Three of Wands: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A figure watches ships from a height beside three planted staffs.

Upright

enterprise · foresight

Watch how an undertaking develops beyond its first steps.

Reversed

delays · weak preparation

Expansion may be slowed by details left unsettled.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Sun in Aries, 10–20 degrees. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.