Five of Swords
Five of Swords
Number 5 Air
A swords card: thought, truth, and what you keep turning over.
Upright
a hollow winconflict that costspridescorched earth
Winning and losing at the same time. The Five of Swords is the argument you won at the price of the relationship, the point proved to somebody who now will not speak to you. The figure smirking in the foreground has all the swords. The other two are walking away.
Reversed
making amendswalking away from a fightregret
The cost is counted. Reversed, this is regret after a fight, an apology made or wanted, or the wiser decision to leave a fight you would have won. Sometimes it is defeat, being taken better than expected.
What is in the picture
A man gathering swords with a half-smile while two figures walk away under a torn sky. He has all five and nobody to talk to.
What it says about…
The line a reading leads with, depending on what you said you were asking about.
A bit of everything
Upright: you can win this and it will cost more than losing would.
Reversed: making amends, or walking away from something you could win.
Love and relationships
Upright: being right is available. It is not worth what it costs here.
Reversed: the apology, given or accepted.
Work and direction
Upright: a political win that makes you enemies.
Reversed: repairing a working relationship after a bad week.
Money and security
Upright: a dispute where the legal costs exceed the sum.
Reversed: settle rather than pursue.
Me, honestly
Upright: you are in a fight you have stopped enjoying and cannot stop.
Reversed: you can put this down without conceding the point.
A decision I am stuck on
Upright: no. Not this way, even if you would win.
Reversed: concede the small thing and keep the large one.
If this card leads
Work out what winning costs before you win.
As a yes or no
Upright, it reads as no. Reversed, maybe.
“I do not have to win this one.”
Draw it in a reading
The meaning above, applied to something you are actually asking about.
