Knight of Wands tarot card meaning: upright, reversed and symbols

The Knight of Wands rides a rearing horse across the desert, his tunic covered in salamanders and his short staff held high. He is the fire suit in motion: passionate, bold and ready to go before anyone else has saddled up. Here is what the Knight of Wands means upright and reversed, the symbols in the 1909 card and how to read him as a person or as an energy.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: energy, passion, impulsiveness
• Reversed keywords: recklessness, impatience, haste
• Rank: Knight, one of the four court cards of Wands
• Suit and element: Wands, Fire Later tradition
• Astrology: Mars, Sagittarius Modern
• Yes or no: Yes Modern

The pairing of suits and elements comes from French occult writers of the 1800s, and the Golden Dawn fixed the version used here in the 1880s and 1890s. The astrology line is the pairing printed on my first tarot deck. Other books pair the Aces and court cards differently, so if yours disagrees, follow your own deck. The yes or no lean is a modern reading habit. Use these layers if they help you remember the card, and skip them if they get in the way.

The card: what Pamela Colman Smith drew

Waite wrote that he is “shown as if upon a journey, armed with a short wand, and although mailed is not on a warlike errand. He is passing mounds or pyramids. The motion of the horse is a key to the character of its rider, and suggests the precipitate mood.” Precipitate means rushing ahead.

The rearing horse

The horse rises on its back legs. Waite said the horse’s motion shows the rider’s character: eager, sudden, hard to hold back.

The salamanders

Like the Page, the Knight wears salamanders, the creatures of fire. Here some of them form closed circles, which many readers see as energy that keeps going.

Armor but no battle

He wears armor, yet Waite says he is not on a warlike errand. This Knight goes out for adventure, travel and change rather than to fight.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Knight of Wands rides on passion and motion. He carries energy, adventure and bold pursuit. When something needs heat and forward motion, this Knight arrives already cantering. Charm and impatience can share the same saddle.

Aim the passion. Adventure is richer when consent, timing and a basic plan come along. Move boldly toward what you want, and keep an eye on whether you are pursuing something or only running from boredom.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Knight of Wands can show recklessness, impatience, haste or energy scattered in all directions. He may start ten journeys and finish none, or leave a trail of half-kept promises.

Slow the horse enough to choose a direction. Ask what you would still want next month. If someone else is behaving this way, admire the spark but do not build plans on promises that ride off at the first turn.

Reversals are optional. Many readers never use them and read every card upright, and that is a complete way to read. If you do use them, decide before you shuffle what a reversed card will mean for you, and keep to that choice for the whole reading.

In love, work and spirituality

Love

Upright, exciting, passionate romance, a bold move or a whirlwind. Reversed, a charmer who loves the chase more than the staying.

Work and money

Taking bold action, a move or a job with travel, launching quickly. Reversed, rushing a project and skipping the planning.

Spirituality

Throwing yourself into a new practice with real fire. Reversed, burning out after a week of intensity.

As feelings

As someone’s feelings, the Knight of Wands shows passion and excitement. They are strongly drawn to you, though they may not be patient.

The Knight of Wands as past, present, future and advice

• Past: A bold move or a sudden change brought you here.
• Present: Energy is high. Act, but aim first.
• Future: Adventure, travel or an exciting person may arrive.
• Advice: Go for it, with a plan for the second week.

A Minor Arcana card usually describes the everyday texture of a situation: a mood, a conversation, a task or a step. If the Knight of Wands appears next to a Major Arcana card, let the Major name the big theme and let this card show how it is playing out in drive and the other things Wands rule. If it keeps coming back over several days, write down what was happening each time.

Is the Knight of Wands a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, the Knight of Wands leans yes. His energy says go. Tarot is better at showing the shape of a situation than at handing down verdicts, so if the question really matters, turn it into an open question such as “What do I need to know about this?” and draw again.

Affirmation and journal prompts

Affirmation: I ride passion with enough aim to arrive whole.

Reversed affirmation: I rein in haste and finish or exit without unnecessary damage.

Journal prompts:

• Where do I want to move faster?
• Am I pursuing something, or escaping something?
• What plan would make this adventure last?

The knight in the tarot court

The Knight is the suit in motion: pursuit, commitment in transit and sometimes too much of the suit’s own style. Knights travel. They bring change, and they can overdo things. Court cards are not limited by the gender of the figure on the card: a Queen can describe a man, and a Knight can describe a plan rather than a person. You can read the Knight of Wands as someone in your life, as a part of you, or as an approach to the situation.

Here is how the Knight looks across the four suits:

• Knight of Wands (this card): energy, passion, impulsiveness
• Knight of Cups: romance, charm, idealism
• Knight of Swords: action, ambition, drive
• Knight of Pentacles: hard work, responsibility, routine

Learning a rank across the suits is one of the fastest ways to learn the Minor Arcana: the number or court rank gives you the shape, and the suit gives you the setting.

The history and art behind the card

In most decks before 1909, the number cards showed only a pattern of suit symbols, the way a playing card does. The Sola Busca deck from late 1400s Italy is the famous exception. Pamela Colman Smith gave every Minor Arcana card a scene with people in it, and that choice is a big reason the Rider-Waite-Smith deck is still the easiest deck for beginners. In Italian decks the suit is Bastoni (batons) and in the Tarot de Marseille it is Bâtons, plain cudgels or clubs. Smith drew every staff in leaf. Waite explained that the wands are “always in leaf, as it is a suit of life and animation”, and that small detail is a good memory key for the whole suit.

When A. E. Waite published The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in 1910, he listed these divinatory meanings for the Knight of Wands: “Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence.” Reversed, he gave: “Rupture, division, interruption, discord.” Waite said he was offering “a harmony of their meanings” gathered “from all sources”, which means older fortune-telling lists, not his own reading of the picture. On this site I read the picture first and treat lists like this as history.

A spread for the Knight of Wands

Use this spread when you feel restless and ready to act.

1. Where does my fire want to go? The adventure or goal that excites me.
2. What could I miss by rushing? The detail or person to keep in view.
3. How can I go boldly and well? One way to aim the energy.

Lay the three cards in a row, read each one on its own first, then read them together as a short story. Write one sentence for each position and one small action you will take.

Common questions

Is the Knight of Wands a yes or no card?

It leans yes, especially for anything that needs boldness and speed.

Who is the Knight of Wands as a person?

Often someone adventurous, charming and impulsive, full of energy and plans. It can be any gender and any age.

What does the Knight of Wands mean in love?

Passion, excitement and a fast pace. Reversed, a whirlwind that may not last.

Related cards

• Eight of Wands: fast movement and news
• The Chariot: the Major Arcana card of driving forward with will
• Knight of Swords: another fast Knight, charging with ideas instead of passion

Keep learning

The Knight of Wands is part of the lesson Meet the court in my free Tarot for Beginners course. To see the whole suit on one page, go to the suit of Wands. To keep walking the suit, read the card before it, Page of Wands or the card after it, Queen of Wands, or go back to all the card meanings. For more on the court, see Tarot court cards without confusion. For every card with keywords, affirmations and examples, see my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable cheat sheet for all 78 cards, my 45-page Tarot Workbook is on Etsy.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), Part III, sections 1 and 2.
• Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (London: Rider, 1909).
• Nicolas Conver, Tarot de Marseille (Marseille, 1760).
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot, entry for the Knight of Wands.