Cosmic Tarot 5 of swords

paradoxx

A man lies in the sand surrounded by a pentagram. Five swords pierce 5 roses around him symblizing the action of Thought (swords) within Emotions (the flowers). A few bare plants grace teh golden landscape and the ocean is visable beyond the hill that makes the horizon.

A card of meditation, inner thought, and that of collecting information for future uses. Most decks represent this card as a man commendeering swords from others or just taking swords in general. This deck only shows one figurelying down visable, the meaning is the same but without introducing outside influences.

Another point of interest, the flowers pieced with swords are placed at random on the picture, symbolizing the randomness of emotions.
 

sapienza

I was doing a comparative tarot exercise the other day with the five of swords and it got me thinking about the card in this deck. I have to say it's one card I just DO NOT GET.

The LWB says the man is detained by the swords, although he doesn't really appear to be as he could easily stand up if he wanted. So what is holding him there? The meanings are listed as disgrace, weakness, blame, late insight, acceptance of the unavoidable. The Thoth keyword is defeat for this card and generally the minors in this deck seem to be based on the Thoth deck, but I'm not sure how defeated he seems to me either.

paradoxx, in the post above said it's a card of "meditation, inner thought and that of collecting information for future uses". That sounds more to me what is represented by the four of swords.

If I ignore all the meanings from the LWB etc and just look at the card it does seem like he is taking a break but that times are hard. The trees are without leaves, the ground is cracked and barren. So could it be that he is trying to hold on to the best in a bad situation?

I'm really lost with this card but it's been playing on my mind now for a few days so I'd be interested to hear any other opinions.
 

Myrrha

Hi Sapienza, I haven't looked at the LWB or the book yet as I'm waiting until after journaling all the cards so this is just my musings.

Roses are pretty important in this deck and they mean a few different things. In the great chain of being roses were the highest, most noble flower just as lions were the highest animal (lots of lions in this deck too), and gold the highest metal. Roses can stand for love of course and also for spirituality.

In the Three of Swords it is a rose being stabbed with the swords and in the Five it seems that the situation has developed further. The roses are the person's spiritual well-being, their most inner self. The person's life has been blighted (cracked dry land, dead trees).

It may be that the man will get up again, this is only the Five and not the Ten. Perhaps the surrounding cards will give an idea of what to do (and notice there is water in the background). Still, for now it looks like "defeat" would work as a key word.

The pentagon shape and star are reversed from the perspective of the viewer. Both this card and the Three of Swords suggest to me "bad magic", not necessarily black candles and spells but various kinds of influence and power wielded maliciously. The swords piercing the roses look like one person's will or power striking out at the well being, the spiritual heart, of another person.

So: defeat, someone working against you successfully, attacks on your sense of self, a bad time when your life seems blighted, dry and unfruitful.

"My enemies taunt me the whole day long; mad with rage they conspire against me. I have eaten ashes for bread and mingled tears with my drink....My days decline like shadows lengthening; I wither away like grass." (Psalm 102)

Maybe I'm being too grim here, I did like your idea of holding on to the best in a bad situation.

--Myrrha
 

crazy raven

If I ignore all the meanings from the LWB etc and just look at the card it does seem like he is taking a break but that times are hard. The trees are without leaves, the ground is cracked and barren. So could it be that he is trying to hold on to the best in a bad situation?

I'm really lost with this card but it's been playing on my mind now for a few days so I'd be interested to hear any other opinions.


I pulled this card the other day in regard to a friend of a friend suffering from a mental health issue. The very first thing I thought was 'this person feels empty, alienated, estranged from what was familiar to him/her before. In short, this individual has no idea where he or his situation is going. The environment feels abandoned, cold, dry, lonely......it can increase one's fears and of the 'dark'.

I think the person in this card knows they've got to rearrange their way of thinking....have they been too critical and unforgiving to themself or to someone else. Perhaps this card implies a need to understand and forgive yourself/others for the difficult experiences, fears and weaknesses you have faced. It's time to sort out the many experiences good and bad...learn from them and allow yourself to move forward again. It's almost seems to be a blending of the conscious and unconscious, of releasing the old and gaining input for the new.

When you see your life for what it is, "This will guide you to the quintessential you (represented by the number 5 or, as in the Crowley card, by the Pentagram) Quintessential knowledge, however, is dynamic awareness, a personal clarity that is enriching and freeing." Evelin Burger & Johannes Fiebig
 

Marieve

Lost of interesting thoughts in posts below. Maybe I just add from my practice that this card seems to be appearing in my reading when I have lots of mental work to do. Like writing a course work for a deadline and this weights me down. Also the roses pierced by swords - five of them like points on the pentagram: all energy channels in the body are obstructed, all 5 spheres of life blocked.
 

AstralSoul

Channeled for today's message:

Release to find balance… This is our message from today. The Five of Swords is reminding us we can find balance and peace, we can enjoy feeling safe at a Spiritual Level, but we need to face our demons and learn our life lessons.

It might not be pretty accepting our own mistakes and questioning our integrity in everything we do. But the Five of Swords wants to remind us how important is to perform a “spring cleaning” within our Soul and letting go of our Ego. This message is all about that, is all about forgiving ourselves for our mistakes, but in order to do that, we first need to accept them and we need to go through some period of healing. We can ask our Spirit Team to help us with this release and to protect us during this transition to reduce the pain and the guilt. But we need to learn our lessons and face our demons. This is important if we want to archive Balance and Enlightenment.

For today I recommend that after you ask your Spirit Team for protection and help, you check through your past months, what have you been doing, what have you been avoiding, what have you been negating and what can you do to release of all the guilt and ego you might feel within you.