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.

Here is the Knight of Wands at a glance.

The Golden Dawn’s King of Wands is the mounted figure that Waite called the Knight. His title is Lord of the Flame and the Lightning, King of the Spirits of Fire, and he is Fire of Fire, the swiftest and most violent part of the element, on Chokmah. Book T gives him 20° Scorpio to 20° Sagittarius. Crowley’s Thoth deck kept the mounted figure but called him the Knight again.

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 is fire in motion. His horse rears, his tunic is covered in salamanders, and he holds his staff high. He is adventurous, passionate and impatient to go. The card often appears with travel, a move, a bold new project or a person who sweeps into your life with energy and charm.

Knights act on the energy of their suit, and the fire Knight acts first and thinks second. That is his gift. He is willing to leap where others hesitate, and he can carry a team with his enthusiasm. If you have been planning for a long time, he says go.

The pyramids in the background suggest distance and the long view, but he is not looking at them. Make sure you know where you are going before you set off, or at least that you can turn around.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Knight of Wands rides off in all directions. He can show recklessness, a temper, delays in travel, or a project started with great fanfare and abandoned. In a person, it can mean someone exciting but unreliable.

Ask whether the energy has a direction. Channel it into one route, slow down enough to see the road, and finish the journey you have already begun.

In love, work and spirituality

In love. Upright: Passion, adventure and a romance that moves fast. Reversed: Someone who loves the chase but not the commitment, or a relationship full of drama.

At work. Upright: Bold action, travel for work, starting a venture, energy that inspires others. Reversed: Rash decisions, impatience with process, or a project started and dropped.

With money. Upright: Taking a calculated risk for a big return. Reversed: Spending impulsively, or gambling on hype.

In spiritual practice. Upright: A burst of devotion, or a journey to a sacred place. Reversed: A passion for practice that fades as quickly as it came.

As feelings. Strong attraction and excitement. They want to act on it now.

As a person. Charismatic, adventurous, restless and exciting, sometimes unreliable.

As advice. Go, but choose your direction first.

Reading the Knight of Wands: positions and yes or no

In the past position: A bold move or a sudden change brought you here. In the present position: Energy is high. Act, but aim first.

In the future position: Adventure, travel or an exciting person may arrive. As advice: Go for it, with a plan for the second week.

In modern yes or no readings, the Knight of Wands leans yes. His energy says go.

The knight in the tarot court, and the history behind the card

Knights are the movement of the court. In the fire suit that movement is a charge, and the Golden Dawn’s title for him, Lord of the Flame and the Lightning, gives a good sense of how suddenly he arrives.

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

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.”

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.

Try this

Try this small spread for the Knight of Wands. Use it when you feel restless and ready to act.

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

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

If you keep a tarot journal, take one of these questions to it: Where do I want to move faster? Am I pursuing something, or escaping something? What plan would make this adventure last?

What next

Cards that sit close to this one are Eight of Wands (fast movement and news), The Chariot (the Major Arcana card of driving forward with will) and Knight of Swords (another fast Knight, charging with ideas instead of passion).

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.
• Aleister Crowley, 777 (London: Walter Scott, 1909), columns of the decans, the Minor Arcana and the court cards.
• Israel Regardie, ed., The Golden Dawn (Chicago: Aries Press, 1937 to 1940), “Book T”, titles and attributions of the small cards and the court.