TAROTKing of Wands
Upright
The visionary leader. Big ideas and leaving a lasting legacy.
Leadership qualities and the ability to inspire others
Pure ambition personified.
Fearless and decisive.
Unique vision and honesty.
Building a strong team, whether in personal life or career.
Intuition
As can be seen by the astrological reading for this card, the King of Wands is pure fire.
The image shows someone at the top of his game. Not only a gold throne; the whole room is gold. And not just mere lions. This time we have magical sphinxes! Whereas lions represent strength and power, sphinxes signify high royalty and an exalted status.
Reversed
Controlling, impulsive or ruthless behavior passed off as leadership.
Ruling by position, status, or even fear, rather than via an ability to lead and inspire.
Expectations that are beyond your ability to achieve.
Misuse of status, position, or power.
A dysfunctional team or social unit.
Astrologia
An intensively passionate, inspiring and respected leader. An enthusiasm for life that leads to success. A constant need to better themselves via constant change. Can be impulsive and quickly become combative, which is often a downside – but often also leads to success.
King of Wands
The previous card, the Queen of Wands mixes air and water, but the King of Wands is pure fire.
He is the linchpin to success and a core person in any team, promoting teamwork and a long-term vision. He represents the fire energy needed to win, consisting of passion, enthusiasm, strength of will, and competitiveness.
If he is not there already, he is set to rise to leadership and has the ability to bring out the best qualities in others. His appearance in a reading often suggests you are destined to lead (or the one who moves first) or that you will meet someone who has this role.
He has a vision for success and great (and often creative) ideas on how to achieve it, and is able to delegate well. But the King of Wands may be less successful on the lower level details if he has to do them himself.
History boasts many leaders who accomplished great things, but the King of Wands represents the absolute best of the best when it comes to long-term success. That shortens the list massively. There is one king who would appear high on any list.
Thutmose the Great
King Thutmose III, often called Thutmose the Great, was destined to be pharaoh from the age of two, although he shared is reign for the first 20 years with Queen Hatshepsut (Queen of Wands). He initially served as a general in Hatshepsut’s army (a common way to train heirs for leadership and command in Ancient Egypt), becoming sole pharaoh after her death.
He is noted as the greatest warrior king of the ancient world, having led more successful campaigns than either Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. He commanded at least sixteen major campaigns and was victorious in all of them, capturing 350 cities. Even ignoring his status as pharaoh, he is recognized as one of the greatest generals of all time.
His name means 'born of Thoth'. True to his name (and the symbology of the King of Wands), he was able to win so many campaigns because he brought novel ideas and concepts to the table: the first military navy (including portage, carrying boats over dry land) and advanced new technologies like chariots.
His campaigns resulted in the zenith of Ancient Egypt: its largest territorial size, its greatest military force, and a continuation of the prosperity created by Hatshepsut. Coupled with the ambition and drive evident from his early age, Thutmose III was a truly successful leader, well deserving of the title Great.
Description and Symbology
We see a young, confident pharaoh in a richly decorated throne room, as befits a king of immense success. The throne is gold and blue, two highly auspicious colors in Egyptian belief.
The pharaoh carries a rod topped with a golden Ankh, symbolizing life and its enduring energy.
On either side of the pharaoh sits a sphinx. In Ancient Egypt, the Sphinx is a symbol of high royalty and the sun god Horemakhet ('Horus of the Horizon'), representing the rising sun.
For the King of Wands, they symbolize the wide vision represented by the horizon, coupled with the power and energy of the rising sun. This marks the pharaoh as a man of unparalleled vision and power.
The Pharaoh
A young leader sits on a golden throne. Despite his age, he looks neither unafraid nor worried of his role, having being well practiced in success and victory. He carries a rod topped with an Ankh, symbolizing life and its energy.
The gold and blue throne room
The throne and throne room suggests a very successful monarch. It is covered in pure gold and royal blue, two colors associated with the Gods and the life giving waters of the River Nile. The gold of the room reflects on the bare skin of the Pharaoh, giving him a warm golden glow and an almost godlike presence.
The Sphinxes
The two sphinxes represent the strength and ferocity, and breadth of wisdom of the Pharaoh through their connection with the rising sun and the wide horizon it inhabits.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
In existing relationships this is a period of empowerment, passion and fire with both partners taking the lead in their sphere of competence.
This is not a relationship for the needy nor anyone who expects but will not give! Mutual respect and support will happen, but the word mutual is important in this relationship. This is also a significant factor if you are asking the Tarot about a potential new partner.
Further, for a potential partner who is signified by the King of Wands, expect the trappings of success to come your way, but you may also be expected to be at the top of your field and contribute. You may also need to give this person more freedom and space to achieve their breakthroughs.
Expect tension or frustration in the relationship, caused by high expectations or one partner not stepping up to obligations.
In the worst cases, one partner may be of the opinion they are taking the lead, but that lead is happening via a domineering attitude that can be controlling or even dip into violence or the threat of violence.
Remember that the card often predicts the future if nothing is done to change it. The card can be positive when you use it to identify sticking points in advance and discuss a plan together, so that either future success or future failure has both your names to it!
You will be successful in your work, and especially good at getting others to help you, but don’t forget to keep them onside by inspiring them, and make sure there is some benefit to them.
You may well achieve all this by having a view of the big picture; share it with others, as this is the thing that will inspire
Expect sources of tension to occur within the workplace. This will be caused by a lack of leadership, high expectations, or tensions within the team that cause friction and lack of unified vision.
Check your expectations and abilities if the card suggests the person causing this is you; not everyone can be the leader all the time!
Like the Queen of Wands, this is a period of energy and vitality, but this time it is pure physical and competitive energy. Leverage your competitive edge to increase health and fitness. Be careful that you do not cause injury or exhaustion through it, as the King of Wands usually means you are consuming energy in many areas of your life as you march towards your goals!
Take care with health as you move forward quickly in other areas; your vision may be looking towards the horizon, but take the time to look down at your tired feet once in a while!
Expect gains in your journey towards your inner goals, but take the time to understand how this will change you.
You will hopefully become a better, more confident person and perhaps even be molded into a leader, but don’t lose sight of your vision of yourself as you cross those goals. Richer, more successful or more powerful are not spiritual words, and you may need to consider what the words to describe you should be, and where they fit into your goals, remembering being humble and assigning success to others where it is justified are the true hallmarks of great leadership.
Be wary of becoming someone else to achieve success.
Aggressiveness, impatience with others, or ‘eyes on the goal’ (whilst ignoring the team making the advances) are rarely sustainable for long.
You should also be prepared to face failure as a learning opportunity rather than a blame-game. Accept that the flip-side of being lauded for your achievements is understanding your responsibilities in failure.
This card suggests inner confidence and the fire to get things done, and this should work well with any financial plans, but will not be the winning point.
Success will hinge on your new-found vision for the future and where you expect to be. Work that out first, then let your confidence and tenacity set the stage for it to happen!
You will face problems with hurrying too fast, and this may be caused by having vision but not time for details; slow down, keep everyone on board, and read the details!
You may also have problems with others if losses occur, taking on a combative stance or invoking a blame-game. In this situation, it may be better to inwardly accept your position in the failed process and take that as your starting point.
Yes, through confidence and leadership.
Yes, but it will be a difficult journey unless you leave your ego, competitiveness, and high expectations at home! If you can’t do this, then it may be a time to reconsider, because you might lose sleep, friends, and money over it.
Reading the Card
- Like all Court Cards, the King of Wands can represent people or things other than yourself:
- A Team: A team working well together, a well-managed company, or a strong competitive group.
- A Mentor: An older man who is your rock or shoulder to lean on. He has experience with success and gives you the strength to move forward. He is not just someone who teaches, but someone who makes you a better, more confident person.
- A Professional: A successful professional within their field, possessing a strong record of success and influence.
- A Visionary: A leader or company owner driving success. As a potential romantic partner, they may have high expectations of you, and will require space and freedom to pursue their goals.
- A Toxic Authority: The reversed card signifies a person who sits above you (or thinks they do) and mismanages chances for success. In your social or emotional circle, this person can be toxic through bullying, an inflated ego, controlling behavior, or even violence.
When reading the Upright and Reversal sections below, note that although the text refers to you, it could actually represent any of the above. The question being asked (or your first instinct upon seeing the card) will dictate who or what the card signifies.
The Upright Card
The Upright card indicates leadership qualities and the ability to inspire others. This is a confident man, passionate about completing his goals, possessing creative intellect and wide horizons. The King of Wands brings others to his cause through good communication, the depth of his vision, and sharing his successes for the benefit of everyone. He is the archetypal good, strong, and just ruler.
The King of Wands brings others to his cause through good communication, the depth of his vision, and sharing his successes for the benefit of everyone. He is the archetypal good, strong, and just ruler.
The card suggests taking action and making decisions with confidence. Success will come by taking the first step and inspiring others, which may imply (or eventually lead to) a leadership role.
In non-leadership contexts, it implies the confidence to succeed through decisive action. It denotes a will to succeed fueled by a passionate belief in the goal (or a passionate belief in each other, where a relationship is concerned).
The Reversal
The Reversed card indicates someone who assumes they are a leader, but is perceived by others as far less so. It indicates a person who confuses leadership with bullying or an inflated ego. It can denote someone sitting above you who relies entirely on status to make decisions, yet produces incredibly poor plans.
It can also represent a person in a strategic or decision-making role who will fail due to procrastination, lack of vision, poor communication, a desire to please superiors over protecting the team, or simply a lack of will.
In the worst cases, the Reversed King represents a hot-headed or controlling figure who creates power purely through fear or coercion.
Card Design Process
The card design is reminiscent of another card in the standard Tarot deck: convert the throne to a chariot, and we have the Major Arcana Chariot card. This was not by chance. The Chariot represents a similarly driven force, but it is controlled by the element of Water, whereas the King of Wands is driven by Fire.
The sphinxes were added to the King of Wands to drive home how similar, yet how opposite, the two cards truly are: the irrepressible feminine archetypal force of the Chariot versus the visionary male leader of the King of Wands.
Final Words
The King of Wands represents the strength, confidence, charisma, and vision of the leader. He embodies the pursuit of long-term, meaningful goals with the fire of determination and ambition. He brings others with him through the strength of his conviction and his ability to share success.
Reversed, he represents the bad leader: unqualified, unready, or simply self-centered. He becomes little more than an ego-tripping bully who is only in it for himself.
