Cast & Chart
King of Wands, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot card

Minor Arcana, Wands

King of Wands

honesty, leadership, integrity, drive

Upright

A crowned figure leans forward on a throne carved with lions and salamanders, holding a staff that still grows leaves. Waite keeps returning to one quality: this card always signifies honesty.

For a decision about leadership or a business partner, look for straight dealing and steady energy, in yourself and in others. Tell people what you intend and then do it. Waite also mentions an unexpected inheritance, which is no forecast; ask a qualified adviser about any real will or bequest.

Reversed

Reversed, this remains a decent figure who has grown stern. Waite's words are good but severe, austere yet tolerant.

A boss, a parent or you yourself may be holding people to a high standard with little warmth. The fairness counts for something. Add a word of explanation or thanks, because people accept hard decisions more easily when they can see the reasoning.

A card is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

In Waite's words

Upright: Dark man, friendly, countryman, generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in before very long.

Reversed: Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant.

From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), Part 3, on Wikisource. The meanings above are by Cast & Chart.

Card art by Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.