Minor Arcana, Wands
Six of Wands
victory, recognition, news, hope
Upright
A rider wearing a laurel wreath comes through a crowd, with another wreath tied to the staff. Waite reads a victor, great news, and hope that gets what it wanted.
After an exam, a pitch or a hard conversation, the card points to recognition that you may have earned. Accept the thanks and credit the people walking beside the horse. Public success is a good moment to decide what you want to do with it.
Reversed
Upside down, the parade stalls. Waite writes of fear, of gates opened to an enemy and of indefinite delay. In modern terms, you may be doubting your standing or someone's loyalty.
If a promotion or announcement keeps slipping, ask directly for a date and a reason. Before you suspect a colleague or friend, look for evidence. Worry can invent an enemy quite easily.
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: The card has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King's courier; it is expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope, and so forth.
Reversed: Apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery, disloyalty, as of gates being opened to the enemy; also indefinite delay.
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.