Six of Wands
Minor Arcana · Wands · number 6 · Sei di Bastoni
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The Six of Wands is the victor riding back into town with the laurel crown: triumph, but above all great news on its way, the kind carried in state. Waite says the card was designed on purpose to cover several meanings at once, and indeed it holds them all: the victory, the announcement, hope rewarded. Waite calls it expectation crowned with its own desire. If you were waiting for an outcome, an exam, an interview, an answer in love, this card says it is coming and it is the one you hoped for. It is no accident if you already feel lighter. The practical advice: when the news arrives, thank the people who supported you along the way. Success that is shared lasts longer than success celebrated alone.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the Six of Wands brings apprehension: the fear of a victorious enemy at the gate, the suspicion of treachery, of someone opening the gates from inside. And meanwhile everything is postponed to an unspecified date. If these days you feel a promotion, an answer or a return is late with no explanation, it is no accident. Beware of disloyalty, in the office as in the family: whoever smiles at you may be working against you. It is not a sentence, it is a call to vigilance. The practical advice: do not confide plans to anyone who has not yet proved worthy of them, and ask for firm dates.