White lilies in tarot
The white lily is the flower of purity in Christian art, above all in pictures of the Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel offers one to the Virgin Mary. The Song of Songs speaks of the lily of the valleys, and Waite used that phrase for the flowers in the Magician's garden, where white lilies grow beneath the table among red roses. Lilies appear in other gardens of the deck too. Readers take them as innocence, spiritual intention and thought kept clean of self-interest, and where lilies and roses grow side by side, as a picture of desire and purity cultivated together.
Cards that show white lilies
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The Magician
The Magician: The roses and lilies
Red roses and white lilies grow in front of the table, and a garland of roses hangs from the top of the card. Roses stand for desire, lilies for purity. Waite says these wild flowers are 'changed into garden flowers', aspiration cultivated by effort.
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Two of Wands
Two of Wands: The rose, cross and lily
On the stone block at the left, red roses and white lilies cross each other in a diagonal pattern. Waite asked readers to notice the Rose and Cross and Lily here. Roses and lilies also grow together in the Magician's garden: desire and purity, joined.
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Ace of Pentacles
Ace of Pentacles: The white lilies
Tall white lilies grow along the left side of the garden. Lilies traditionally carry purity of intention, and here they suggest that the gift is clean: material reward without corruption attached.