Pamela Colman Smith · RWS deck
The Minor Arcana
King of Wands
Chayah in Atziluth
- Suit
- wands
- Rank
- King
- World
- Atziluth
- Soul level
- Chayah
- Position
- Home
Chayah, living essence
Chayah is life at its root, the Chokmah level. Kings are home in Atziluth and work down in the other three worlds.
Upright
Flowing. Living essence at the source: direction that arrives rather than being manufactured, commissioned authority. This is the King at home, where essence and world match, and what he says to do is simply what is to be done.
Misdirected. Forgetting he is a conduit and acting as the fountain.
Reversed
Blocked. The source is not flowing and no direction arrives.
Flooded. Direction in excess, commands issued as though from the source.
The image
A king sits sideways on a throne carved with lions and salamanders, holding a budding wand. A small salamander crawls at his feet and the desert stretches behind him. He looks like someone who has been given a thing to hold, and knows it.
Learn how to read King of Wands in a spread
This page shows you what King of Wands means. Knowing how to read it — how it shifts next to the other cards, what the reversal is really telling you, and how to turn a spread into a clear answer — is what the RWS Decoded course and book teach, card by card.
