The Five of Swords is in our crosshairs today. This is a card about winning, but at what cost?
What the Five in the Five of Swords Represents
Modern Witch Tarot
Five represents physical or real-world imbalance and tumultuousness. When a five-card comes up it may be asking you to seek balance or completion in a matter. Life isn’t perfect and sometimes we have to accept and live with that annoying wobble or imperfection in our lives. Fives also correspond to change and conflict and I read once that you can envision the number five as a flat square balanced on a single point. Any slight movement might end the balance achieved.
Five of Swords as a Pyrrhic Victory
I always think of the Five of Swords card as representing “Pyrrhic Victory“. The classic Tarot symbolism shows a figure who has won, but at what cost? All they are left with are their weapons and words. At the end of the day, the figure stands alone.
We all fight battles to resolve issues that could have been managed differently. Think of jumping on the flash mob train on social media. Someone does something wrong and everyone jumps in to reap punishment on the perpetrator, even if the issue isn’t our own fight. The result may be in the wrongdoer getting their just desserts, but it also puts a dent in our own armor. When you throw mud, expect some splashback.
Five of Swords as Unnecessary Excess
Gregory Scott Tarot
When this card appears I have to ask which figure represents the person for whom the spread was drawn. Are they the king, taking excessive delight in humiliating the person over whom they’ve triumphed? Or are the subservient pawn, groveling and taking the humiliation?
Five of Swords as Cleaning Up After a Fight
Heaven and Earth Tarot
Winning a fight doesn’t end the conflict. You may have released your own frustrations and anger, but all you’ve done is shoved those emotions back onto others. You’ll still need to deal with the root cause of the problem.
This Five of Swords, from the Heaven and Earth tarot is also interesting because it plays up the imbalance in the image. The figure holds three swords and is off-balance, with most of their weight on their left leg. Their very posture reflects the imbalance of this card.
Five of Swords Exercises
You can choose an image above or use your own deck. Look at the card and make a story about the image. How did the conflict start? How did the figure win? Was it a fair fight? What does the figure do next?
What Clients are Saying about Sophrosyne Tarot
I was advised to ask open-ended questions instead of predictive questions which I thought was helpful because I never would have known if it weren’t for the reader. The reader provided the reading along with some advice too so the entire reading was very thorough and explained in an understandable manner.
Everything said was accurate and helpful for me to identify my flaws in order to grow as a person. I have learned a lot about tarot and what it does to help me.
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