Tarot Card Meanings

The 78 Tarot Card Meanings

This short guide to the meaning of the 78 Tarot cards is taken from the Smith-Waite Tarot Deck from U.S. Games Systems, which you can also find on my website. Every week on The Astrology Show Podcast I give you your Tarot card for the next seven days, based on your Sun Sign.

Here is a quick interpretation. Premium Members can download the flipbook Pamela’s Tarot for a longer and detailed reading, available in your online library here. All photographs by Justin Tabari.

Read Pamela’s Tarot

Pamela’s Tarot is the long interpretation of any answer to your question. Everything you need is in this flipbook, if you do want to go further with your readings. And remember to follow the steps with the Tarot.

The biggest mistake people make is to fire in with a question without a) Checking the present is accurate and b) Without setting a time limit for outcomes.

For those of you listening to the podcast, this is the meaning of the card I choose for your sign every week, in brief:

0
THE FOOL

One Minute Interpretation
Taking a big leap into the unknown and taking a big risk – unless one heeds a useful warning which can help with safer navigation and strategy. The thrill of a new adventure as one explores, travels or relocates with minimal baggage. The necessity of common sense and caution. Fools rush in and can sometimes fall off a cliff.

I
THE MAGICIAN

One Minute Interpretation
A multi-tasking Renaissance man or woman who is channelling something greater than herself/himself. This is an impressive tutor, teacher, guide, mentor or leader. There is an even emphasis on money, ideas, relationships and action spread out before The Magician. Everything is possible once the magic rolls.

II
THE HIGH PRIESTESS

One Minute Interpretation
This might be Margaret Mead, Oprah Winfrey, Germaine Greer, Annie Horniman or any other woman who is a professional and/or an academic. Qualifications, a book, website, blog or journalism is shown by the scroll. Great knowledge is required to bridge the gap between polar opposites, black and white, or people who are poles apart; like the columns.

III
THE EMPRESS

One Minute Interpretation
Lying back and enjoying a rich harvest, shown by a lush garden, a luxuriously comfortable house or apartment, or money rolling in. There are some cautionary notes about not letting things spoil or be wasted. For all that The Empress is loving her space and her place in the world, gardening is required.

IV
THE EMPEROR

One Minute Interpretation
This is the old man at the top of the business, firm, company or organisation. He is grey/white haired so over fifty. Perhaps he is nearing retirement or has stubbornly continued to operate past that age. He likely has Aries and Capricorn strong in his horoscope, or their ruling planets, Mars and Saturn. He’s hard work.

V
THE HIEROPHANT

One Minute Interpretation
The Hierophant is like the Pope, or may be the Pope if a Roman Catholic is involved in your situation. In any case, this is the head of a belief system, religion or pseudo-religion; a cult. The ‘bible’ or ‘good book’ is prominent here. The word is the law. The monks suggest questions about accepting or rejecting that.

VI
THE LOVERS

One Minute Interpretation
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Here we have a man and woman, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, naked and exposed. This card is about the sexual attraction that leads to engagement and marriage. Adultery, too. It can also show reconciliation between divorcees. It can happen.

VII
THE CHARIOT

One Minute Interpretation
Someone is travelling between two cities or countries, or relocating. This is a Major Arcana card so it is a major journey or move. The charioteer brings knowledge, spiritual or esoteric wisdom and The Known World to the new destination. This is a splendid arrival and will change the residents too.

VIII
STRENGTH

One Minute Interpretation
This is help and healing, and may point to a dentist, surgeon or doctor. A therapeutic presence might also be a sympathetic ‘nurse’ figure, or a Reiki practitioner. There is a dual message. It takes strength to overcome the fear of who/what intimidates you, to offer help. Strong people also know when to show vulnerability. On another level, this can be the dentist who channels something more.

IX
THE HERMIT

One Minute Interpretation
Solitude brings illumination. Being alone brings a spiritual or religious breakthrough. It can also be scientific. A slow, quiet ‘Eureka!’ moment of truth. Without the noise and distraction of other people, one can find ‘everything illuminated’. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For? Maybe alone, you actually can.

X
WHEEL OF FORTUNE

One Minute Interpretation
Life is random and every high is a low in the making; every low is a high in the making. Philosophers and comedians have all written books about the endlessly spinning, up-and-down nature of existence. Thus, the books in the corners of the card. Here we have both readers and writers, and four hidden zodiac signs.

XI
JUSTICE

One Minute Interpretation
This is about the law being handed down from on high. It may be the natural law of what is fair or correct. It may be the Law, capital L, which can take you to the Supreme Court. This is a reassuring card, which says, both sides will be level in the end. Without fear or favour, a higher authority or power is in charge.

XII
THE HANGED MAN

One Minute Interpretation
Dangling in mid-air, caught between two directions (West and East, or Left and Right, shown by the branches above). The Hanged Man does nothing but procrastinate or wriggle, but the light around his head shows, enlightenment comes during the waiting game. Eventually he will untangle himself and take action.

XIII
DEATH

One Minute Interpretation
The beginning of the end. Pamela’s cards never show actual death, unless it is expected (with a terminally ill person, for example) and it means a merciful release for the questioner.  Death here is symbolic. The end of the old and the promise of the new, up ahead, with that dazzling sun rising in the distance. It takes time.

XIV
TEMPERANCE

One Minute Interpretation
Good mental and physical health. Temperance in Pamela’s day was abstinence from alcohol. Temperance ‘societies’ remind us of Aquarius and the wavy-line logo of the sign is hidden in the card pattern. This is a terrific card to see. Pamela was also a Sun Aquarius, fond of groups devoted to good causes, and here it is.

XV
THE DEVIL

One Minute Interpretation
You and your former, current or potential sexual partner need to break free. It is not so hard to do, but both of you are overwhelmed and intimidated by something or someone “evil.” In Pamela’s day this was the sin of adultery. It can also be morally wrong, perhaps, to stay in a bad marriage which traps you.

XVI
THE TOWER

One Minute Interpretation
A sudden bolt from the blue, or shock, and a home or work place falls apart. Sometimes the tower is another sort of structure, like an institution (a dynasty) or a belief system. More usually it is a house, apartment or office and the lightning strike sets everyone free, once the world has finished turning upside-down. It’s time.

XVII
THE STAR

One Minute Interpretation
Another of Pamela’s Aquarian images. She was an Aquarian, a friend to many, and a member of Britain’s most famous secret society, The Golden Dawn, so she lived her Sun sign to the life, and put it into her cards. This is a very special circle of people with one superstar or shining light, and dazzling people power.

XVIII
THE MOON

One Minute Interpretation
A choice about where to live, or where to work, faces two people who are the same – but different. Do they travel or move together? Do they part company? There are many paths to the future here and diverting is possible. Financial, business, charity or property questions are not far behind. Time is of the essence.

XIX
THE SUN

One Minute Interpretation
A child, or a person (it could be a grown-up adult) who is old enough to be your son or daughter, has brilliant tidings or brings wonderful breakthroughs. This is your new godchild, perhaps, or the joy of teaching a class of university students, if you are a senior academic. It’s Harry Potter or Beatrix Potter, in fact.

XX
JUDGEMENT

One Minute Interpretation
Your family and friends, in spirit, go to the next stage of their souls’ evolution. This is about people judging themselves ready to move on, but also a higher power (the angel) judging them suitable for the next spiritual step. This has a corresponding impact on you, down here on planet earth. Their fate is tied to yours, now.

XXI
THE WORLD

One Minute Interpretation
So many choices for the world traveller, or just the armchair traveller, come with this card. Which way to turn? Europe? The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Australasia? The Americas? It is a Major Arcana card, so the outcome is important. Grounding, focussing and concentrating is required.

CUPS

ACE OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
An abundance of fulfilling emotional outcomes. Your cup runneth over. This is about your soul, spirit and heart overflowing. There may be a group, community or movement in the background. Centre stage is a very special relationship. It may be child and parent at the Christening font. It may be a very pure partnership.

II
TWO OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
This is a reconciliation between a couple who have separated, divorced or just had problems. It is also the first gesture of trust between two people who want to be lovers but have not yet made the leap. It’s rather like The Cure song; Let’s Go To Bed, or The Smiths’ song, Ask. The zodiac sign which correlates here is Libra.

III
THREE OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
Three people, probably female at first glance, celebrate their friendship, their achievements, and a harvest of some kind. There is rich and ripe fruit all around and the champagne is flowing. The only caveat is that unless everything is used (preserved, cooked and enjoyed, or used to seed future growth) it’s wasteful.

IV
FOUR OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
The problem is, nobody and nothing is good enough. Not emotionally, anyway. There is nothing here that satisfies or fulfils. Yet, the people are solid gold, and rather precious and valuable. So perhaps the problem is the disgruntled, rather flat figure under the tree. This may be you or someone with mild depression.

V
FIVE OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
Solitude and mourning, as three relationships have fallen over. There are two more, solid gold, but they are unseen. There is hope here. A bridge to a different future; a new home (or a return home). Within that home, anything and anybody at all could be created. First, though, there must be an emotional clean-up.

VI
SIX OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
This is about two children or teenagers and their own delightful, private world. You can enter, and learn from them, or play a more important role. Teacher, perhaps, or just more committed parent – or godparent. Child’s play is shown here and it has its own innocence and charm. This card is usually, literally, about the young.

VII
SEVEN OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
Everything is in your head. The house or apartment. The money. The success. The toxic people. The terrifying situations. You are projecting everything from your imagination. You can still have the good things, and lose the bad, by working on your mind. Conscious awareness of your projections will fix it.

VIII
EIGHT OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
When you beat a retreat from empty and unfulfilling relationships – partners, former partners, friends, family, colleagues – you are halfway to healing. There is an interesting choice here. Does one beat a retreat forever and never return? Or, is a hiatus enough to ‘let distance lend enchantment to the view?’ Your choice.

IX
NINE OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
This is the solid backing of some solid gold people; friends or family. Perhaps, a political party lined up behind a beaming leader. Is the rather self-satisfied, well-fed character on the chair, you or somebody else? Pay attention to the semi-circle of cups. At the sharp right-hand side, one cup is slipping. Who needs help?

X
TEN OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
The absolute best outcome, with two parents and two children, the rainbow and the pot of gold, the beautiful surroundings and the family home. It seems too good to be true, but it happens every day. I’ve drawn it once, for a reader, who had divorced a drug addict husband. She went on to marry a real-estate agent. She’s a mum.

PAGE OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
Here we have a young man, effeminate, Bohemian and definitely in the alternative camp. He has Pisces emphasised in his personal birth chart. He has caught the fish but is playing with it. There are probably plenty more fish in the sea, but until he takes a focussed, mature approach he’ll never catch any.

KNIGHT OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
A man on a mission is travelling locally or perhaps internationally, with sincere affection or something deeper. It really depends on the relationship you have with him. Is he a friend, family member or a former, current or potential partner? He is sincere, determined and you should probably meet him halfway if you can.

QUEEN OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
This rather impressive woman has a relationship which is solid gold, unique, valuable and quite confusing to her. She needs to stop procrastinating and do something practical with it; planting it on solid ground would be a start. This is a family relationship, a romance, a partnership or a friendship which she finds baffling because it escapes categorisation.

KING OF CUPS

One Minute Interpretation
This is the card that appears when a man is out of touch with reality and inaccessible. He may be affected by drugs, prescribed medication or alcohol which makes him spaced out. Even if this is not the case he is drifting, floating, cruising and in a world of his own. If you want to join him he will have to make room for you. The ship in the background is the key to this card.

SWORDS

ACE OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
The crown, top job, top position or highest role has been seized. A sword cuts through situations quickly and often aggressively. This can be disempowerment for one person; empowerment for another. It can be official, so a demotion and replacement, or election results with loss and victory. Or – it can be informal.

II
TWO OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
A decision must be made to cut out someone or something, from this woman’s life. She is on the defensive. This is like the Stealer’s Wheel song, Stuck in the Middle With You. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. It’s also the Magazine song, Shot By Both Sides. Nothing can improve here until the woman is either rescued, or better still, takes off the blindfold.

II
THREE OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is about a love triangle, commonly with a marriage and an affair, but it can also be found in families with one against two. It is as painful as it looks, but can be fixed. The trick with this card is for the reader (you) to extract himself/herself from the situation. This leaves the other two, to do the same – or not. You can at least control your own circumstances though and pull out.

IV
FOUR OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This card turns up when there have been battles. They may be emotional, psychological, physical (illness), or intellectual. Someone, probably you, needs to take the time to rejuvenate. What is fascinating about this card is the stained glass window in the corner, showing a mother and child. What is that picture saying to you? This is an intensely personal card to be read individually. The woman and infant hold a message.

V
FIVE OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
Before any more problems can arise from an attack or conflict, be the person who removes the ammunition or support the person, doing the same. People can’t fight if there is nothing to fight with. Someone needs to heal in this card. Is a peace treaty too big an ask? Maybe not. There will be better days ahead once the stormy weather has passed. A sense of humour and most of all positive action, can make the peacemaker in this situation the hero or heroine of the scene.

VI
SIX OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
You, or people who matter to you, relocate. This may be long-term travel, or emigration – perhaps a move across town, or across the country. The future is a blank canvas. Using the problems of the past to prop up the escape to the unknown future is the way forward, but at a certain point that baggage must go. A group, club, team, society or other circle is supportive.

VII
SEVEN OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This card shows a positive, practical person pre-empting a problem. There is risk here, because a dark little group is plotting and planning in the distance. Yet, with the right timing and approach, this individual (you, perhaps?) can swiftly take away anything that could be weaponised. Any future means of conflict. This is an image of strategy. The tents suggest questions about territorialism; staking claims.

VIII
EIGHT OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This woman who cannot see, and cannot move, is being trapped by her own inability to act. In fact, a new future is waiting. She could easily travel or move, to the promising accommodation in the distance, if she were to remove her blindfold. This means loosening what restricts or confines her and she needs to use the swords (past attacks or threats) psychologically, to do it.

VIII
NINE OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is insomnia, or a nightmare. It may also be worrying in bed, no matter what time of day or night it happens to be. This is all in the person’s mind. Figments of the imagination or memories, interpreted in a negative way. The answer here is meditation, mindfulness, healing, cognitive therapy, relaxation techniques and perhaps astrology. Look at the quilt.

X
TEN OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is a picture of a group attack, and someone who is not quite down for the count. A closer look will reveal that this person is a survivor who is going to get up and live to see another day. In fact, despite the difficulty of being the sole, vulnerable object of the negativity, threat or actual damage of a whole number of people – this is a card which shows the chance of a comeback.

PAGE OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
A person younger than you has a mission. This is about an attack, or perhaps a defence. The winds of change are blowing hard and action calls. This is a green light. What is odd about this illustration is that there is hesitation. The page is not sure if he/she should charge full steam ahead or linger longer. This is a card of mixed signals, like a traffic light going amber-green.

KNIGHT OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
A knight in shining armour on the attack or defence can be a welcome sight. It really depends if this Knight of Swords is for or against you. There is great haste here and blood pumping in male veins. Testosterone. This card has to be read in context. Pure impulse, aggression and drive – the firefighter with the axe ready to break down a door – can be all that powers a saviour or hero. If this is a conflict of another kind, the Knight of Swords can cause damage. This is Mars in astrology.

QUEEN OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is a strong woman with a powerful sense of boundaries. She seems to be saying ‘This far and no further’ to the invisible person, or people, facing her just outside the margin of the card. The butterfly of Psyche is on her crown and throne. This woman, or something about her, is immortal. Psyche is shown by butterflies in myth and reveals what lives forever.

KING OF SWORDS

One Minute Interpretation
Rigid, uncompromising, tough and unyielding. It takes a great deal for the King of Swords to become another sort of King. It even takes quite a lot for him to merely open up; to accommodate you or others; to soften long enough for a deal to be struck or an alternative to be found. This is old-fashioned masculinity of the sort Pamela Colman Smith knew very well, back in 1909. Here is a future general in the First World War ahead.

PENTACLES/COINS

ACE OF COINS

One Minute Interpretation
If you believe that you want, need and deserve a large amount of money, and are prepared to reach for it, then you can have it. This lump sum or substantial piece of cash flow can be used to travel with, relocate or improve your current residence or premises. Those are just three options, though, and you may want to donate it to a good cause. Your attitude towards money really matters when you interpret this card personally.

II
TWO OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
This card is exactly what it looks like. Someone juggling incomings and outgoings. Trying to balance profit and loss, expenditure and income. In the background you can see ships being tossed around on the ocean – all at sea. This is a metaphor for your local, national or even the global economy, which is volatile and unpredictable. Yet, there is a way out of this. It depends on tactics and strategy for the ‘juggler’ here.

III
THREE OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
The quest for the Holy Grail, financially. Is the pay-off actually there, or is this a wild goose chase? There are no guarantees with this card. The Three of Pentacles or Coins is also very much about three people, or three organisations. Life is a gamble with this card. It is a treasure hunt. It may be a complete waste of time, or vindicate all the effort. Look at the three people, though. This is crucial. What/who is represented?

IV
FOUR OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
Wealth and security. There is not just one gold coin or pentacle here, but two to ground the person here (and perhaps pay for designer shoes) and two more in hand. Yet, the property market behind is a reminder that if houses, apartments, land or other premises are the background story with the money, that it is worth knowing the ever-changing property market very well.

V
FIVE OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
A card showing illness or injury, depression and hard times. Now is the winter of our discontent. (Pamela Colman Smith was very close to Shakespearean actors like Dame Ellen Terry). The great hope, which the two people here are blind to, is the stained glass windows of the local church or cathedral, representing wealth. Religious organisations, then as now, offered charity and funded the poor and sick. There is an answer here and you must interpret what the windows show you.

VI
SIX OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
This is a fatcat giving generously to the poor. Someone who is rich enough to eat well, or just over-eat, and buy the finest designer clothes. Those with nothing hold their hands out and gratefully receive. This may be a symbol of the Prime Minister in charge of unemployment benefits, or a billionaire donor. If you are asking about your own financial prospects, you need to figure out if you are the donor or recipient!

VII
SEVEN OF COINS

One Minute Interpretation
Money grows on trees with this card. It is about ‘life gardening’ in terms of asset management and the slow and steady cultivation of resources. This can literally be about growing fruit, vegetables or herbs to sell at a local market. More commonly, it is about nursing a number of projects to recycle small profits into something more ambitious and perhaps hugely rewarding. It’s a spread of investments. It’s a host of ‘nice little earners.’ The trick is in the approach!

VIII
EIGHT OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
Working hard for the money – churning out gold records for EMI, or Wedgwood china, a hit BBC series on DVD or a range of meat-free burgers. This is a card which might describe the creation of this Tarot deck itself, as Pamela Colman Smith famously wrote in a letter to a friend that she was doing a big job for a small amount of money. Money does not grow on trees but you can work for it, and plant for the future, too. There is a house or holiday home in the background.

IX
NINE OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
This is Lady Bountiful from The Beaux’ Stratagem or MacKenzie Scott, the wealthiest woman in the world. There is abundance here, but also the need to find the right timing, as the snail suggests someone or something moving extremely slowly. The reverie is observable but there is also a reminder to stay in touch with reality and remain grounded, alert and practical. You need to be mindful when there is all this at stake.

X
TEN OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
The money-go-round of an extended family, or a circle of friends which feels like family. Three generations are shown here along with finance (perhaps actual cash value in a savings account, or cash flow from a business) and abundant property. The old man, the couple, the dogs and the child suggests a family, but the old woman (the matriarch) is missing. Perhaps she is temporarily absent. The money obscures everything. There is an odd disconnect between these people. Yet, there is money to be saved or made in abundance.

PAGE OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
Ah, the lure of coin. Money Changes Everything. The best things in life are free, but you can give them to the birds and bees. Money, get away. Isn’t it amazing how even a little financial ‘flush’ can entrance people? Or the dream of even a small profit? From something small, though, much larger results can grow. This is a classic Jupiter card, which appears when natal Jupiter is under transit, or transiting Jupiter comes along.

KNIGHT OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
There is business to be done, money to be paid, or bills to be settled. A negotiation to complete and an accounts book in the Knight’s possessions (you can see a book on his saddle). Perhaps it’s just a MacBook Air with accounting software. He’s a closed shop, quite inaccessible and a little intimidating. A mobile fortress of money-minded manhood. He could ride on. Yet, there is so much potential around him, in terms of cultivating, growing, planting and reaping future dividends, profits or rewards. You may be the ‘knight’ here or know someone who is playing that role.

KING OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
Very rich, quite inaccessible and rather complicated, both in terms of his personality and his surroundings. You can see a man who is enamoured of money but also trapped by it. In fact, he is encased in tangled investments, is he not? Or does the overgrowth all around him conceal something darker? This card may be an aspect of you, or more commonly, the very picture of a businessman, treasurer or banker. Perhaps your ex-husband who you must go to for child support.

QUEEN OF PENTACLES

One Minute Interpretation
A woman in the most beautiful and abundant garden is sitting in a position of great contentment and good cheer, nursing a decent amount of money. This is one of Pamela Colman Smith’s ‘rich women’ cards and although there is none of the huge abundance of some other illustrations, there is more than enough here to make this Queen happy. Note the rabbit. It matters.

THE WANDS/STAVES/RODS

ACE OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
A huge idea, brainwave or flash of inspiration arrives. It could be great on paper, or online, or in the media. It has to be brought down to earth and planted somewhere that it can survive and thrive. This could be the start of something big. Its success is hypothetical. You have to make it happen. The white house or building in the distance may be The White House or just a symbol of the premises or ‘home’ this requires.

II
TWO OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
This has to be exported or relocated, to work. And what is ‘this’ exactly? Well, one or two bright ideas. One or two budding concepts or plans. Perhaps, qualifications. The person in the card is yearning or daydreaming for pastures new. This may be you or someone important to you. Yet, speculating is not enough. There has to be action at some point. This transit in your chart is likely of the Third and/or Ninth House, or there may be aspects to natal Mercury from the slow-moving outer planets or the Nodes.

III
THREE OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
The potential here is vast and the concepts, projects, ideas and/or qualifications are promising. Clearly all of this, and perhaps you, belong in a different and more suitable location. It’s like a great song. It is a hit in its home country but might do better as a football anthem in a foreign city. Pace and timing make the difference here as there is a real need to sort out paralysis versus haste. Research, homework, knowledge-gathering and thoughtful questioning can make all the different. One cannot hang around forever, though. This will not last as it should or thrive as it could without proper action.

IV
FOUR OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
A celebration involving family, friends or an important circle of people, and the gateway is a pair of sturdy plans, or two really good ideas. A film director and producer can show up in this card as the entrance to an Oscar celebration. It can also be a long-distance relationship which ends with a wedding, between two frequent correspondents or Zoom lovers. Wands/rods/staves show what is on a computer or on paper. There may be four people or plans as the ‘gate.’

V
FIVE OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
Who is in charge here? Nobody. This is the Amish raising a barn on a bad day, or a group of builders arguing over the direction of North. The potential is there for something sturdy, strong and impressive which would reflect the different personalities and their tastes and preferences in a satisfying whole. Unfortunately nobody is doing anything while everyone is at cross-purposes. The solution is for people to pair off and co-operate, then at least two of the pairs to meet in the middle. Person number five or ‘interested party’ number five – is then the challenge but it can all be overcome.

VI
SIX OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is the card which has people punching the air and yelling ‘Yes!’ when they are asking about an election, a job interview, a book auction, and any other situation where success is not assured. The winner or leader has the right attitude though; perhaps confidence is the secret to success. The faces in the crowd are important. This is quite clearly a group effort, or one has a large following, but as always with a big win, there is gossip, questioning, envy and sometimes outright criticism.

VII
SEVEN OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
If you are going to go in to bat for your ideas, opinions, plans or cause, then you need to be grounded. Unless you are firmly on terra firma, you are not in a particularly strong or stable position, when it comes to defending yourself against others or their concepts or thoughts. There is one against the many here. The irony is, the actual views are rather similar, or the projects or concepts are quite samey. You have to wonder why people are at odds with each other. The solution is for the ungrounded person (yourself?) to stablise, centre, focus, find a solid position and perhaps move, physically, so that some kind of unity can be achieved. There is potential for unity, here.

VIII
EIGHT OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
This is touch and go. Split-second timing is required to stop this group falling in a heap (it will take months, or even years, to put back together) or to divert it, so that it lands pretty much in unison, in a good place, with the potential for new construction. The group, club, team or circle may be purely social (Twitter) or it may have a purpose (The Olympics). Are you an optimist about these people, of which you may be one, or a pessimist? Is everyone falling upwards, ready to land together and make a start, or falling down, headed for (quite frankly) the end, or something near the end?

IX
NINE OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
An aggrieved person who has a headache from the stress of group opinion outside him or against him (or who is a headache for the rest of them) is separated, alone, and on the fringe. There is healing to be done here. There may even be real injury. This is Sir Winston Churchill during The Wilderness Years. There is potential for everyone to come back together again, or just for co-operation and recovery, but it will take hard work, communication and time passing.

X
TEN OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretationa
Something has to give. Instead of just stumbling forwards with an overload of e-mails, books, projects, ideas, Zoom meetings, telephone messages, exams, blogs, articles and the rest – stop and offload. Get rid, perhaps. Delegate, if you can. Reschedule the timing if possible. The goal here is obviously the house, apartment or holiday home in the distance. Paying the rent, saving up for renovations or funding a vacation. What is the point, though, if getting there is so punishing for mind, body and spirit? Pause and plan.

PAGE OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
The idea, concept, creation, qualification or plan has wonderful, budding potential. Nothing will happen to help it thrive, or even just survive, unless it is planted in the right place, at the right time, and nurtured to fruition. Timing is everything and a bit of research and homework is required, and perhaps an approach to some helping hands. Why is everything held up here? What is inside this person’s mind, that he or she (probably a man) is stalling, stuck or on a go-slow? Fear of success or fear of failure? Or distracted narcissism?

KNIGHT OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
This knight has a blazing, brilliant idea. It’s hot, this project, concept, brainwave or qualification. It has ‘heat’ as they say in Hollywood. Unfortunately he cannot see where he is going. Look at his eyes and you will see he is unfocussed. He is also on a horse with a lack of focussed vision. Thus, his vehicle is not what it could be. Quite clearly, the notion, the plan or the letters after his name need to be taken somewhere hospitable and accommodating. The environment of the moment is quite wrong. This needs a strategy.

QUEEN OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
This was very likely one of Pamela Colman Smith’s friends, Edie, in the summer of 1909 at Smallhythe, in Kent. The black cat was probably in the household too. This is a strong, clever woman with Leo in her chart, or going through a Leo transit. The lions on the throne and the cat give it away. Sunflowers show the Sun which rules Leo. Here is a leader, teacher, mother, aunt, grandmother, godmother, mentor, captain, head prefect, CEO, professor and so on. The younger generation, the heirs to her intellectual throne, are not pictured, but their presence is suggested in this card. The idea, concept, plan or qualification is there but it must be planted and nurtured. Then wonders prevail. This might also be Pamela herself, from our point of view, creating the Tarot deck you have with you now.

KING OF WANDS

One Minute Interpretation
He has an idea, project, website, concept, qualification or brainwave. He is ‘king’ so already top at his game, his own boss, or a leading figure. Head of the family or CEO in a company. The issue is what to do with what is so vast in potential. It needs to be planted and nurtured or it will wither on the vine or just fall apart. Time is of the essence. He either has to get moving and DIY or delegate to a person who can help him. His Queen? Where is she, because she’s not in the picture. His courtiers or allies? Again we can’t see them. His staff? This is one of those cards that requires action.

Copyright Jessica Adams/Justin Tabari 2023.