Five of Swords
The Five of Swords marks an eruptive break from the stability of the Fours, bringing pain, insecurity, and the violent, disruptive energy associated with Mars. In the suit of Swords it signals humiliation, loss, fear, and betrayal, and the shattering of beliefs that once sustained self-worth. This can provoke doubt, feelings of being cursed, and a sense of aggression and rejection from others. The card's imagery of a cursed spell and flying daggers underscores actions born of despair and the small, piercing wounds that follow conflicts and moral struggles.
Keywords
Correspondences
Venus in Aquarius
Keywords
Humiliation, passive endurance, realization of limitations, loss, fear, embarrassment, betrayal
Meaning
While the 4s are all about consolidation, the 5s are about an eruptive breaking of moulds. The stability of the 4s grows unstable, and if we were comfortably settled with the previous cards we now go through a certain amount of pain and insecurity at having to adjust. The 5s are under the auspices of Mars, whose somewhat violent energy is very appropriate to the dynamic of these cards.
Meaning (continued)
For the Swords, the 5 signifies an experience of humiliation, the realization of limitations, loss, fear, embarrassment and betrayal. The things we held firm in our minds and on which we built the rationality of our actions and our image of self-worth prove unreliable. So we almost feel as if we have been cursed. Experiences that our mind cannot rationalize touch our deepest fears until we may doubt reality itself. We feel as if we face aggression and rejection from all sides.
Exploring the Card
The 5 of Swords shows an imaginary spell book that lists dark curses and is opened at the page of the sectumsempra spell. It's an ugly spell, vicious and merciless, but it was invented by someone who had been pushed to extremes, who had been mistreated by those around him and resorted to this as a last line of defense. It's a spell born from despair and anger. As for the actual five swords, they are rather small and appear in the illustration in the text where the effect of the spell is portrayed as five daggers flying at the small cursed figure in the picture.
Visual Description
A photographed page from a book fills the card, covered in dense printed text, handwritten circles and flourishes, and a small inset illustration of a robed figure casting multiple curved blades toward a tree or opponent. Clear headings on the page include the words 'Sectumsempra Spell' and 'Serpensortia', and fragments of explanatory text are legible: for example, 'This spell was reportedly invented in 1976 by Severus Snape, who was then a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' There are marginal symbols (a small Venus-like glyph and other astrological/alchemical marks), a page number near the bottom right, and a decorative border framing the page. At the bottom of the card the title '5 Defeat' is printed over a dark band.
Harry Potter tarot
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