Four of Wands

The image

Four tall wands stand in the foreground, and from their tops hangs a great garland of flowers, fruit and ribbons, forming an open canopy. Beyond it two women in long robes raise bouquets above their heads in greeting, and behind them a small crowd gathers. Further back a bridge crosses a moat to an old castle or manor house with towers. The whole sky is a warm yellow. The figures seem to be coming out to welcome someone — perhaps the viewer, who stands just outside the bower.

History

Before the Rider–Waite–Smith pack, the Four of Batons in Marseille-pattern decks showed four crossed staves around a central floral ornament and told no story. Pamela Colman Smith gave it a scene of festival that some writers compare with the canopy used in Jewish weddings, and others with an English harvest home; neither association is stated in Waite's text, which speaks only of a great garland, two female figures with nosegays and a bridge leading to an old manorial house. The pageant-like staging is often linked with Smith's long involvement in the theatre, which shaped many of her compositions.

Symbolism

The Golden Dawn gave this card Venus in Aries and called it the Lord of Perfected Work, placing it in Chesed, the sefirah of mercy and abundance on the Tree of Life. Crowley's title is Completion. Four is the number of stability: four corners, four walls, four seasons (see number 4). In the fiery suit it means energy that has found a settled form without losing its warmth, and Venus softens the martial sign, bringing pleasure and beauty into effort. The fruit of the garland speaks of harvest, while the bower itself — a structure without walls — suggests a security that is hospitable rather than defensive.

In a reading

Next to the Ten of Cups or the Lovers it is often read as a wedding or a happy family occasion. With the Hierophant it may point to a formal ceremony. In questions about property it is a favourable sign for buying, moving or renovating. In a past position it can describe a time of contentment against which the present is measured; in an outcome position it promises a stable result that can be shared.

Because the scene is so open, readers sometimes stress hospitality as much as achievement: the card asks who is invited under the garland. It is also read as a pause in a journey — a resting point at which the energy of the suit can be gathered before the conflicts of the Five begin. In spreads about a move it is one of the warmest signs of arrival.