Royo Dark Tarot - Kingdom of Wands

I see the kingdoms as families, so I like to study them together. The Dark Tarot has some dysfunctional families, but the underlying stories are fascinating. I got the idea of the knights and pages being the sons and daughters of the Kings and Queens from the website tarotteachings.com. The Dark Tarot uses knaves rather than pages, but it's about the same thing.

Wands traditionally represents the element of fire, and the spirit realm. This deck delves deeply into the negative aspects of each realm. Looking at the cards you can tell this is a corrupt kingdom, and I see it as a way of exploring the corruption of the fire element and darker influences in the spirit realm.

King of Wands
The image on this card may be shocking to some. The king is a gorilla-like beast sitting on a throne holding a staff, and two leashes attached to collared naked women kneeling on the floor next to food or water bowls. On the top of the card there is a opening, indicating that this is underground. In the booklet it says, "The conscience. Looking to our higher self, and not accepting to be only the lowest of what we can be. The chains of purpose." If you look at the expression of the ape king, there could be some indication that he questions whether this is really his highest purpose. Still, he rules this corrupt kingdom and continues functioning on this lower level.

Queen of Wands
The scantily clad Queen is standing by a pillar of a palace, holding a bow and arrow. There are goblin-like creatures lurking around the corners. Her expression indicates that she has been through a lot, but has build up her strength from it. An excerpt from the booklet says, "Building on ruins, conquered from memory with the enchanted arrows of new desires." I get the impression that the Queen operates independently from the King, a warrior woman who has released herself from his grasp and is ready to fight any kind of corruption that stands in her way.

Knight of Wands
The atmosphere in this card is quite different from the last two, as it's outdoors in the snow but there is a visible palace in the distance. The Knight is riding a white horse, and there are three riders on dark horses a bit of a distance behind him. There are a lot of leafless trees, and there is a young person standing on the ground next to the knight on the white horse holding a bow and arrow. I can't tell if this person is male or female, and I'm not sure if they have any significance in this card. The description mentions the world of the unknown with the door left open, and your home and castle stretching beyond the horizon. It also says, "the soul united with the birds" and "the thought as white as snow". I get the impression that the knight is righteous, set on exploring and expanding his horizons beyond the dark. The palace in the back could represent the corrupt kingdom he's left behind, but the dark horse riders are still following him.

Knave of Wands
This image is of a naked woman, kneeling in a pool of blood on the ground. In the background, the red blood rises up and forms a demonic looking face with white eyes. The blood seems to be part of the demon, alive and attaching itself to the woman keeping her down. She is holding a spiked sword, and the blood is attached like it's pulling it down. She also has spikes all over her body. She doesn't seem to be struggling though. She's facing upwards with her eyes closed, and it looks like she's enjoying it. Part of the description says, "The anguish of an evil place. Peer or social pressure keeping you down, and hindering your growth." She seems to be a slave to corruption, under the illusion that pain is pleasure.

This family is about as dysfunctional as it gets. This kingdom doesn't seem like a pleasant place for anyone, but of course there are valuable lessons to be learned. I'm intrigued by the underlying story and interconnections, and hope other people will find it as fascinating as I do. Feel free to add your insight, and if you want to discuss an isolated card in more depth just make a thread on it!

King of wands: While I agree it looks like a darker card I disagree with the meanings you pull from it. The king looks like he's in control of whats going on. The women although naked and are slaves do not seem like they feel forced to be there. Although he's holding onto them as pets he does not seem to look unkindly towards them. He's the one in power but also has the responsibility of taking care of his girls. It is definitely a dark looking card but fire is not always cruel. Fire is also beautiful and strong and passionate.

Queen of Wands: I agree she is most definitely a strong woman. She has been through a great deal and has face many troubles. Although her face looks like she's been through alot it also looks like it's resolved. "Ok there has been much that has happened and now it's my turn to fight back." The bow and arrow are not drawn though so that to me seems like that although she will fight she's not going to attack unnecessarily. She has some kind of pull to her like you would want to be around her. Like she's the kind of woman you'd be proud serve.

Knight of Wands: He's always given me a little bit of trouble grasping. This is what I get from him. He's heading out on a adventure. Maybe to actually help his kingdom succeed. He does not look like he's trying to rush away from the castle or the dark knights. He's got a plan and he's putting it into affect. Which will mean lots of change. At least that's what I think when I see snow. He seems to be stopping to talk to the male/female next to him so perhaps he's being kind and generous. They do not seem unhappy to be near one another. I have a feeling she's a female though by how he's looking at her. It's almost like "Wow." I think hes passionate and kind. Even though the wands are not supposed to symbolize this the card gives me a kind of interesting romantic feel.

Knave of Wands: This card is definitely a strange one. Looking at it she seems to be in absolute pleasure. Like she's adoring the blood she's touching and letting it fill her up. It seems more like the blood and everything else around her is apart of her as opposed to holding her down. It's coming from her and her desires. The eyes in the background may be watching her and seeing what she's doing. She is certainly not someone you want to mess with because she seems like she'd destroy you afterwards. She seems passionate though about whatever it is she's thinking of. She's a interesting character to say the least.

To clarify, I know that fire is not always cruel. Fire is beautiful and strong and passionate, yes. In most decks, I see the King of Wands as a passionate and creative force. I just fail to see beauty in slavery, even if it's consensual. I suppose those are my personal beliefs, but I see it as a corruption of masculine and feminine energies. The Dark Tarot isn't a typical Tarot deck, and I see it more as exploring the dark side of the psyche and overcoming inner demons.

The description of the King of Wands in the booklet reads as follows: "The conscience. Looking to our higher self, and not accepting to be only the lowest of what we can be. The chains of purpose." I don't think that the King is necessarily cruel, but I believe that the scene depicted in the card represents functioning on a lower level. The opening above indicates higher awareness to me, that there is more than this. I appreciate your input and I'm not trying to change your beliefs, just further clarifying why I see it the way I do.

I don't normally see wands or fire as corrupt, but in the case of the Dark Tarot I see it as the dark side of fire. The description of the Knave of Wands reads: "Bad organization. The anguish of an evil place. Peer or social pressure keeping you down, and hindering your growth." This is clearly a negative description and it was written by Royo himself, so I'm sticking with my original interpretation of the card. She finds pleasure in pain yes, but I do not see her as powerful.

Yea I haven't been reading the quotes from the booklet. I just look at the image and see what it says to me in correspondence with what I generally know about the card. I like reading your descriptions of the cards though because it does seem to help interpret what I see in them.