← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 28/121
Six of Wands
The Six of Wands is the card of public success. After the scramble of the Five, someone has come out ahead and is being recognised for it. It speaks of victory, praise, good news and the self-belief that comes from having others cheer you on.
The image
A rider wearing a laurel wreath sits on a white horse and holds up a staff crowned with another laurel wreath. People on foot walk beside him, their own staves raised. Waite calls him "a laurelled horseman". The scene is usually read as a victory parade: the wreath for triumph, the horse for confidence and forward movement, the crowd for support and acclaim.
Upright
It tends to describe success that others can see — a goal reached, a promotion, an award, a campaign won, a moment of well-earned pride. Waite reads it as a victor triumphing, and also as "great news" and "expectation crowned with its own desire". It can point to leadership and to the encouragement of a group behind one.
Reversed
Reversed, it is often read as success delayed, recognition withheld, or pride that runs ahead of the facts. Waite lists apprehension and fear, "treachery, disloyalty" — as of gates opened to an enemy — and "indefinite delay". Some readers do not use reversals.
Correspondences
A pip of the Wands, element Fire. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, it is Jupiter in the second decan of Leo, 10°–20°, and sits in Tiphareth, beauty, at the centre of the Tree of Life. The Golden Dawn called it the Lord of Victory.
In a reading
In the past it can show a win that built confidence; as an obstacle, dependence on applause; as an outcome, success and recognition. With The Chariot it is often read as a clear victory through determination; after the Five of Wands, a contest resolved in one's favour.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Decan: Jupiter in Leo, 10°–20°
Element: Fire — the element of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius
Mode: Fixed — Leo is a fixed sign