← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 36/121
King of Wands
The King of Wands is fire put to purpose: visionary, decisive, honest and able to inspire others to follow. As a person, he can describe a natural leader or entrepreneur, someone with big ideas and the drive to make them real. As a situation, the card speaks of taking charge, setting a direction and acting with integrity.
The image
The King sits on a throne decorated with lions and salamanders, holding a flowering staff upright; a small salamander sits on the ground beside him. Waite notes the lion on the back of the throne and the "cap of maintenance" under his crown. The salamanders, some of them biting their own tails, are often read as fire that renews itself; the lions as courage and authority.
Upright
It tends to describe leadership and vision: a person or attitude that sees the big picture and moves people towards it. Waite calls the nature behind the card "ardent, lithe, animated, impassioned, noble", and says it "always signifies honesty". It can point to an entrepreneur, a mentor, or the moment one takes responsibility for a venture.
Reversed
Reversed, it is often read as leadership turned domineering or impatient, high standards that become harsh, or vision without follow-through. Waite gives "good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant", and in his additional meanings, "advice that should be followed". Some readers do not use reversals.
Correspondences
A court card of the Wands, element Fire. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, the enthroned King is called the Prince: this card is the Prince of the Chariot of Fire, Air of Fire — fire spread and directed by the mind. The Golden Dawn gives him rule from 20° Cancer to 20° Leo. Some modern authors, keying the elements to the Rider–Waite names, make the King Fire of Fire instead.
In a reading
In the past it can show a mentor or a time of taking charge; as an obstacle, a forceful personality or too much control; as advice, to lead by example and keep one's word. With The Emperor it often reads as firm authority; with the Three of Wands, a venture with a capable leader.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Element: Fire — the element of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius