The Knight of Wands is one of the Court Cards of the Tarot. On the Decan Wheel, he rules from July 12 to August 11. In some systems, he is called the Prince, however, he is almost always shown on horseback. The Knights carry out the mandate of the Realm set by the King and Queen. They are usually associated with action and motion. Keywords include: adventure, passion, impulsiveness, quests for glory, fame and fortune, pride, generosity, ego, striving for victory, charisma, success.
Many people choose a Court Card to be their Significator in a Tarot reading; a card that represents themselves. If your birthday is between July 12 and August 12, then choosing the Knight of Wands as your Significator may be appropriate! Or, you may choose him because you resonate with his qualities, regardless of the dates, and that is perfectly acceptable as well.
Drawing the Knight of Wands can indicate a person, personality, or behavior. A question you may ask yourself is, how do you get things started? The Knight of Wands can sometimes be the dramatic entrance that sets the tone and kicks things into gear and propel everything forward. Is this your style or the style of someone you know?
Associated Minor Cards
The 3 Minor Cards associated with the Knight of Wands are the 4 of Cups (Lord of Blended Pleasure), the 5 of Wands (Lord of Strife) and the 6 of Wands (Lord of Victory.) If you resonate with the Knight of Wands as your significator, you may want to intuit how these cards connect to your life and experiences.
QABALAH Considerations
On the Qabalistic Tree of Life, the Knights of the Tarot are assigned to the sephirah Tiphareth. When seen in a “Jacobs Ladder” configuration, the Knight of Wands is Tiphareth in the World of Atziluth (Fire/Wands). The Knights also represent Vau in the Holy Tetragrammaton “Yod Heh Vau Heh”, which which is related conceptually to our connection to God and our own divinity, and also represents the Word of Yetzirah. When the Tree of Life is shown as as representing only the World of Yetzirah, it is colored according to a particular set of colors developed by the Golden Dawn. Because of the correspondences between Vau = Yetzirah = Knights/Princes, the color scale for Yetzriah is called the Prince scale.
The Decan Wheel
And for those of you who like math, if you take a look at the Decan Wheel below, you will see that it has several divisions. A circle is 360 degrees, and a Decan is 10 degrees, so there are 36 Decans in a circle, which correspond to approximately 10-11 days each.
There are 40 minor cards, (Aces thru 10’s, 4 suits) but the Aces have been removed, leaving 36 minor cards (2’s thru 10’s, 4 suits) So there is one Decan for every minor card in the tarot (36 x 10 = 360.)
Now for the Court Cards: there are 16 Court Cards, but the Princesses have been removed, leaving 12. So each of the Court cards gets 30 degrees (12 x 30 = 360). You can see by studying the Wheel that for every Court Card there are 3 associated minor cards, with corresponding dates. At the center of the Wheel are the 12 Zodiac signs, however they do not align directly with the 12 Court Cards. The consensus seems to be that the sign with the 2 out of the 3 Decans aligned with the Court Card is the sign usually connected with that Court Card. For example, the Queen of Disks covers one Decan of Sagittarius and two Decans of Capricorn, so she is more often associated with the sign of Capricorn. (Note, the C, F, M at the very center of the Wheel indicate if the Zodiac sign is Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable.)
Lastly, we see the Aces and Princess that were removed placed in tandem in the 4 large sections around the outer rim of Wheel. These can also correspond to the listed dates, or seen generally as the seasons between the Equinoxes and the Solstices. Aces are associated with Spirit and the essence or “root of power” of the Elements (Wands = Fire, Cups = Water, Swords = Air, Pentacles = Earth) Princesses are associated with the “boots on the ground” aspect of the Element. Sometimes they are also allocated to space, or quadrants of the globe, rather than time. (Princess of Wands = Asia, Princess of Cups = the Pacific Ocean, Princess of Swords = the Americas, Princess of Pentacles = Europe & Africa) Both the Aces and the Princesses correspond to the three Zodiac signs in their quadrant.
Consulting the Decan Wheel can help you pick a significator and incorporate time into your readings. Have fun!
Tarot Deciphered by T. Susan Chang & M. M. Meleen
Astrological Keywords by Manly P. Hall
The New A to Z Horiscope Maker and Delineator by Llewellyn George
Qabalistic Tarot by Rober Wang
Astrology for Yourself by Douglass Bloch & Demetra George
A Beginners Guide to Astrology by Lisa Butterworth
The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall