Four of Wands

Meanings according to Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Venus in the 5th house as a symbol of joy, play, and entertainment, or Moon/Venus as a personification of the feeling of security and the joy of communion.

FOUR OF WANDS The Four of Wands corresponds to a period of peace and tranquility, during which we open ourselves to life and its joys. We are confident in our own security, and are therefore ready to leave the "fortress walls" and step out into the outer world. This signifies communion, entertainment, pleasure, and the joy of life, as well as the opening of our "Self" toward it, the sense of a deep interconnection with other people.

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from the German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Center for Astrological Research, 1999.

FOUR OF WANDS Completion The third decan of Aries, from April 10 to April 20. Astrological equivalents — Aquarius, the Eleventh House. The third decan of Aries is traditionally associated with Venus, hence its second name — "Love." The impulse of energy embeds itself into matter, and in its search for recognition begins to interact with it. Personal enTHUSiasm collides with the objective laws of life. The objectivity of outer existence orients a person toward the search for his place in society and toward the creative cognition of the paths of truth and justice: it compels one to ponder what a just social order ought to be. This decan is more material than the previous two, and the impulse of love here may rise to the level of passion. At the same time, it is oriented toward socially useful labor as the most natural realization of inner aspirations. The trap — to rest on one's laurels. To believe that peace has now come forever.

UPRIGHT POSITION In the upright position the card symbolizes celebration as the completion of a successfully accomplished task, inner peace, tranquility, satisfaction, and serenity. Something has already become so internally complete that it, as it were, casts itself into a definite form. For example, a happy couple lived together for a long time and at last decided to formalize their relationship. The FOUR OF SCEPTERS symbolizes mental stability, disciplined thought, the striving for order, the sensing of structure, the finding of like-minded companions, and the feeling of belonging to one tradition or another. This card also symbolizes the situation in which several people in different parts of the globe simultaneously arrive at one and the same idea. In the FOUR OF WANDS the theme of Aquarius and Saturn (the planet which rules it) sounds distinctly. At the same time, the card may also signify certain stagnations and benumbments (manifestations characteristic of Saturn). These are periods of sudden flourishing — peace, tranquility, and harmony. And also — rest and the enjoyment of the fruits of one's labor. Moreover, this tranquility is secured through the creation of some rigid social scheme, embodied through the FOUR. REVERSED POSITION In the reversed position the card signifies instability, haste, delay, lagging behind, slackness or confusion of thought, the inability to mobilize oneself for anything. The mind, the intellect, has need of being calmed. This is in tune with the feeling of a person who has been suddenly torn out of meditation. It is also unfinished love affairs, broken off in an Aquarian manner. A feeling of insecurity, tainted beauty, imperfect happiness. Such a theme at the level of society resounds acutely at the present time in the form of a complete absence of guarantees.