow: Keeping your nose to the grindstone. Recognizing good work by demanding more work. Failing to share in a group celebration. Allowing sour grapes to poison your moment in the sun. Refusing to do your part.

Five of Wands

Keywords

Confrontation, disruption, distinction, objection, strife

Range of Meaning

Light: Calmly expressing a dissenting opinion. Allowing someone to use his or her own methods to get a job done. Opening the floor for discussion or debate. Comparing progress made so far to standards set earlier.

Shadow: Berating others for their ridiculous opinions. Picking fights. Offering destructive criticism. Baiting people with barbed remarks. Disrupting progress with an endless stream of pointless objections.

Six of Wands

Keywords

Victory, achievement, success, triumph

Range of Meaning

Light: Outperforming your peers. Winning a competition. Being recognized as a capable person. Having your “moment in the spotlight.” Being cheered on by the crowd. Getting an award. Earning the admiration of others. Telling someone, “Good job!”

Shadow: Being a bad winner. Allowing your achievements to inflate your ego. Looking down on people who seem less capable. Craving to be the center of attention. Giving or receiving insincere praise. Envying the achievements of others.

Seven of Wands

Keywords

Bravery, resolve, determination

Range of Meaning

Light: Refusing to be silenced through fear or intimidation. Continuing a fight against all odds. Being fierce. Defending yourself against physical and emotional attacks. Refusing to put up with abuse. Clinging to your values despite all pressure to abandon them.

Shadow: Having a chip on your shoulder. Taking unnecessary risks as a means of proving your fearlessness. Looking for an opportunity to take offense. Responding to constructive criticism with defensiveness. Refusing to stand up for yourself and your beliefs.

Eight of Wands

Keywords

Speed, swiftness, responsiveness, change

Range of Meaning

Light: Taking swift action. Moving forward with a plan as quickly as possible. Energizing yourself. Adapting to sudden changes. Taking setbacks in stride. Embracing the idea that nothing stays the same forever. Reacting quickly and appropriately to unforeseen problems.

Shadow: Giving in to panic. Running in circles and screaming. Insisting things must always stay the same. Stirring the pot just to see what will happen. Rushing others. Refusing to re-evaluate a schedule or program, even when it’s clearly no longer appropriate.

Nine of Wands

Keywords

Toughness, persistence, stamina, loyalty, release

Range of Meaning

Light: Sticking with it for the duration. Fulfilling your promises and obligations. Bearing up under incredible duress. Dragging yourself across the finish line. Picking yourself up by your own bootstraps. Refusing to quit. Going as far as you can go and being satisfied with your performance.

Shadow: Making yourself a martyr. Abandoning your post. Giving up at the first sign of opposition. Being prevented from fulfilling an obligation. Failing to be dependable. Refusing to let something go that needs to be released. Beating a dead horse.

Ten of Wands

Keywords

Exhaustion, resistance, burden, oppression

Range of Meaning

Light: Holding your own in extreme circumstances. Helping others carry their burdens. Coming to the aid of the oppressed. Knowing and being honest about your own limits. Recognizing when you are not well-suited for a particular task.

Shadow: Taking on more work than you know you can handle. Refusing to say “No” when you’re already overloaded. Making a habit of working overtime. Shielding others from facing the consequences of their own poor judgment. Over-extending yourself on a regular basis.

Page of Wands

Keywords

Enthusiasm, eagerness, confidence, validation, affirmation

Range of Meaning

Light: Leaping at a new opportunity. Being a cheerleader or ardent advocate for your cause. Being a True Believer. Taking first steps toward independence. Trusting in your own abilities. Asking for feedback.

Shadow: Basing your entire self-image on what others think. Seizing every new idea that comes your way without question. Habitually discounting input or feedback from others. Being so eager to “do it yourself” that you hinder your own progress.

Knight of Wands

Keywords

Boldness, bravado, passion, persuasion, advocacy

Range of Meaning

Light: Charging ahead. Making rapid progress. Refusing limits. Dazzling those around you with your wit and charm. Convincing others of your right to leadership. Convincing others to follow you. Being a catalyst for change.

Shadow: Blundering forward with inadequate skill or information. Running roughshod over the feelings of others. Using sex appeal to manipulate others. Forcing your leadership or ideology on others. Beginning many projects without finishing any.

Queen of Wands

Keywords

Attention, attraction, unification, collaboration

Range of Meaning

Light: Paying close attention. Helping others focus on the issue at hand. Getting everyone to work together. Identifying common ground. Bringing people together, despite their differences. Using reverse psychology.

Shadow: Being distracted, or using your charms or skills to distract others from the goal. Calling attention to yourself with negative or unhealthy behaviors. Disrupting group activities as a means of feeding your own ego.

King of Wands

Keywords

Creativity, ingenuity, achievement, direction

Range of Meaning

Light: Putting old things together in new and exciting ways. Coming up with unexpected solutions. Using your experience to solve puzzles and problems. Doing what you set out to do. Directing the efforts of others.

Shadow: Using your creativity to get out of honest work. Investing great energy in avoiding responsibility. Boasting about achievements without putting your expertise to practical use. Lording it over others.