Knight of Wands
An armored knight on a rearing horse rides past the pyramids: bold action, adventure, and impulsive energy racing toward the next horizon.
Wands, Knight
Upright keywords
- action
- adventure
- passion
- impulsiveness
- travel
- boldness
- change of residence
Meaning when upright
The Knight of Wands is fire in motion: an armored knight in a salamander-patterned tunic, flame-colored plumes streaming, rides a rearing horse through desert country past the pyramids. He brings energy, courage, and a hunger for adventure, and he acts first and thinks later. Waite reads the card as departure, absence, flight, emigration, and change of residence, noting that the motion of the horse reveals the rider's precipitate mood. As a person, the Knight is charismatic, daring, and exciting but restless; as an event, he marks a sudden move, trip, or burst of action.
On the card
- rearing horse
- Headlong, precipitate energy; as Waite notes, the horse's motion is a key to the rider's character.
- armored knight holding a sprouting wand
- Readiness for action and a quest pursued with fiery purpose, though, as Waite says, not on a warlike errand.
- yellow tunic patterned with salamanders
- The elemental creatures of Fire; passion, courage, and a spirit that thrives in heat.
- flame-like red plume and streamers on his armor
- Fiery enthusiasm and dramatic, impetuous energy.
- pyramids in the desert background
- Waite's 'mounds or pyramids': distant lands, ancient mysteries, and long journeys.
- arid desert landscape
- Unfamiliar territory and the heat of the suit; a quest into the unknown.
In Waite’s words
He is shewn 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, or things connected therewith.
- Divinatory meaning
Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence.
- Reversed
Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
- Additional meaning
A bad card; according to some readings, alienation. Reversed: For a woman, marriage, but probably frustrated.
Correspondences
- Element
- Fire
- Astrology
- 20° Scorpio – 20° Sagittarius
- Golden Dawn title
- Lord of the Flame and the Lightning; King of the Spirits of Fire
- Court element
- Fire of Fire
- Number
- As a Knight, he embodies the quest and movement of the suit: Fire's energy at its most active and fast-moving, Fire of Fire.
Court attributions follow the Golden Dawn, where the mounted Knight is Fire and the enthroned King is Air; some modern readers swap the two.
To reflect on
- What adventure or change am I eager to throw myself into?
- Where is my impatience helping me, and where is it costing me?
- What would it take to finish this journey rather than just start it?
In your readings
Hasn’t appeared in your readings yet.
Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.