Are you finished with rote ways of doing things? Have you become easily bored? Can you see a big picture that features you at the center of a successful quest? Do you pass up the details in order to get on with a project and find yourself filling in the missing information later? Have you been enthusiastic enough lately to pick up the mood of those around you? The King of Wands is the Tarot’s card that appears when you are leading the procession up toward a new goal. The card represents the exhilaration of being “the one” but it can also represent an out-of-touch loneliness. If your vision becomes an obsession that does not include others or is constructed without considering the possibility of setbacks and failures, the King of Wands is a card that underscores an isolation created by needing an audience without understanding those very people who gave you their attention.
The king sits on his cloth-covered throne. His long cape matches an awning that hangs tight to the backdrop of his chair’s stage. This yellow material has a prominent black lion and a smaller pattern of a lizard swallowing its tail to form a stylized circle. Sharing the stage at the king’s feet is a small lizard. The king’s gold crown is shaped into small flames. One hand rests at his side; the other holds a large wooden walking stick, shaped from a tree branch.
The lion/lizard-patterned cloth appears in every Tarot card that features a member of the court of Wands (the Queen, the Knight and the Page). It reflects the regal nature of the court as symbolized by the lion (the king of the beasts) and the intuitive nature of the suit of Wands in the symbol of the lizard. The part of our brain that is furthest from language and sophistication still drives our understanding of the world. Many people refer to this deep core of human behavior as the “lizard brain.” Wands symbolize the following of one’s hunches to fill unique needs within human interaction.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
Every Tarot reading has three areas into which a card may be placed: your past, your present and your future. A card may be more important to the reading depending on its placement and its meaning can change as well.
In the past position, the King of Wands describes your recent breakthroughs as creating the foundation upon which you stand. If it refers to the distant past, you are at your core a creative individual whose only setbacks involve not following through. It is not for a lack of talent and desire that your past was not perfect.
The King of Wands in the present position indicates that any project you are working on is an inspired choice and will take you far. There is no time like the present to use your abilities to solve a complex problem. You can get many people to help you as long as you keep them inspired and ensure that the aim of your project has some benefit to them as well. Your ability to delegate is strong and this is an indication of a new level of maturity – you can trust other people instead of trying to do everything yourself. This is a high-water mark in your development on the path to success.
If your Tarot reading features the King of Wands in the future position, understand that any current struggles will be worth it, as you shall soon see the mastery of the different elements of your life honed by your talents into a unified working method. Success is looming when this card is in this position. You will still have to put forth effort, but your current situation can be mined for ways to draw support for what you are trying to accomplish.
Card Combinations
Your Tarot reading deciphers the meaning of the cards, their location, their relationship to you and their influence upon one another. Every card in your reading has an influence on each card dealt out.
Any other court card from the suit of wands adds to the King’s success. The Queen of Wands indicates that your goals will be adopted by other people. The Knight of Wands card appearing in a reading sees word of your creativity being spread by the media. The Page of Wands adds much youthful energy to any reading it joins, and with the King card present, your ideas are sure to be seen as new and revolutionary; in fact, you might be seen as a threat to someone in an established position if the King of Pentacles or The Emperor card were to also appear.
When The Lovers card appears in a reading with the King of Wands, your charisma is at an all-time high and you can seduce a great catch with a dramatic ease. The flames that are fashioned on the gold crown of the king depicted on the card are quite similar to the flaming leaves of the tree in the Garden of Eden depicted on The Lovers card, meaning the King of Wands has harvested the core impulses of what it means to be at the dawn of creation. Your intuitive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your projects speeds up their development.
The High Priestess card is an intense member of the Tarot, and when she combines with the King of Wands, look for a friend to have perfect advice for your situation. You will likely not take it though, making the truth within this friend’s message all the more powerful. The Moon card has an emotional energy that gives the King of Wands empathy for his fellow human beings. Your vision will be assisted greatly if the thing you are creating benefits large numbers of people, even if those benefits are simply for people to be merely entertained by what you create.
The King of Wands indicates genius is present in your work. If you can pass egomania, the results of your effort will put you into a regal position.
