Minor arcana
Wands
Fourteen cards — ace to ten, then Page, Knight, Queen and King. Attributed to fire, and the counterpart of clubs in an ordinary playing-card pack.
- Element
- FireAttributed by the Golden Dawn, which Waite's deck follows.
- Taken to cover
- work, enterprise and the will to begin thingsReported from tradition, not asserted.
- Playing-card suit
- ClubsThe tarot pack and the 52-card pack share an ancestor.
- Cards
- 14Ten numbered, four court.
The ten numbered cards
Smith's number cards were the innovation of this deck. The court cards had always shown figures, but the packs in ordinary use printed the Five of Wands as five wands set out in a pattern, and Smith drew a scene on every one of the forty. A few older packs had pictures on their number cards too, the Sola Busca of about 1490 among them, but this was the one that made it usual, and it is the main reason this deck, rather than any older one, is the deck most people picture.
The court
Waite's meanings, all fourteen
| Card | Upright |
|---|---|
| Ace | 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. |
| Two | 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. |
| Three | 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. |
| Four | 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. |
| Five | 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. |
| Six | The card has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King's courier; it is expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope, and so forth. |
| Seven | It is a card of valour, for, on the surface, six are attacking one, who has, however, the vantage position. On the intellectual plane, it signifies discussion, wordy strife; in business—negotiations, war of trade, barter, competition. It is further a card of success, for the combatant is on the top and his enemies may be unable to reach him. |
| Eight | Activity in undertakings, the path of such activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally, that which is on the move; also the arrows of love. |
| Nine | The card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build shews that he may prove a formidable antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible adjuncts—delay, suspension, adjournment. |
| Ten | A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss. |
| Page | Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities of his suit. He may signify family intelligence. |
| Knight | Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence. |
| Queen | A dark woman, countrywoman, friendly, chaste, loving, honourable. If the card beside her signifies a man, she is well disposed towards him; if a woman, she is interested in the Querent. Also, love of money, or a certain success in business. |
| King | Dark man, friendly, countryman, generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in before very long. |
Quoted, not summarised. Nothing here is a claim that a card means anything.