TAROTFive of Wands
Upright
Competition or conflict.
Disagreements and tension in an area of your life.
Healthy competition (sport, business, etc.).
Intuition
Although the characters on this card look like they are in a fight, a closer look reveals none are even looking at each other.
Each is trapped in their own private battlefield.
Most arguments are just like this - all talk and posturing but no listening. This is especially so when you remember that the Wands suite is about passion and ego!
Reversed
The end of a conflict. There may still be residual internal issues
The clearing of an argument or conflict.
Resolving inner hurt or resentment following a past argument.
Astrologia
Strong sense of responsibility, discipline and structure. Mature approach in all things. A focus on developing personal strengths and leadership. Rises to challenges. Prone to pride, hiding their imperfections and resisting being under higher authority, all of which may result in conflict
Five of Wands
As will all ‘five’ cards, the Five of Wands represents competition or conflict. Which one it is will depend on the question being asked.
Whatever the nature of the issue, emotions will be strong as denoted by the red sky.
Looking at the characters briefly, they appear to be fighting but a closer look suggests they are not fighting each other. None of them are actually looking at any of the others, none of the staffs touch, and although the charges, leaps and defensive positions look aggressive they will actually pass each other by!
The suite of wands is about passion and most passionate arguments are like the card. They are fights conducted in the hearts and minds of the protagonists rather than the physical world.
So although the card is about conflict, most conflicts can be resolved early (and before they move to a real battlefield) through hearts and minds: communication, understanding, and mutually giving a little ground to gain peace of mind.
However if it is a fight that is needed, you might as well pick the elite.
The Myrmidons
The Myrmidons were soldiers commanded by Achilles in the Trojan Wars. Their name literally means ants and they are often depicted as having brown or black armor. The name implies total loyalty to a cause, perhaps to the extent that they ignore the dangers to their own life in meeting the goals of the battlefield.
More recently, Myrmidon in common use represents a person who will obey the orders of their superior or master without considering any implications or any sense of right and wrong. Sounds like a foolish thing to do but who hasn’t been in an argument where their master is their ego or high emotions?
Who hasn’t been in an argument where their master is ego or high emotions?
Description and Symbology
The sky and even the earth is colored in shades of red suggesting a charged state with passions and emotion running high.
We see 5 characters who seem to be engaged in combat but look closer and you see none of them are fighting each other.
Each is really fighting their own battle. This could be issues with their emotional state, past feelings, basic ego, or getting personal regarding wants and needs that are no longer possible or not for their asking.
Most arguments are like this. A failure to communicate and negotiate, instead losing the filters on your inner thoughts or bringing your inner battles out into the real world.
Sometimes this is unavoidable as a way to vent steam but there is usually a better way forward that would waste less time, plus there are not many emotional arguments that everyone agrees were necessary after the event!
Charged emotions
The characters on the card look to be locked in combat or competition. They are completely engrossed in competition or combat and all have expressions expressing deep commitment to a cause or strong emotion.
All the characters are also youngish men, suggesting the energy of youth.
Each character is fighting their own battle
Although the five characters look to be in combat, a careful look at each one reveals they are not looking at (and perhaps are not even aware of) each other. They are each fighting their own battle.
Red sky and ground
The location itself is red; both sky and ground is depicted in shades of red. The location could even be Mars.
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
Disagreements or resentment within your relationships are likely. The issue has either being simmering for a while or has occurred recently through a breakdown of communication around an inciting event.
The card suggests finding common ground otherwise the relationship with the affected partner, lover or friend may deteriorate.
The card can, depending on the question being asked, denote friendly competition or sport. Although this competition is friendly, expect emotions to be high!
An ongoing disagreement or area of resentment between you and a partner, lover or friend has ceased. This may be cause of celebration, but the card merely notes that the outward signs of the disagreement have ended.
There may be unfinished internal matters remaining; an agreement to disagree rather than peace or one (or both) parties bottling up their issues.
In extreme cases, the argument may have submerged into a game of passive-aggressiveness.
Check if there are outstanding issues to resolve before the matter is considered closed, and if you know for a fact that it is not closed, think carefully whether there is more work to do (perhaps waiting until tensions are lower!).
There are tensions within your workplace, and these may be to do with project underperformance, limited resources, or a destructive change within your business area. Whatever the cause, it may be becoming personal.
Strive to keep your professional goals separate from personality fights and egos, remembering an argument without fuel often runs out of its own steam!
Depending on the question, the card can also denote commercial competition from another organization.
Conflicts or arguments within the workplace will reduce. This may be because of movement of personnel, change of project, or the points of friction diminishing.
Take care not to prolong any previous antagonism by making it personal, as the cause of the issue has now gone; go for professionalism over winning, because professionalism is winning!
If there has been completion from another business, the matter will be resolved one way or another (such as one party getting the contract).
There is competition, conflict or a bad emotional atmosphere in a part of your life that is affecting you physically.
The card suggests dealing with any stress before it grows.
This may be by taking a break from the area of conflict, creating space, or spending more time looking after your health by getting out of the work/home and burning up the aggression through exercise.
The card can also signify injury in competitive sports.
You have recently been under stress, and the root cause is dissipating. Take care to ensure the mental scars or resentments also fade away, as there may be some residual feelings or sore ego remaining!
Conflict within your life is a large enough focus at the moment that it is prevents you progressing in other areas, including the spiritual. There is no real cure here other than fixing the underlying problem.
One important thing to note here is the best way of getting even is to get even better. In other words, forget life’s minor battles and concentrate on the biggest one; making yourself the best person you can be.
This has a great side-effect of moving you ahead in life and making you happier and more successful. For those who need it, this is also always the best revenge!
Major stresses in your life will lesson, as a major point of conflict becomes resolved. Do not forget to give yourself some thought or space to clear any lasting resentment or feelings, or at least blunt any sharp edges.
As with the upright card, remember that the best way of getting even is to get even better.
Using your energy to make yourself a better, successful person is energy well spent.
And for those who need a teeny bit of revenge, this is by far the best one!
There may be problems with your finances. You are either too emotional over an argument or conflict in another area of your life to address finances, or the conflict itself is draining money.
This conflict needs to be resolved emotionally (rather than by throwing money at the problem if at all possible!) before you can move on.
A previous emotional conflict in your life is subsiding and this allows you to spend more time on finances (which may have been hit by the conflict).
Now is not the time to throw just money at healing though; the best salves for an emotional wound are communication, understanding and diplomacy.
No; you need to resolve conflicts in your life first.
Indeterminate; a previous conflict in your life is now subsiding, but it hasn’t fully gone. Let a little more time pass.
Reading the Card
The Five of Wands is all about high emotions, competition and arguments.
The upright card
Occasionally the card denotes healthy competition such as a sports event or normal day to day competition within business. More usually it represents arguments caused by an emotionally charged situation or difficult conversations that move into conflict.
In all such cases it is critically important to realize the card does not show a fight. None of the people on the card notice each other and each is fighting their own battle.
The first step in any argument is always to realize you are fighting yourself before you are fighting anyone else. There is always a part of you that would rather not be shouting and would rather solve through distance, time, or actions that either close or resolve the situation. Shouting telegraphs these options are too difficult for you or you have fallen to ego and frustration.
The reversal
The reversed Five of Wands suggests arguments will subside or at least become solved. They may not go the way you planned (arguments rarely do!), but at least the shouting part has gone.
Be aware that this can sometimes mean the argument has stopped between people because it has become internalized. This is a dangerous situation as conflict has not disappeared but has just submerged.
This situation can cause things worse than an argument: passive-aggressive behavior, drifting apart, or a long period of simply not talking.
When you see the reverse Five of Wands, realize it is telling you the conflict has stopped but you need to consider whether you have moved away from it, or are simply carrying internal wounds well. If it is the latter you need to allow such wounds to heal or move away from situations that prevent this healing process.
Card Design Process
A major part of the Five of Wands design was to ensure that the scene looks like a fight but no person within the fight is actually fighting any other. None of them should be acknowledging any of the other four. This could easily look like a bad Photoshop composition where the 5 characters should be looking at each other but the artist could not pull it off!
That’s a risk worth taking to get the card right as it presents a very strong message. When you are engaged in an argument you are never fighting the person in front of you. You are fighting your own ego, personal history and perhaps even an amalgamation of little issues that you have pieced together into a monster worth confronting… but that monster may only exist in your head.
Finally, the location depicted on the card was based on surface images of Mars.
Final Words
The Five of Wands represents arguments, disagreement and resentment. More subtly, the card seems to illustrate a fight of some kind, but it soon becomes apparent none of the participants are fighting each other. Solving arguments usually means first winning the battles going on within your head!
