Four of Wands is a card used in Latin suited playing cards which include tarot decks. It is part of what

tarot card readers Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck con ...

call the "

Minor Arcana The Rider–Waite_Tarot.html"_;"title="King_of_Swords_card_from_the_Rider–Waite_Tarot">King_of_Swords_card_from_the_Rider–Waite_Tarot_ The_Minor_Arcana,_sometimes_Lesser_Arcana,_are_the_Suit_(cards).html" ;"title="Rider–Waite_Tarot_.html" ;" ...

". Tarot cards are used throughout much of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to play

Tarot card games Tarot games are card games played with tarot decks, that is, decks with numbered permanent trumps parallel to the suit cards. The games and decks which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot are called Tarocchi in the original Italian, ...

. In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, Tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for

divinatory Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

purposes.

Rider–Waite symbolism

* The structure in the front resembles a Jewish wedding

chuppah A ''chuppah'' ( he, חוּפָּה, pl. חוּפּוֹת, ''chuppot'', literally, "canopy" or "covering"), also huppah, chipe, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Judaism, Jewish couple stand during their Jewish wedding, wedding cere ...

, although it is not covered by a cloth as is traditional in that faith. In fact, it is covered with netting intertwined with fruits, in the manner of a Samaritan

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

sukkah A or succah (; he, סוכה ; plural, ' or ''sukkos'' or ''sukkoth'', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated w ...

prepared for a harvest festival. * The four wands' structure appears stable enough to stand on its own, unlike several other cards, in which some wands have to be held. * Decorative garlanding hangs across the tops of the four poles, bearing summer fruits, especially

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago ...

and

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es. * The people in this card appear somewhat distant from the wands, unlike the people appearing in other cards of this suit. There seems to be a lot going on in the background. * The persons closer to the structure seem quite enthusiastic, as they wave "

nosegay A nosegay, posy, or tussie-mussie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice. Doilies are traditionally used to bin ...

s" (according to PKT), bouquets of

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s up in the air. Their gestures are also reminiscent of the celebration of

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...

, in which celebrants hold bunches of plant matter up in praise of God. * In the background of the card appears what looks like large

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, although in the PKT Waite refers to it as "an old manorial house".

Divination usage

This card is generally considered positive. It is said to reflect harmony and positive feelings, hard work with good results.LearnTarot.com
/ref>Paranormality.com
/ref>''

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot ''The Pictorial Key to the Tarot'' is a divinatory tarot guide, with text by A. E. Waite and illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. Published in conjunction with the Rider–Waite tarot deck, the pictorial version (released 1910, dated 1911) f ...

'', by Arthur Waite According to Waite, it is ''country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these.''

Key Meanings

The key meanings of the Four of Wands:Trusted Tarot (2010
Four of Wands
/ref> *Celebrations and

happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

*Completion *

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

*New beginnings *

Pleasure Pleasure refers to experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious anima ...

References

External links

Four of Wands
in the

Thoth tarot deck The Thoth Tarot is an divinatory tarot, esoteric tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth, and also wrote The Book of Thoth (Crowley), a 1944 bo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Four Of Wands Suit of Wands