TAROTFive of Swords
Upright
Needing to win at all costs
Putting winning an argument or situation over everything else.
A pyrrhic victory caused by winning at the cost of relationships, career, or money.
Putting your principles over the reality of the situation.
Intuition
Some important parts of this card are in the background.
The main character walks away from the body of water, representing walking away from his emotions - his actions are cold.
The sky can’t decide whether it wants to be sunny or stormy - there is no clear winner.
Reversed
The fallout of attempting to win at all costs.
Wanting the argument to end but also having to deal with the fallout.
Reconciliation and coming back together.
Irreconcilable differences caused by the way you conducted yourself during your win.
Astrologia
Emphasis on friendships and platonic relationships. Looks for the unconventional and intellectual in all things. A strong and complex streak of independence in relationships that can result in emotional coldness, or breaking friendships and destroying ties to gain distance in a journey seen as more important than relationships.
Five of Swords
After the simmering battles of the previous cards we have a victory, of sorts.
The man in the foreground walks away with three swords, with two left lying on the ground. Assuming the two swords come from the two men closer to the water, the victor clearly won because he had the more swords (intellect, ideas, or a better argument).
But this is not a fight won graciously (and perhaps not even fairly nor justified). The expression of the victor speaks volumes. He is happy at winning and contemptuous of the losers. His laugh is almost a side sneer in their direction. This may be a position he will learn to regret if he ever needs the others to help in the future.
The Five of Swords illustrates the Sisyphean archetype who personifies the Absurd Hero. This archetype is fundamentally different from the Fool, as the Fool can learn and grow. The Absurd Hero is doomed to constantly attempt journeys and tasks that fulfil his own immediate needs for fame, power, avarice and ego. For this hero, winning and the prize is everything.
The victor is locked within a cycle that can never be completed by one so wicked or so foolish (whilst at the same time thinking himself clever), as the Absurd Hero will always want for more.
Sisyphus
Sisyphus was the first king of Corinth. He was greedy, immoral and a trickster.
His first crime was to regularly kill guests at his palace to steal their belongings. This was a crime that went against xenia (the law of hospitality) and a crime against Zeus. He also plotted against his brother, as well as betraying Zeus by giving away some of the God’s secrets. On top of all this he ruled as a cruel and unjust tyrant towards his own people.
For all this he was sentenced to death by the Gods but managed to scheme his way out of this by tricking death itself (the God Thanatos) and then Persephone (the Queen of Pentacles). Thus he was sly enough to cheat death twice.
Eventually Sisyphus’s crimes caught up with him, especially as he had managed to anger not only Zeus but also the husband of Persephone, the King of Pentacles and Lord of the Earth, Hades. In death, Sisyphus is cursed by Hades to roll a rock up a steep hill in Tartarus. Once he reaches the top or stops pushing, the rock will always roll back down, causing Sisyphus to restart.
This task gives us the word Sisyphean; an endless and futile task that will never be completed.
Sisyphus was even worse than absurd though. He suffered an extreme sense of hubris. If you think yourself so sly as to even cheat the Gods of death, then better watch out. They will have all eternity to exact their cold revenge...
Description and Symbology
We see three men on a beach. The man in the foreground is Sisyphus. He has three swords in his hands.
Two swords (probably from the other two men) lie discarded on the ground. Sisyphus looks to have won a contest on account of him having the most swords (better ideas, arguments, etc.), and walks away, looking backward contemptuously at the losers
Yet all three men in the scene look like they may be on the same side or related as they wear similar armor. In winning, the victor has potentially lost friends and allies. Perhaps he was so set on winning this battle or gaining the prize that he has weakened his position for the overall war.
A core part of this scene is the background. The two losing men are closer to the sea. As water represents emotion we see that they are emotional about their loss. Their body language speaks of the same emotions.
The victor walks away from the water, suggesting that he is less concerned about the emotional fallout and much more concerned about the idea of being right and winning.
The sky adds to the overall scene. Half of the sky seems to be warm sun, whereas the other half is heavy storm clouds. The atmosphere itself is unsettled to say the least.
The victor
The victor has won through having the most swords (ideas, intellect). He is however not at all gracious in his victory. This may have lost him the defeated men as allies or friends for the future.
The defeated
The two losing men stand by the water’s edge signifying their emotional state. Their body language also suggests emotional pain at losing. It is not just the loss that causes their distress (they are after all warriors) but the manner of the contest. They will likely not trust the victor in the future.
The sky
The sky is neither sunny nor rain, but a clash of the two. Even the sky cannot make it’s mind up with regard to this contest, and there is a sense of conflict still hanging in the atmosphere. Perhaps there are only losers who gained nothing and a victor who gained something inconsequential at far too high a cost.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
There are conflicts or arguments that you feel you need to win. Remember though that winning is not the aim (and for arguments, it is never the taking part either!).
The real aim is moving forward together.
If you are consistently not doing this, then nobody is winning and you are setting up for a future with no winners and constant stress.
You will either be seeking reconciliation with someone you have previously being n conflict with, or will find you have been lied to or argued with incorrect information.
In either case, you will either have to face trying to get back to someone who is now wary of you, or things will now move to separation and conclusion of the relationship.
This will be hard either way, and the card asks you to learn from your mistakes.
Differences over direction, process or broken promises are causing conflict at work. You may become guilty of being too emotionally involved or becoming personal. Remember, career issues need to be handled professionally, and the best outcome is usually achieved not by getting even but by getting even better. This means waiting for a better opportunity and fit for you, taking it when it appears, so that you grow further than your current career.
You have moved from a period of disagreement and conflict to resolution. This will mean either a mutual coming back together as a team and back to normal communication, or some kind of breaking up or leaving.
For the break up, this could mean an orderly moving on, or hidden agendas and sabotage to get you out.
Whether the air was cleared or not, the card asks you to realize that there was no chance of winners and losers; everyone is now either a loser or has no real net gain!
By engaging in arguments or conflict with others (and irrespective of the right or wrong of the situation or who is winning), you are inflicting war wounds on yourself.
It may be time to take time out and lick your wounds. The space this creates may also give you a better perspective of what you really need to be fighting over, if anything!
The card denotes resolution of previous conflicts. Either you are back on speaking terms or a split has occurred.
In either case, it is important to learn from this for the future. Stress is reduced when you see the argument from the other side so you can quickly avoid a shouting match and reach resolution rather than constantly aiming for revolution.
You are approaching a period of infighting and arguments. It may be time to limit your battles to those that need to be fought rather than those you think you will win. In real life, nobody ever totally wins.
Although history is littered with ‘epic wins’, always remember those battles that never needed to be fought - which is most of them - have no winners.
Either through resolution or a separation, an emotional phase has just ended. It is time to stop thinking about right and wrong and get on with the process of moving on.
This may be hard, but will also be necessary in the long run.
Arguments over money and finances are often the worst because they use up what they are trying to protect.
It is important that you do not lose everything in trying to fight for what you think is right vs what you actually deserve; we all think we are better and acted in a much more noble way that we really did.
See the true picture of yourself – in the eyes of others – as well as your own point of view, and try to defuse arguments rather than make them more expensive than they have to be. If nothing else, the quicker you move on the quicker you can start again and make your next fortune!
Arguments about money have reached their end and now the results will come to you.
This may show you who to trust and who was really your friend, and more importantly, that good advice often comes far too late!
No, through continuing conflict.
Indeterminate. A conflict has ended but wisdom and learning from it may have come too late. It will however, be a lesson to learn for next time.
Reading the Card
The upright card
The upright Five of Swords represents conflict where the aim to win or drown others out with your point of view comes over everything else. Needless to say, this can result in very heated exchanges when you are not the only person who thinks they are 100% right and have the right to be heard!
The swords represent the intellect and ideas but they do not include the emotional depth to understand that the voices of other people do not disappear simply because they are wrong. The card suggests this is a battle that you will win but you may lose friends and allies if you push it too far.
Such a battle is often called a pyrrhic victory. You win the battle but lose the war because the battle was too costly. Worse, because swords represent intellect rather than emotion (and are therefore more likely to be judging on facts rather than the intentions behind them), you may be blindsided by lies or deceits you assumed to be facts.
This card asks you to think about the future and how others will react to your claims as this can be as important as the facts of your argument. It also asks you to think a little deeper than facts and consider intentions. Are other people lying, or are the people you are treating as enemies just friend in disagreement?
The reversal
The reversed Five of Swords describes a situation that occurs after the one described in the upright card. You have won your argument and gained your prize but also potentially burnt your bridges and now want reconciliation, or the argument to go away so you can move forward.
Although perhaps more positive than the upright card (as you finally now want to move forward), you have the problem the upright card was trying to warn you against; other people are now wary or distrust you!
This can now go either way:
- You get the reconciliation you desire. You may have meet the others more than half way to make up for previous behavior.
- You don’t get the reconciliation, instead getting a breakup that you may live to regret.
Either way, the card asks you to learn from your previous mistakes.
Card Design Process
The Five of Swords is graphically a straightforward card in terms of the three people it depicts. To make the card more relevant, special emphasis was placed on the background items and specifically the sky and sea by bringing out their subtle meanings.
Final Words
The Five of Swords represents conflict and its repercussions. Even when you think you are winning, consider what you are really fighting for and with who. You may in the future have to rely on the same people you are currently turning into enemies.
