Minor Arcana, Wands
Two of Wands
planning, ambition, choice, restlessness
Upright
A figure stands on a castle roof holding a small globe, with the whole estate below. Waite saw wealth and sadness side by side, like a conqueror who owns plenty and still wants more.
This suits a decision between staying where you are comfortable and reaching further, such as a move or a bigger role. Write down what you would regret leaving untried. Waite's old mention of disease is no health forecast, so take any real symptom to a doctor.
Reversed
Reversed, the calm planner gets caught off guard. Waite names surprise and wonder alongside trouble and fear, so something unexpected may have stirred up strong and mixed feelings.
When a sudden offer or setback shakes a plan, give yourself a day before answering. Sort what thrills you from what scares you, and check whether both point at the same choice.
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: Between the alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand, riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification. The design gives one suggestion; here is a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst the grandeur of this world's wealth.
Reversed: Surprise, wonder, enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear.
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.