Nine of Wands: tarot card meaning

In A. E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), the Nine of Wands upright means: The card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build shews that he may prove a formidable antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible adjuncts: delay, suspension, adjournment. Reversed: Obstacles, adversity, calamity.

The picture

“The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves, erect, in orderly disposition, like a palisade.” A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910

Upright

The card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build shews that he may prove a formidable antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible adjuncts: delay, suspension, adjournment.

Waite's additional meanings: Generally speaking, a bad card.

Reversed

Obstacles, adversity, calamity.

In one line

Strength in opposition: hold the line, ready. (Esbat's own summary of Waite's meaning and picture.)

Where it sits in the deck

The Nine of Wands is the ninth card of the suit of Wands, one of the 56 Minor Arcana. The other Nines: Nine of Cups, Nine of Swords, Nine of Pentacles.

In Esbat

Esbat deals a card of the day, face down until you turn it, and holds all 78 cards in the 1910 pictures with Waite's meanings, upright and reversed. The Nine of Wands can be shared as a picture. All 78 tarot card meanings.

Sources

Meanings and picture descriptions: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), public domain, checked against the Wikisource transcription. Picture: Pamela Colman Smith, 1910, public domain. Like the app, this page records what the book says; it does not promise outcomes.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

Esbat: Tarot & Book of Shadows, on Google Play

A card of the day, face down until you turn it, and all 78 cards in the 1910 pictures with Waite's meanings, upright and reversed. For Android.

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