Five of Swords
The Five of Swords warns of a period marked by anxiety, betrayal, and hollow victories where wins come at too high a cost. It advises retreat and avoiding escalation, because even apparent success may lead to greater loss and disgrace. The card cautions against degrading yourself to win and urges maintaining dignity instead of pursuing vengeance. In reverse, it emphasizes remorse, humiliation, and the emptiness of victory, concluding that neither triumph nor defeat will bring satisfaction.
Keywords
Upright
A long period of anxiety, harmful events and losses. Betrayal, meanness, escalation of confrontation. Meaningless victories. Vengeance leading to disgrace and shame. Confrontation with an unexpected result. Constrained retreat in an effort to save at least something.
Card's Advice
Retreat while you still can. Even if you win, you will lose more than you'll gain. It's better to avoid the conflict now.
The Warning
Don't degrade yourself in an effort to win. Put your foot down and show your dignity.
Reverse
Hollow victory. You won, but the price you paid was too high; it doesn't bring any joy, just harm and sorrow. An overwhelming defeat. Remorse because of the damage done. Frustrated because you can't retaliate. Feeling worthless, humiliated.
Quick Answer
No, you don't need to do this. Neither victory nor defeat will satisfy you.
Visual Description
A bearded man in a green cloak and red robe strides forward holding three swords, one raised into the air and two crossed before him. Behind him two other figures walk away toward the horizon, one with his back turned and the other looking back over his shoulder. Two swords lie on the ground near the foreground and a small green object rests by the central figure’s feet. Clouds billow at left and a round disk marked with a Roman V appears among them. A banner at the bottom bears Cyrillic text identifying the card.
Old Style tarot
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