Exploring the Six of Wands

Forum Library > Using Tarot Cards Threads By Month > Exploring the Six of Wands

firemaiden	06 Jun 2003
Dear Wizards and Wise-ards: I would to explore all the possible meaning for the Six of wands with you . I'll start with Thirteen's explanation in Tarot Basics: Quote: Six of Wands A victorious man on a horse, applauded by all, enters carrying a wand with a laurel wreath. Here is the conclusion to what happened with the Five of Wands. Competition was fierce, an answer had to be found to make the Querent stand out, make them different, special, able to succeed. Ah-HA! says the 6 of Wands. The Querent has found (or will find) that solution, they stand out above all others, and their victory will not only be complete, but recognized and applauded by all. This is the victory card. IN this same vein, Crowley calls his card Victory, but it is not just the victory of battle, here is also balance, harmony, beauty, order, and steadiness:from Thoth minors Quote: SIX OF WANDS This card represents Tiphareth of the suit of Fire. This shows Energy in completely balanced manifestation . The Five has broken up the closed forces of the Four with revolutionary ardour, but a marriage has taken place between them; and the result is the Son, and the Sun. The reference is also to Jupiter and Leo, which seems to imply a benediction on the harmony and beauty of this arrangement. It Will be seen that the Three Wands of the Three Adepts are now orderly arranged ; and the flames themselves, instead of shooting out in all directions, burn steadily as in lamps. They are nine in number, in reference to Yesod and the Moon. This shows the stabilization of the Energy , and its reception and reflection by the Feminine. There is no circle to enclose the system. It is self-supporting, like the Sun. Not just victory then, but a virtuous victory? The triumph of good, perhaps. The reward for efforts applied in a steady and orderly fashion? I am looking forward to learning from you, and exploring all the possibile meanings for the Six of Wands.

Rusty Neon	06 Jun 2003
The RWS image suggests, perhaps, a virtuous victory as the victor is accompanied by applauding onlookers. On the other hand, maybe those applauding are co-conspirators in an unvirtuous victory. However, we already have the 5 of Swords as victory unfairly won, so I would see the 6 of Wands as virtuous victory.

Blue Override	06 Jun 2003
It's also a PUBLIC victory. It's the Razorbacks beating Crimson Tide in front of several thousand people and on ESPN. It's not just me rousting my best friend in scrabble on Yahoo.

firemaiden	06 Jun 2003
...er...Razorbacks?...Crimson Tide? Okay, LOL, I get it, its public, that is a very important distinction. But when you win at scrabble then, what card is that?

Moongold	06 Jun 2003
This is a great thread, firemaiden. The non RWS 6's seem to have similar themes of spiritual victory. The Tarot of the Sephiroth 6 simply shows 6 Wands emanating from the centre of a six pointed star surrounded by a laurel victory wreath. The deck creator says that the meaning of the card is appropriate, succesful use of energy; success and riches of a spiritual nature. The astrological asttribution of this card is Jupiter in Leo. In astrology, Jupiter is a seeker after truth, a philospher, a teacher and Leo is a Fire Sign. The sixes in Sephiroth are allocated in Tiphareth, the sphere of beauty. Numerologically, 6 desires to bring harmony, truth, justice and a sense of balance into the picture. Love and compassion are there as well. My beautiful Old English Tarot simply shows 6 Batons flying over a a peaceful field with plants and a few little birds in it. The Batons take up 4/5 of the image. Spiritual victory or success it seems to be. The RWS image recognises the "socialization" aspects of six. There are others in the background, a little community. You have to have harmony WITH someone, don't you?

Blue Override	06 Jun 2003
The Razorbacks are the athletic teams associated with the University of Arkansas. My alma mater. (GO HAWGS!) Crimson Tide is the name of the University of Alabama (aka 'Bama, because it's beyond them to say the whole word.) sports program. They are football conference rivals. It was an allusion to that.

firemaiden	06 Jun 2003
This is fantastic, Moongold. I was hoping someone would explain all those astrological and kabbalistic references! Plus adding the perspective of the tarot of the Sephiroth really deepens things. Thank you! Okay, here is the Buddhist perspective of the Roots of Asia Tarot: Quote: Right Perception. We will not be able to hear or understand the heart of the prophets properly or reach victory unless we have right perception. We can develop right perception through the six supreme experiencees: supreme sight, supreme hearing, supreme gain, supreme training, supreme service and ministry, supreme memory. The realization of hopes and desires which promote sweet success (Thanks Blue Override. haha. I thought it might have something to do with...gasp..football. :P)

allibee	06 Jun 2003
Michael Schumacher IS the 6 Wands, after all this card does sit hand in hand with the Chariot, of which the 6 Wands is a minor version. He and his mechanics manage to set up his car perfectly for a weekend of F1 domination, and everyone else is sadly lacking.. Monte Carlo just gone notwithstanding, LOL... The BALANCE is just right, the TYRES were just the right choice, the race STRATEGY was proven and the HARMONY of man and machine was unbeatable. But steady on, he hasn't won the World Championship yet :O) Some see him as arrogant but those closest to him see him as a man of clear vision, experience and motivation. I like Moongolds visualisation of the 6 from the Old English, which I also have, so would add to that the far reach of the track where there are no spectators, the birds and the bees are doing their thing then suddenly there is this roar and swoosh and, momentarily, there is this small scale uproar in the balance of nature as the cars thunder past, and as they disappear into the distance, peace is restored .... well, until about 1min 22seconds later anyway :O)

HudsonGray	06 Jun 2003
Also, there's nothing underhanded about the victory, the rider is on the white horse/charger parading in front of all, laurel high on the wand he carries. (A bit like a carouselle horse in a way). You'd almost suspect a tickertape parade being given as the masses cheer. In the Robin Wood deck the rider is in the saddle but there are no stirrups--the horse moves forward under it's own momentum as well as being partly guided. (The RW has stirrups).

firemaiden	07 Jun 2003
What is interesting is one doesn't get the idea of a triumph over something. There is no slain dragon at his feet. This is more like the victory parade, yes, the tickertape parade*. It makes me think, this card is more about the acknowledgement of victory, rather than the actual victory. *p.s. can someone please explain to me what tickertape is? I lived in NYC and often heard that tickertape parades were happening, but never knew what it was :(

allibee	07 Jun 2003
My thoughts are that it is the triumph over the situation of opposition and competition in the 5 Wands. There is of course the element of acknowledgement, as in a somewhat public victory. A.

Trogon	07 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden *p.s. can someone please explain to me what tickertape is? I lived in NYC and often heard that tickertape parades were happening, but never knew what it was :( Howdy Firemaiden... Ticker tape is how stock quotes used to be printed out. There was a machine invented back in the 1800's (by Thomas A. Edison, or possibly just perfected by him, if I remember correctly) which was used for transmitting and receiving current stock prices from the Wall Street Stock Exchange. This device worked very much like an old-fashioned teletype machine... stock prices were encoed into electrical signals which were sent over wires. Machines which were connected to those wires would print out the stock prices on a narrow continuous paper tape called "ticker tape". The name came about because the machines were called stock "tickers" because of the rapid ticking noise of the printing mechanism. The machines were housed under glass domes (to keep dust out of the sensative mechanism) and the tape would spill out through a small slot. The term "ticker-tape parade" came about because during parades through New York, people would through used ticker tape out of windows like confetti. Here is an antique dealer's web site which has several very good pictures of an actual (not reproduction) stock ticker: http://www.antiques-internet.com/colorado/swspirit/dynapage/IP35.htm Hmmm.... guess I'd better do a separate post with my actual on-topic discussion, so I don't run up against the brick wall of the post length restriction... :|

firemaiden	07 Jun 2003
Hey, thanks Trogon! Golly jeepers! you never know what you are going to learn on Aeclectic! Now what happened to your other post??

Trogon	07 Jun 2003
[edited to add:] Here it is Firemaiden... took some thinking... and that is a very daunting task indeed! :D Interesting thread, and since we were kind of comparing some different outlooks of different decks with this card, I pulled out this card from each of the 7 decks which I carry around with me for readings. Since 4 of them are, more or less, RWS-based decks, they mostly have similar images. The other decks are, the Rider-Waite itself, the Röhrig Tarot, and the Haindl Tarot. One notable exception is the Dragon Tarot. This deck shows 6 flaming wands arranged in 2 rows of 3. A dragon dives down between them towards a large gemstone. A large "V" in the middle of the card (which the dragon has had to pass through) stands for Victory. Though the image is different, the meaning remains... an open, public victory and the recognition of that victory by others. The Victoria Regina's 6 of Wands is very similar the the RWS. This pictures the Prince of Wales parading on horseback, carrying a Wand (Pen in the VR), with 5 others standing behind him. A large gear, part of a machine, at the top of the picture appears to hang on the tip of the pen in the same way the wreath does in the RWS card. The VR companion book has an interesting statement in it; Quote: When we succeed, we want to be recognized for what we've done. To work on, alone and unrecognized, may be a nice ideal, but a moment of appreciation can do much to energize us. And yet we must be careful not to place too much value on such public moments of acclaim. Sarah Ovenall, in "Victoria Regina Tarot Companion" The Spiral and the Goddess Tarot both have images that, while different in detail, are very similar to the RWS image. The Spiral Tarot shows a jockey on horeseback, holding aloft a wand with a wreath of victory at the top, while 5 other wands appear in the foreground. The Goddess Tarot shows a woman on a white horse, also holding a stave with a wreath on top, the other 5 staves are in the background of this picture. Now for the two decks with very different images. The Röhrig Tarot shows a roadway with a tremendous wall built right across it. However the wall has been broken through and we can now see that the road continues on towards the hills in the distance... the light from 6 shining wands above the road can now be seen. The image conveys to me, the ideas of victory, success, overcoming great odds or completing a huge project. Words which appear on the card include "Victory" (the main keyword), breakthrough, success, and a bunch in German. Personally, I do not necessarily get the idea, from the image, of public acknowledgement of said victory, which is so evident in the RWS. However, the LWB for the Röhrig does include the word "acknowledgement" (I really must get the full book for this deck one of these days). I guess, now that I contemplate this card a little bit more, the light shining from the wands hovering over the road could be indicating this public acknowledgement of the success seen in breaking through the wall. Last, I looked at the Haindl Tarot. Many of the cards of the Minor Arcana in this deck are, by comparison to the other decks I have, very understated, image-wise. This one is no exception. 6 wands float in the air, behind them are vines of ivy. According to the books, the ivy is the representation of "victory" because it is an evergreen and hence triumphs over winter. Also, the ivy was used in Northern Europe for wreaths of victory, as laurels were by the Romans. For the most part the interpretations for this card are much the same as they are for the RWS, clones and the Röhrig. Howver, Ms. Pollack does add an interesting statement; Quote: The person may need to watch out that others do not suffer because of his or her victory. If the other cards indicate such a problem, the person may wish to look for ways to cooperate rather than compete. (Rachel Pollack, "The Haindl Tarot, Volume II" I do find it interesting that, for the most part, this seems to be one of the cards whose interpretation remains fairly constant in all these decks. There are a lot of similarities between the cards of the Röhrig and the RWS, for example, but there are also quite a few which are very different. But this one remained pretty constant all across the board. Thanks for making me think about this card and compare it through my decks. A very interesting excercise.

catti	07 Jun 2003
i use the morgan greer deck , a rws based deck: on the six of wands we see a man riding a horse . He holds a staff with a laurel wreath around it and a red ribbon tied around it, then the other five are planted around him. The accompaning book has this to say: Victory is gained through intelligent decisions and diplomacy. An important matter is settled sucessfully. Triumph after a struggle. so basically the same meaning but i do think it is interesting the idea that it is a victory through diplomacy, using your wits , using your knowlege of the situacion to get you to a positive conclusion. like firemaidens comment that there is no slain dragon at the warriors feet, that is because he wasnt fighting per se. the fight was before hand , this guy is the general and he has just negotiated a peace on his terms. thanks for the thread firemaiden

firemaiden	07 Jun 2003
Thank you, thank you all, for your ideas. Doggone it, Trogon, you've outdone yourself! I am speechless. Thank you! (((Trogon))) I hope I haven't prevented you from prospecting your days worth of gold nuggets :D

Trogon	08 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Thank you, thank you all, for your ideas. Doggone it, Trogon, you've outdone yourself! I am speechless. Thank you! (((Trogon))) I hope I haven't prevented you from prospecting your days worth of gold nuggets :D Awwww... shucks... :| You're making me blush! You are very welcome ((((((((((((Firemaiden))))))))))))). Ah... but you didn't keep me from my prospecting... I was panning out nuggets of knowledge from the Tarot, wasn't I? :D

galadrial	08 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Trogon The Röhrig Tarot shows a roadway with a tremendous wall built right across it. However the wall has been broken through and we can now see that the road continues on towards the hills in the distance... the light from 6 shining wands above the road can now be seen. The image conveys to me, the ideas of victory, success, overcoming great odds or completing a huge project. Words which appear on the card include "Victory" (the main keyword), breakthrough, success...I guess, now that I contemplate this card a little bit more, the light shining from the wands hovering over the road could be indicating this public acknowledgement of the success seen in breaking through the wall. I don't own this deck, but this imagery goes well with a thought I was having about Why the crowd is cheering. I think that they may not only be cheering the personal daring, drive, planning, etc. necessary to break through the wall, but also the fact that the community will benefit; they can now also all drive beyond the wall since the "breakthrough" occurred. So I feel this card represents a victory for an individual that is also beneficial to, and in a sense a victory for, the community he is part of. On a very grand scale, this could be Neil Armstrong's "one small step".

Trogon	08 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by galadrial I don't own this deck, but this imagery goes well with a thought I was having about Why the crowd is cheering. I think that they may not only be cheering the personal daring, drive, planning, etc. necessary to break through the wall, but also the fact that the community will benefit; they can now also all drive beyond the wall since the "breakthrough" occurred. So I feel this card represents a victory for an individual that is also beneficial to, and in a sense a victory for, the community he is part of. On a very grand scale, this could be Neil Armstrong's "one small step". Very interesting take on this card Galadrial... I hadn't thought of that aspect of the Röhrig 6 of Wands before. Now... here's a monkey wrench to throw into the works; Up to now we've all been discussing some pretty positive aspects of this card. What if you had the card in a reading in a less positive position? For instance what if the 6 of Wands came up as a "blockage" or "obstacle" for the querrent? Or, perhaps, in a "fears" position? I guess as far as a querrent's fears go, this card could indicate that the person actually fears success. Perhaps they could feel that if a task or challenge in their lives is completed or overcome, that challenge will cease to be a part of their identity... they would feel they've lost something of themsleves by their victory. Then again, perhaps not so much a fear of success, but rather a fear of the public attention indicated in this card? Some people just dislike having attention brought to themselves or their actions, or perhaps they are afraid that the publicity might make them vulnerable in other areas - bring less desirable things to light? Any other thoughts?

allibee	08 Jun 2003
There is an element of warning about the 6 Wands energy being stifled, and that could be seen as not to kid yourself 'it' is over. It's also a warning about arrogance ... you know what they say? The bigger they are, the harder they fall.... CRASH, BANG, SPLAT! allibee

Moongold	09 Jun 2003
firemaiden, I was able to use an insight from this discussion in a reading today in Your Readings. It was so relevant to the discussions we have been having here. I love these threads and you are so good at getting them going. It must be your artist's eye and some of the GOOD Virgoan qualities you have: the eye for detail and analytical rigour. Other people have said it: from the level of knowledge we reach through these discussions the intuitive leap is much more likely and possible. Thanks heaps

firemaiden	09 Jun 2003
Thanks Moongold. I'd love to know which aspects you were able to use in your reading. ( I agree very much that the intuitive leaps happen because of, not inspite of analysis. As I see it, analysis is the mechanism, intuition is the apparent result. ) Allibee, is Michael Schumacher a racing car driver? Trogon: touché! You ARE finding nuggets of gold. :)

allibee	10 Jun 2003
Indeed he is Firemaiden, he is the World Champion Formula One, Ferrari driver ... sorry, I always think everybody knows F1. Allison

Alex	10 Jun 2003
Intuition is differend. Difficult to describe but easy to identify when you "come accross" it. What you guys are talking about here is "creating shortcuts" for meaningfull associations. It works but it's not "intution" All I can do when I'm reading is to "reason". But I've seen people reading everything but the cards, and very well. RE the 6 of Wands, I didn't read most of the replies. It's a unique moment of glory and popularity but also a unique time of self-centeredeness and failing to pay attention to things that need to be paid attention to_ while you enjoy how great you are. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden As I see it, analysis is the mechanism, intuition is the apparent result.

Umbrae	09 Jul 2003
Often...I see the Six of Wands as a business trip...

Myrrha	10 Jul 2003
The Six of Fire in The Tarot de Paris is "the card of tarnished triumph". The image looks like an allegorical statue of victory, she is holding a palm branch (I believe that the symbolism of the palm branch was discussed here in a thread on the RWS Ace of Swords and it relates to Roman victory celebrations as well as Christ's entry into Jerusalem). She holds a torch in her other hand and five more torches are in an arc above her head, as well as a six pointed star (as above so below?). In the background are many winged torches all arcing up and to the left giving a feel of movement to the card. At the status feet are two chrubs, one holds a sheaf of wheat (the victory will be fruitful and useful, concrete results will come of it) the other is writing on a tablet (the victory will be noted by others). The above are my own interpretations, the book does not explain the symbolism in such detail, it stresses that the victory is the result of effort, that you should say poised rather than letting it go to your head, and that any resulting power should be used to benefit "the whole". Firemaiden this a wonderful idea for a thread, what made you choose the six of wands?

firemaiden	11 Jul 2003
Hi Myrrah, I chose the six of wands because I am creating this card for the Second Aeclectic Collaborative Tarot. Unfortunately I am behind on this. I chose the card of Victory, because it seems that what I paint, ends up coming true, so I thought it would help me to engender some success. Not surprisingly, I haven't gotten around to painting this card. :(

firemaiden	16 Nov 2003
I finally finished it!! I am so excited! It took such a long long time. The process itself imitated the meaning.. It's a butterfly. :)

firemaiden	18 Nov 2003
Butterfly

gloria	18 Nov 2003
The butterfly is beautiful Firemaiden. Isabel Kliegman has an interesting theory for Six/Wands. Jacob served Laban seven years in order to marry his younger daughter Rachel, who was “beautiful and well-favoured” (Genesis 29:17) But Laban duped Jacob, by covering his older daughter Leah with a veil and offering her instead. Jacob was angry, but Laban insisted he work a further seven years for him before marrying Rachel. What does this have to do with 6/Wands? Kliegman tells us “the name Laban means ‘white.’ The message is the same. Beware of anyone who rides a white horse. Suspect those who present themselves as ‘pure.’ There is certain to be something hidden. Do not trust those who appear to be without a blemish; there will always be more to them than meets the eye.” Maybe the guy’s victory in 6/Wands has been at a cost. Maybe he has trampled over others to get where he is now. Could be why the people around him aren’t looking too happy. The horse is more or less completely covered by a blanket, possibly symbolising the ‘cover-up’ of the rider’s true self. In today’s terms what we would call a ‘white-wash’ job. Gloria.

Forum Library > Using Tarot Cards Threads By Month > Exploring the Six of Wands

Originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Jun 2003, and now part of the Forum Library. Take part in active threads about Using Tarot Cards.