The Open Athenaeum

✶ The Study Deck

Four of Wands

Wands, of the lesser arcana

Waite & Colman Smith, 1909 · described 1911

From the four great staves planted in the foreground there is a great garland suspended; two female figures uplift nosegays; at their side is a bridge over a moat, leading to an old manorial house.

the plate, in waite's words · the painted card will hang here in time

In divination

They are for once almost on the surface—country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these.

Reversed: The meaning remains unaltered; it is prosperity, increase, felicity, beauty, embellishment.

The library's note

A garland hangs between four staves planted in the foreground; two women lift flowers toward it, a bridge behind them leading to an old manorial house. Waite calls this design "for once almost on the surface," rare praise for a pip card's transparency, "country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony." After three cards of survey, business, and departure, the suit pauses here at an arrival, wands' restless vitality finally settled into a house rather than spent outward on ships or contest.

a young page · the keeper's voice pass on the note is still to come

Doors Onward

Sources & Further Reading

  1. Waite, A. E. (1911). The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. Card text quoted verbatim, his punctuation kept. (Public domain.)
  2. Card described at: http://sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/pktwa04.htm

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