MINOR ARCANA

Knight of Wands Tarot Meanings

The Knight of Wands, a bit like the Knight of Swords, loves to act first and think later. Often this can lead to easily avoided mistakes, but it can also be exactly what’s needed, especially if you’re prone to overthinking things before taking action. The Knight of Wands is the fire energy of fire, it is the action of action, power of power, so it’s a very impulsive and heated card to pull.

This extreme firey energy often leads us to push boundaries and challenge authority. We have an inflated sense of confidence that propels us forward and dispels any fear or hesitation we may have normally had.

Knight of Wands Tarot Meanings - Passion

Knight of Wands Tarot Meanings - Impulse

Knight of Wands Upright Meanings

In the upright position, the Knight of Wands is all about feeling the full strength of your own power and using it to really drive yourself forward and embrace your biggest passions. Some of the key meanings of the Knight of Wands are:

Pushing boundaries
Challenging authority
Embracing Passion

You can see from these three main properties that the Knight of Wands is not someone to be messed with. If he was a real person he may be called fiery, difficult, or opinionated. Knights are the teen or young adult energy of the Tarot, so when you team that with this fire energy, you get someone that is very passionate, has a big ego, and not a lot of fear.

Knight of Wands Reversed Meanings

In the reversed position, the Knight of Wands allows that fiery nature to get the best of him, leading to recklessness and sometimes selfishness. Some of the main reversed meanings of the Knight of Wands are:

Impulsive decisions
Lack of accountability
Selfishness
Narcissistic

The term ‘cocksure’ is a good word to use for the Knight of Wands in reverse. There’s being passionate and then there’s arrogance, the Knight of Wands in reversed is arrogant. He is so fired up that a lot of the time he doesn’t even see when his actions are inappropriate or negatively affecting others.

Reading Knight of Wands in a Tarot Spread

When the Knight of Wands appears in a spread, it’s important to keep an open mind. Although a lot of his qualities may seem hard to control, in some circumstances a bit of overconfidence is exactly what we need in order to tackle a situation. Try and determine how this extreme fiery energy could affect the other cards that are in the spread, see where there may be conflict and where there is harmony. That will help you to determine whether the Knight of Wands is a welcome card or one to be wary of.

Knight of Wands as An Invitation

When the Knight of Wands shows up as an invitation, we’re asked to review our actions, to see whether they were justified or whether we need to be held accountable.

For Knight of Wands, this invitation could be the following:

An invitation to see how your actions have affected others, if at all
An invitation to challenge the status quo
An invitation to embrace the thing you feel most passionate about right now
An invitation to see how far you can push set boundaries

Knight of Wands as Sage Advice

The Knight of Wands has a similar message to that of the Page of Wands, only it has matured slightly. We are again asked to embrace this fiery energy, but we are now mature enough to understand how our actions have consequences and they aren’t always positive.

Some advice Knight of Wands may offer is:

Don’t just take things as they are, challenge thoughts and opinions that seem outdated or unethical
Hold yourself accountable instead of running from your mistakes
Be mindful of how your actions could be seen as selfish or arrogant

Knight of Wands as a Lesson

A lot of the lessons we are offered with the Knight of Wands include a level of failure or teething problems. The knights are the ‘teen’ energy and we all know how awkward and embarrassing the teenage period of our lives can be. A lot of what we learn is through trial and error.

Some lessons that Knight of Wands may offer you are:

A lesson in the difference between arrogance and confidence
A lesson in knowing when something should be challenged and when something should be debated
A lesson in accountability and holding yourself accountable for your own actions
A lesson in knowing where your boundaries lie and when to push them a little further

Knight of Wands as a Redirection

When the Knight of Wands comes in as a redirection, it’ll be a fairly quick turnaround that might even leave you feeling a bit displaced. Often this card as a redirection comes in to encourage us to be more forceful or check our passions that are out of control.

As a redirection, Knight of Wands could symbolise a need to:

Stop allowing people to take advantage of you and stand up for your beliefs
Take a less selfish approach to the situation
Stop second-guessing yourself and throw yourself into the deep end
Act impulsively / not act impulsively (depends on the context of the card)

Wands

The wands are our passion and power. They are the tool we use to make our ideas and impulses come to life in the external world. However, wielding a wand comes with a great deal of responsibility and we need to be careful what we wish for.

In terms of the Knight of Wands, the wand is being thoughtlessly wielded. The Knight of Wands is seen as the purest form of impulse, no thinking and only action. In some cases this might be needed, but in most cases it can lead to careless mistakes.

Knight of Wands Tarot Meanings - Elemental

Fire + Fire

The wands are the element of fire within the Tarot and the Knights are the element of fire in the Court Cards. This means that the Knight of Wands has double fire energy.

Having so much heat can be a great tool for creation. If you apply it literally, intense heat can create glass, can form pottery, can cook or help with scientific discoveries. It can also burn, destroy and bring about endings if not properly controlled and managed. The same can be said for the energy of the Knight of Wands.

Knights

The Knights are the soldiers of the Tarot. They are ready to fight for a cause, the cause usually being the properties of its suit. In terms of the Knight of Wands, this Knight tends to be the wild card, it is the the guy that goes rogue on team missions.

The Knight of Wands acts purely on impulse. Sometimes these impulses stem from valid intentions, sometimes they are fleeting moments of passion and desire. The Knight of Wands needs leadership in order to channel its energy into the right areas.