divinatory meanings-- someone courageoud, idealistic, virtuous. can be headstrong, refusing to compromise what he believes is right.
reversed-- someone who had taken a lot of risks and possibly stands in some danger. it also may indicate disillusionment and loss of idealism.
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the knight of wands
the knights present us with a paradox. in contrast to the pages, which showed only headless torsos, we now see heads. but they are animal heads. symbolically, an animal head in place of a human one indicates instinct, or desire, governing over actions in place of human judgment. to some extent, knights, as figures of action, and even violence, belong to the instinctive animal world, with only the code of chivalry to anchor them in human civilization. more directly, a knight needs a horse to perform his duties. therefore, the horse in place of the man emphasizes that the knight is defined by what he does in the world, not by who he is. his sense of self and of his life becomes absorbed in his work. this becomes particularly strong for wands, with their emphasis on activity and movement, both of which are qualities belonging to the knight. the same symbolism leads to tho horse's head signifying the knight in the game of chess. like many other games, such as dice, or possibly tarot, chess may have its origins in some system of divination. a complicated modern form, called enochian chess, explicitly links the play to divination and magic.
the wand rises from the head like the horn of a unicorn, an imaginary creature symbolizing perfection, beauty, and virginity. the card has a certain purity and idealism. the small flame burns against that dense matter we have seen so often in wands, but also against darkness. darkness swallows the neck of the horse. at bottom we see the word "terra," latin for earth, written like a sign. the knight's heroism, his courage and virtue, keep the flame of the unicorn burning, if faintly, in the hard world of real life.
© 1995 dc comics
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