Arcanebra

The Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909

Seventy-eight pictures for thinking with

Every card of Pamela Colman Smith’s original deck, read slowly: what is drawn on it, what it has meant to readers for a century, and what it might ask of you. Tarot here is a tradition and a mirror, not a forecast.

Draw a reading Browse the 78 cards

Ace of Wands

Card of the day · 26 October 2026

Ace of Wands

new energy · inspiration · a creative start · the will to act

Act on the idea while it still has heat in it. You do not need the whole plan, only the first move: write it down, make the call, sketch the thing.

About the card of the day · Read the full meaning

The Major Arcana

The 22 trumps The Fool’s journey
The Fool, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Fool 0 The Magician, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Magician I The High Priestess, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The High Priestess II The Empress, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Empress III The Emperor, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Emperor IV The Hierophant, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Hierophant V The Lovers, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Lovers VI The Chariot, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Chariot VII Strength, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Strength VIII The Hermit, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Hermit IX Wheel of Fortune, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Wheel of Fortune X Justice, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Justice XI The Hanged Man, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Hanged Man XII Death, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Death XIII Temperance, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Temperance XIV The Devil, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Devil XV The Tower, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Tower XVI The Star, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Star XVII The Moon, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Moon XVIII The Sun, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The Sun XIX Judgement, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 Judgement XX The World, Rider–Waite–Smith tarot, 1909 The World XXI

The four suits

All 78 cards
Ace of Wands Wands 🜂 Fire The suit of Wands in tarot: fire, will and ambition, read through Pamela Colman Smith's living, sprouting staves from Ace to King. Ace of Cups Cups 🜄 Water The suit of Cups in tarot: water, feeling and relationship, traced through Smith's chalices from the overflowing Ace to the rainbow of the Ten. Ace of Swords Swords 🜁 Air The suit of Swords in tarot: air, thought and conflict, from the crowned clarity of the Ace through the hard middle cards to the Ten. Ace of Pentacles Pentacles 🜃 Earth The suit of Pentacles in tarot: earth, work and the material world, from the garden of the Ace to the family estate of the Ten.

Spreads

All 13 spreads

Read the symbols

Symbol index

Smith packed her cards with images that recur from card to card: pomegranates, lilies and roses, pillars, lions, the lemniscate, the dog and the wolf. The symbol index gathers each one across the deck.

Lemniscate (infinity sign)PomegranatesRed rosesWhite roseWhite liliesPillarsVeil and tapestryCrownsLionThe sunCrescent and full moonStarsWater, rivers and poolsMountainsSunflowersGrapes and vines

How this site treats tarot

Tarot began as a card game in fifteenth-century Italy and became a tool of divination only in the late eighteenth century. Arcanebra treats it as a rich symbolic tradition and a prompt for reflection: a way of looking at a question from a new angle. The cards do not predict the future, and nothing here is advice about health, money or the law. More about this site · The history of tarot