Card 54 • swords

Five of Swords

Brief Description

The Five of Swords symbolizes selfishness and the exploitation of others for personal gain, resulting in conflict and division. It portrays both criminal and morally dubious actions, emphasizing that legality does not always equate to morality. The card's imagery underscores the draining effect of such behavior on those around it.

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Visual Description

Four broken, defeated swords are chained to one central golden sword. Surrounding them are white flowers that grow older and more withered as they stray farther from the center.

Selfishness and Exploitation

The Five of Swords represents selfishness, taking advantage of others for one’s own gain. The central sword seems to siphon off the lifeforce of those surrounding it, chained to it until they devolve into nothingness. Such behavior also creates conflict, pitting groups against each other.

Criminal and Immoral Behavior

This card can represent both law-breaking criminality and morally dubious behavior alike. Many evils have been and still are legal.

Historical Significance

The swords depicted are Egyptian khopesh, from ~2500 BCE.

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✍️ Deck author(s): Arthur Wang

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All card images and descriptions are taken from public sources. They are used for review purposes only. All rights to these images and descriptions belong to their creators. If you believe there is a copyright infringement, please contact us at [email protected].