Knight of Wands Tarot Card Meaning

Knight of Wands upright

A knight in armour rides past low mounds or pyramids, carrying a short wand — travelling, not fighting. Waite says the horse's motion shows his hasty mood. Upright: departure, absence, flight, emigration, a change of residence. A move or trip may come quickly.

Knight of Wands reversed

Waite reversed gives rupture, division, interruption and discord. Plans may break off; do not leave things in a rush that you would rather finish properly.

A reversed card (What does Upright / reversed card mean?) is one drawn upside-down.

Is Knight of Wands a yes or no?

Upright: Leans yes. Yes — but quickly and with some risk. Go, if you have checked the basics.

Reversed: Reversed, Knight of Wands reads as a gentle no: interruption, rupture, discord.

The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.

Symbolism in the Knight of Wands card

What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:

• Knight on a journey — Waite: travelling, not riding to war
• Mounds or pyramids behind — distant lands
• The horse's motion — Waite: it shows the rider's hasty mood

In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)

Upright: departure, absence, flight, emigration; a friendly young man; change of residence.

Reversed: rupture, division, interruption, discord.

Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.