Five of Swords

The Five of Swords is a card indicating overly aggressive behavior and possibly even cheating or playing dirty to the point where others simply drop their swords and walk away. The man in the card has collected the swords for himself, to horde them away — he’s got his and doesn’t care about anyone else. Suffice it to say he doesn’t play well with others.

Sure, you can collect the swords and declare victory, but at what price? Your “victory” in this card is actually an illusion, as this is considered a card of defeat.

The Five of Swords often indicates dishonor or thievery, and the man in the card is more of a troublemaker than a warrior. This can indicate humiliation, defamation, shame or even lawlessness. While we often try to say that there are positive and negative aspects to any tarot card, it’s pretty hard to find anything positive in the Five of Swords. Whatever gains are made will be at someone else’s expense. Unfortunately for the man in this card, he’s forgotten the law of karma, and he will pay for his deceptions.

Depending on your political leanings, some of you may want to think of this as the “Trump” card of the Minor Arcana.