Seeing the Signs: The Six of Wands
from left to right: The Anima Mundi Tarot, The Rider Waite-Smith Tarot, The Pacific Northwest Tarot, The Dream of Nile Tarot, The Enchanted Tarot, and The Forager’s Daughter Tarot.
Element: Fire - realm of passion, inspiration, action, movement, motivation, sense of purpose, creation/creativity
Traditional RWS Imagery: A figure sits atop a hoarse, crowned with a laurel wreath and draped in red robes. They carry a staff raised in one hand, also adorned with a wreath. It looks like they are riding through a town square, as others are watching or following the figure with their own staffs raised in celebration and recognition. The figure is stoic, looking ahead without too much expression – maybe lost in deep thought or concentration? The sky is blue and clear.
Visually, we can see that there is an air of respectability, leadership, and celebration in this card. The figure on the horse has been awarded some kind of honor and holds a place of high regard – literally on a high horse, they are above the others in the crowd.
The laurel wreath has been a symbol of triumph since ancient Greek and Roman times. It is associated with the Greek god Apollo, who ruled over poetry, music, performance, archery, and athletics. In ancient Greece, winning athletes performing in the Pythian and Olympic games were awarded laurel wreaths as a sign of their excellence and accomplishment, even signifying being blessed by Apollo himself.
Upright or General Interpretations:
Being recognized for your accomplishments
Believing in yourself/having self-value
Public award/reward
Taking on a leadership role, and doing so with confidence
Forager’s Daughter Imagery:
When I was working on this card, I knew that the attractive daffodil was the flower that needed to portray the Six of Wands. Not just for the myth of Narcissus (for which the flower is named, and I always remember as a little warning with this card about keeping our ego in check), but because truly I cannot help but stare at these beautiful flowers when I pass them.
The black trumpet mushrooms hold another layer of triumph for me. When we first started mushroom hunting it seemed there was so much legend surrounding these things. So, when we found our first little cropping of black trumpets we were ECSTATIC. It really felt like we had won the lottery, it was so exciting to tick that off our list. Even this year, we found a small group of them magically in our backyard and the feeling of success and excitement were the same. It was through our determination to keep checking every spot with fresh moss and scaling hillsides that we first discovered them.
This is just a blurb from my longer article about the Six of Wands. If you’d like to read the full piece please check out my Patreon page!