Waite–Smith, Wands
King of Wands
What you can see
A crowned figure holds a leafy staff on a throne patterned with lions and curling creatures. A small lizard-like animal stands by the throne.
What Waite says
Waite emphasizes ardour, animation and conscientious character, relating the throne to the lion. His upright and reversed lists keep honesty and severity in view rather than offering a single interchangeable court personality.
Waite · Part III, §2 · printed p. 170 ↗In the Thoth deck
Waite’s courts are King, Queen, Knight and Page. Thoth has Knight, Queen, Prince and Princess, so a rank does not carry straight across. See both ways to match them.
Edition and image credits
Pamela Colman Smith, illustrations in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Rider 1922 reprint, first published 1910. The scans keep the printed borders and page marks, with no cropping or recolouring.