The Six of Wands stands for self-consciousness on the spiritual level of human expression (wands). Six of Wands upright: philanthropy. Six of Wands reversed: indifference.
Spiritual self-consciousness is the consciousness of the higher self, which is the one self of all souls. The higher self guides, protects, and inspires all souls — incarnate or discarnate. A religious title of the higher self is the Holy Guardian Angel. Some non-religious people refer to the higher self as the universe.
The higher self evolves souls by taking them through customized experiences that evolve their self-consciousness. The Trial & Temptation card represents this particular operation of the higher self (more below).
If the Six of Wands turns up in a Tarot reading, it means that the querent’s challenge plays a role in the evolution of her self-consciousness. The challenge or undertaking will take the querent closer to answering questions like Who am I, really? Why am I here? What do I want to achieve in this incarnation? What is my purpose in this life?
The power of consciousness in question is empathy. Experiences evolve our capacity to empathize. Apart from making meaningful experiences, this is what incarnations are all about: to walk in someone’s moccasins for one lifetime. Or in someone’s high heels. Or in someone’s army boots.
An inauspicious Six of Wands may indicate a lack of empathy and, hence, egoism. If the querent’s self-consciousness is trapped in her ego, she will lack the capacity to consider other people’s situations and needs. An inauspicious Six of Wands may also hint at the opposite of egoism: when a soul is too hard on herself. This may lead to self-doubt – a secondary meaning of this card.
Six of Wands Symbolism
The six wands in the picture form a hexagon that contains a hexagram.
The hexagram combines two equilateral triangles, one pointing upward and one pointing downward.
For one, the two triangles represent the union of the higher self and a soul.
They also symbolize the downward and upward movements on the Tree of Life — creativity and experiencing.
For Tarot readings, the two triangles represent intuition — the connection between the higher self and the Tarot reader.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Six of Wands
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life.
According to the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Six of Wands represents Tiphareth of Tiphareth, i.e., self-consciousness on the intentional-spiritual level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produce either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings. Here are the five core meanings of the Six of Wands:
- Faculty of consciousness: Empathy
- Positive use: Philanthropy, helpfulness, brother-keeping
- Negative use: Indifference
- Favorable internal experience: Honor
- Adverse internal experience: Pride
Reflective Questions
If the Six of Wands appears in your spread, you may want to ask yourself the following questions:
- What have I done today to strengthen my connection with the higher self?
- Do I practice empathy enough and am I my sister’s keeper?
- What were the key experiences that shaped my capacity to empathize?
- In which way do my challenges evolve my self-consciousness and bring me closer to understanding my life’s purpose?
- In what areas of my life do I take myself too seriously?
Summary
The Six of Wands signifies one of the highest skills human can gain: empathy. Going through different experiences boosts empathy. When people’s empathy reaches a critical mass, the brotherhood and sisterhood of mankind will come about.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings dominate at present because Astrology is a divination tool and favors fortune-telling. But these meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life are mixed up with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective, holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical, and hence, easier to memorize.
What do Various Tarotists Say about the Meaning of the Six of Wands?
Let’s explore what different tarotists wrote about the Six of Wands.
Usually, tarotists consider the astrological significances of Tarot cards. The Six of Wands relates to the second decanate of Leo, ruled by the Sun and sub-ruled by Sagittarius and Jupiter.
Here, we have a conjunction of rulership (Leo), vitality (the Sun), aspiration (Sagittarius), and benevolence (Jupiter). This cocktail of forces promotes a healthy, aspiring growth, and expansion. An inauspicious Six of Wands may indicate an over-reliance on this fortunate force constellation, which can express as extravagance, pride, and ostentation.
Tiphareth emanates the 24th path, illustrated by the Transformation card, the 25th path illustrated by the Trials & Temptations card (see above), and the 26th path — the Adversity card. These three represent the three faculties by which the higher self evolves souls.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Six of Wands
For the Six of Wands, Paul Foster Case offers the keywords victory and gain after strife, competition, and/or uncertainty.
The terms success, victory, and gain are a bit off since success is a matter of Netzach – the 7’s. True, the guidance of the higher self is a guarantee for success, but it is not success itself.
On a side note, empathy can lead to success, too. Empathy allows us to know what people really need. If we address needs, we are in business.
Paul proposed the following secondary auspicious meanings: success, happiness, gain through love affairs or by the opposite sex, pleasure in labor. His take on the inauspicious meanings are loss through the same things, waste in pleasure, trouble through pride of riches or through insolence promoted by success.
After experiencing a time of trial and uncertainty, we come to realize the need for (self-)transformation. Self-transformation opens the way to success. Mind that the Transformation card illustrates the path that connects the Six of Wands with the Seven of Wand:
The inauspicious meaning of pride, which is spot on. Pride is one of the ego’s self-preservation maneuvers, which blocks off the higher self.
Happiness is the consequence of self-realization. It is a feeling we get when we can be what we want to be and do what we want to do, which is ultimate success.
The meaning of pleasure in labor is a bit off, since labor is a matter of the bodily-practical level of human expression.
How Paul arrived at the meaning gain through love affairs or by the opposite sex is unclear. Maybe, he considered six is the number of the Relationships/Lovers Tarot card. The respective path connects the 6’s with the 3’s – self-consciousness and context.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Six of Wands
Arthur Edward Waite wrote that this card’s design covers several meanings. On the surface, it is a victor triumphing. But it signifies 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.
Arthur used the term king because it is an ancient title of the higher self in Tiphareth. As mentioned, if we submit to the guidance of the higher self, we are likely to succeed (triumph).
But more often than we like, the ego gets in the way and usurps the higher self’s rulership. This brings us to the two dualisms of faith and hope, and pride and honor.
Pride is a self-defense mechanism of the ego. The opposite of pride is honor, i.e., self-confidence based on accomplishments.
Faith is reasonable expectation, hope is unreasonable expectation. Faith is openness, hope is closeness. Hope is always a mistake. It implies clinging onto a belief no matter what. Faith is scientific and means coming up with reasonable theses and testing those theses.
Self-consciousness comes with the sense of separation, the sense that we are alone in this world. This is where Arthur’s proposed meanings of apprehension, fear of a victorious enemy at the gate, treachery, disloyalty, gates being opened to the enemy, and indefinite delay come from.
The following meanings pertain to fortune telling: servants may lose the confidence of their masters and a young lady may be betrayed by a friend. But there is a grain of truth here. An inauspicious Six of Wands may indicate that the querent’s ability to rule (Leo) may be compromised.
What Etteilla Said About the Meaning of the Six of Wands
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist connects the Six of Wands to servants (the Leo connection) and expectations.
As mentioned, expectations can be reasonable (faith) or unreasonable (hope). An inauspicious Six of Wands would indicate the latter.
On a side note, an enlightened soul has no expectations. It follows its life path as it unfolds and takes things as they come.
What Papus Said About the Meaning of the Six of Wands
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, offers the meaning of failure.
This denotes the inauspicious meaning of the Six of Wands related to success. As mentioned, both success and failure are a bit off, except failing empathize.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meaning of the Six of Wands
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, claims that this card signifies attempt, hope, desire, wish, expectation, but also infidelity, treachery, disloyalty, and perfidy.
Desire and wish are meaning that pertain to the 7’s. Mind Wish is the title of the Seven of Cups of the Enlightenment Tarot.
Attempt, hope, and expectation are inauspicious meanings of the Six of Wands. They pertain to the ego’s pride and efforts of getting along without the higher self’s guidance.
Infidelity, treachery, disloyalty, and perfidy are manifestations of the sense of separation.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meaning of the Six of Wands
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th century, celebrated Parisian fortune teller, said that the Six of Wands signifies good luck wildcard and can foretell a gift, an inheritance, success in business, and the discovery of a treasure.
As usual, these meanings pertain to fortune telling, but they still contain a grain of truth. The Six of Wands stands for the guidance of the higher self, which may help bring about mentioned forms of success. But mind that the higher self is not interested in such things, except they serve the evolution of the soul.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use a faculty of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to Learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you came to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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