The Four of Wands is a card of celebration and speaks to the joy of connecting with loved ones. It is the fourth tarot card in the Minor Arcana’s suit of Wands and speaks to the necessity of creating time for pleasure and for honoring milestones, big and small.
The Four of Wands is associated with the element of fire and the 3rd decan of the Aries zodiac sign (20-29 degrees). It is linked to Venus in Aries and speaks to the qualities of this placement through the ability to find and create pleasure and beauty in unlikely places.
Four of Wands Keywords
Upright Keywords | Reversed Keywords |
|---|---|
celebration, community, fleeting joy, thresholds | need to slow down, guilt, awareness of endings, reinventing tradition |
Description of the Four of Wands Tarot Card
The Four of Wands meaning encapsulates the celebration of all that’s been achieved following the planning, strategizing, and dreaming pictured in the Three of Wands and other preceding cards. The fours of the Minor Arcana cards are linked to The Emperor (Major Arcana #4) and, as with numerology, to the themes of stability, structure, balance, and safety.
In the classic Rider Waite Smith tarot deck, the four wands that are strung together with a garland of flowers are reminiscent of a Jewish wedding canopy called a chuppah and create a temporary structure of celebration. This frame creates a threshold, which the couple in the background have seemingly just passed through. Whether it’s a wedding or another type of festivity, the wands speak to the importance of marking time by gathering with loved ones.
This mobile celebratory structure speaks to the ability to feel a sense of home wherever life takes you and create meaningful moments of connection along the way. Because it is temporary, the joy is that much sweeter, as the celebrants know it cannot last forever. The bright yellow sky imparts a glow of optimism, joy, and exuberance to the occasion.
Four of Wands Upright Meaning
The Four of Wands upright heralds a time of celebration and joy. It asks you to reflect on the milestones in your life (big or small) and to make time to acknowledge, honor, and commemorate them. Even if there’s not a major milestone to celebrate, this card wants you to pause and soak up feelings of love and friendship wherever and whenever you can. It insists that pleasure is a necessary part of life.
This card can appear when you have crossed a threshold or rite of passage of some kind, whether that’s a graduation, marriage, or birthday party. It speaks to the importance of connecting with those you love and is an encouragement to make time to nurture the relationships in your life. As a 4 card, it speaks to the containers and structures that allow you to experience joy and pleasure.
The upright Four of Wands can also speak to commitments we make to others and the gratification that accompanies devotion and teamwork. Whether it is to a person, place, project, your inner self, a deity, or an organization, it suggests that who or what you are committed to can help you grow, flourish, and become more yourself.
Love and Relationships (Upright Meaning)
In the upright position of a love reading, the Four of Wands suggests that you are celebrating a milestone with your partner. You could be stepping into a new phase of your relationship by getting married, moving houses, having a child, or making a more serious commitment to each other. This card asks you to recognize and celebrate what you’ve built together and how you’ve grown.
The upright Four of Wands also asks you to find joy and pleasure in the moments of connection you experience, even if they are fleeting or temporary (such as at a party, celebration, or on vacation). The focus is on relishing the moment and being fully present for the opportunities for connection in your life.
Love/relationships upright keywords | Career/finance upright keywords |
|---|---|
commitment, celebrating milestones, fleeting connections, pleasure | celebrating achievements, success, slowing down, rest and ease |
Career and Finance (Upright Meaning)
The Four of Wands asks you to mark and celebrate your accomplishments, big or small, and to consciously acknowledge the career progress you’ve made through hard work. You could be celebrating a major achievement, a promotion, the success of a project, or simply relishing the feeling of contentment and good health after having successfully completed your tasks for the day.
This card can also appear as a sign to put down your work for the time being, slow down, and focus on cultivating connection with those you love and make time for savoring life’s fleeting delights. It is a reminder that moments of rest, ease, pleasure, and connection are vital to your well-being and will support a sustainable approach to your work over the long term.
Four of Wands Reversed Meaning
When the Four of Wands appears in the reversed position of a tarot reading, you may be cutting off your connection to pleasure and ease by denying yourself the opportunity to enjoy moments of rest and relaxation. You may be feeling guilty about taking time off or making time for pleasure which has no purpose other than simple enjoyment. This card is a reminder to allow yourself the opportunity to rest and enjoy life.
The reversed Four of Wands can also indicate that you have meaningful relationships in your life and that these connections can help you feel less alone in your current struggle. It is a reminder to call on those you trust to uplift and bolster you and to remind you that you exist in an ecosystem of mutual support.
In the reverse, this card also suggests that you are highly aware of the fleeting nature of life. This can be a double-edged sword that both heightens your ability to enjoy moments of connection but can also produce a feeling of anxiety about how long they will last. It suggests trying to quiet your feelings of worry and give yourself over to enjoying the present moment.
Love and Relationships (Reversed Meaning)
In the reverse position, the Four of Wands may suggest a lack of harmony. Your relationship may be overwhelmed by the demands of everyday life and would benefit from more time spent on cultivating connection. It is an encouragement to carve out time to relax, enjoy the pleasure of each others’ company, take a break or a vacation, and find joy in small pleasures.
The reversed Four of Wands can also indicate that you are approaching traditional concepts of commitment and relationship in new or unconventional ways. Perhaps you are creating boundaries around your own personal time and space within a relationship or are bucking convention and creating your own traditions.
Love/relationships reversed keywords | Career/finance reversed keywords |
|---|---|
need to focus on connection and relaxation, taking a break, redefining commitment or tradition in new ways | overly focused on an end goal, burn out, worry, career transition |
Career and Finance (Reversed Meaning)
In the reverse position of a tarot spread, the Four of Wands can indicate that you are overly focused on an end goal at the expense of enjoying the process. You could be highly motivated to reach an important milestone within your work but are feeling burnt out because you are not allowing yourself to work at a reasonable pace. This card is a reminder to slow down, pace yourself, and remember to savor the small steps that lead to reaching your goal.
The Four of Wands reversed can also suggest that you are feeling overwhelmed with worry, perfectionistic tendencies, or an endless to-do list. It is an encouragement to shift your focus to acknowledging your gains, however small or large. This card can also speak to being in a time of transition as you shift from one job or project to the next.