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

The Six of Wands is the victory parade of the Minor Arcana. A rider wearing a laurel crown sits on a white horse, holding a wand with a wreath on top, and people walk beside him cheering. It is a card of success, recognition and public praise. Here is what the Six of Wands means upright and reversed, what the 1909 picture shows and how to use it in a reading.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: success, recognition, victory
• Reversed keywords: failure, ego, lack of recognition
• Number: 6 in the suit of Wands
• Suit and element: Wands, Fire Later tradition
• Astrology: Jupiter in Leo Later tradition
• Yes or no: Yes Modern

The element and the planet in a sign (one of the 36 ten-degree slices of the zodiac called decans) come from the Golden Dawn system of the 1880s and 1890s, not from the first tarot decks. 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: “A laurelled horseman bears one staff adorned with a laurel crown; footmen with staves are at his side.” Smith gave the scene a blue sky and a crowd we only partly see. The rider looks ahead calmly. He has won, and everybody knows it.

The laurel wreath

Since ancient Greece and Rome, a crown of laurel leaves has been the sign of a winner. He wears one, and another hangs on his wand. The win is visible and public.

The white horse

A white horse is a classic parade animal, a sign of honor and a clean victory. He rides above the crowd, which also hints at the risk of the card: success can lift you so high that you stop hearing people.

The people on foot

The figures walking beside him carry wands too. Nobody wins alone. The card asks you to remember the people who helped.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Six of Wands is public success: recognition, a win other people can see, progress that earns a cheer. Confidence fits here when it rests on real effort. The parade is short, and the work underneath it is what lasts.

Accept the praise without apologizing for it, and share credit where it is due. Let success shape your next aim rather than become your whole personality. The card can also nudge you to claim a victory you have been playing down.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Six of Wands can describe a win that feels empty, a big ego, failure after high hopes, or good work going unseen. Missing recognition stings most when you really needed it.

Separate your worth from the applause. If ego ran ahead of skill, correct course. If someone withheld fair credit, write down what you did and decide whether that arena still deserves you. Private satisfaction can carry you while the public catches up, or even if it never does.

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, pride in what you have built together, or being openly proud of your partner. Reversed, needing constant praise to feel secure.

Work and money

Recognition for a finished result, a promotion, good reviews or winning a pitch. Reversed, strong work that leadership ignores.

Spirituality

A milestone in your practice that deserves a simple celebration. Reversed, spiritual pride that crowds out learning.

As feelings

As someone’s feelings, the Six of Wands shows admiration and pride. They may see you as a winner, or feel proud of being with you.

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

• Past: A success or a moment of recognition built your confidence.
• Present: You have done well. Let yourself be seen.
• Future: Recognition, good news or a public win is ahead.
• Advice: Share the credit, then set your next goal.

A Minor Arcana card usually describes the everyday texture of a situation: a mood, a conversation, a task or a step. If the Six 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 Six of Wands a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, the Six of Wands leans yes. It is a card of victory and good news. 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 accept earned recognition and keep success in proportion.

Reversed affirmation: I measure my work fairly when applause is missing or inflated.

Journal prompts:

• What win have I been playing down?
• Who helped me get here, and have I thanked them?
• How would I feel about this work if nobody praised it?

What the Six means in tarot

Six is repair, reciprocity and movement back toward balance. After the trouble of the Five, the Sixes bring help, recognition, gifts or a journey to calmer ground.

Here is how the Six looks across the four suits:

• Six of Wands (this card): success, recognition, victory
• Six of Cups: nostalgia, memories, reunion
• Six of Swords: transition, moving on, healing
• Six of Pentacles: generosity, charity, balance

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 Six of Wands: “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.” Reversed, he gave: “Apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery, disloyalty, as of gates being opened to the enemy; also indefinite delay.” 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 Six of Wands

Use this spread after a success, or when you are hoping for recognition.

1. What have I achieved? The win to name honestly.
2. Who shares this success? The people or support behind it.
3. Where do I ride next? The next aim this success points to.

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 Six of Wands a yes or no card?

Yes. It is one of the clearest success cards in the deck.

What does the Six of Wands mean for feelings?

Pride and admiration. The person sees you, or the relationship, as something to be proud of.

What does the Six of Wands mean reversed?

Success that feels hollow, ego getting in the way, or work that is not recognized. Look at what you need from the praise.

Related cards

• The Chariot: the Major Arcana card of victory through focus and will
• Seven of Wands: what comes after the parade: defending your position
• Nine of Cups: personal satisfaction rather than public praise

Keep learning

The Six of Wands is part of the lesson Wands 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, Five of Wands or the card after it, Seven of Wands, or go back to all the card meanings. For the suits and numbers in one place, see The Minor Arcana: suits and numbers made simple. 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 Six of Wands.