The Six of Wands as Timing: Soon, and in Public

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Six of Wands is the card of the procession. Here is how I would read it as timing, and why the answer tends to come in front of other people.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Six of Wands as timing that is close and public. In a timing position the card says the result is near and that when it comes, other people will see it: an announcement, a result posted, a return home, a name read out. It does not give a date. It gives you the shape of the moment.

This is the card of the rider with the laurel wreath. The crowd is already there. The horse is already moving.

The Six of Wands as timing: what the upright card contributes

Tina Gong's the Six of Wands guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with victory, success, public recognition and progress. I use those conventional meanings as a starting point. The timing reading below is my own way of applying the symbol to a question, and other readers may work differently.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith image, a rider on a white horse carries a wand with a laurel wreath, a crowd of wands raised around him. He is coming back from something. For timing, I read the card as the short stretch between finishing and being seen to have finished.

That makes the Six of Wands one of the quicker Wands cards, and one of the least private. If you wanted the result to arrive quietly, this card says it will not.

What time frame does the Six of Wands suggest?

The Six of Wands is numbered six. Wands are often linked to fire, spring and the signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. Some readers count Wands as days, others as weeks; most agree they are the fastest suit. Six is sometimes read as six days or six weeks, or as "when the result is announced". These are symbolic systems, not a calendar, and they disagree with one another. If you pick whichever one sounds closest to what you want after drawing the card, the method stops meaning anything.

Brigit Esselmont's overview of tarot timing techniques describes several approaches, and she says she prefers to read timing as what needs to happen before an event can occur. For the Six of Wands, I would say the time frame is "soon, and when it comes it will be visible". The work is done; the procession is the remaining part.

A worked example: waiting for exam results

Imagine you asked, "When will I know if I passed?" The exam was three weeks ago, you think it went well, and the board publishes on a fixed date you keep checking. You draw the Six of Wands.

I would not read that as "you passed". The card cannot mark the paper. I would read it as a card saying the result comes at the public moment, which you already know the date of, and that the card's tone is of return rather than dread. The board sets the timeline. The card only says the procession is the next thing, not another exam. This is a hypothetical example, not a claim about a client or a promised outcome.

The Six of Wands reversed as timing: a delayed parade, or a private one

Reversed, the Six of Wands is often read as a fall from favour, egotism, or success that goes unrecognised. For timing, I read the reversal as the public moment being delayed or withheld: the result exists and nobody is announcing it, or the recognition you expected does not come with the outcome.

In your own question, ask which fits. Is the thing done and the announcement stuck? Or did you get what you asked for and find that nobody noticed? A reversed card is a prompt to notice which is true, not a forecast.

When the question is about a job interview

"When will I hear back after the interview?" with the Six of Wands describes a result that is near and formal. The card cannot tell you what the panel decided. It can reflect that the waiting is short and the answer official, which is different from the Three of Wands' open sea. My guide to a career psychic reading explains what a reading can and cannot say.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, the public moment the result is tied to, and what you will do the day after it regardless of which way it goes. The third note keeps the procession from being the whole plan. Another draw will mostly reflect the same rider.

For comparison, Three of Wands timing and Chariot timing describe different kinds of waiting. The the Six of Wands card meaning page covers the card outside timing questions. You can practise a single-card reflection with the free daily tarot tool. For a personal interpretation, my guide to an online psychic reading explains how readings work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.