Tarot card meanings › Swords
Five of Swords Tarot Card Meaning
The Five of Swords tarot card means conflict, a hollow victory and winning at a cost. A win that costs too much.
Upright
- Conflict
- a hollow victory
- winning at a cost
Reversed
- Making peace
- regret
- lingering resentment
Yes or no
No
The Five of Swords is one of the 14 cards in the suit of Swords. Swords are the suit of air: thought, truth, words and conflict.
What the card shows
A smirking man holds three swords and looks back at two figures who walk away with their heads down. Two more swords lie on the ground under a ragged sky.
This is the card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is in the public domain.
Upright meaning
The Five of Swords is read as a fight where winning costs more than it is worth. It points to arguments, point-scoring and the question of whether being right matters more than the relationship.
Five of Swords reversed
Reversed, it is read as wanting to make peace, regretting how you won, or a grudge that lingers.
Yes or no?
In a yes or no question, the Five of Swords is usually read as a no, often in the sense of not now or not this way. Readers differ on some cards, so treat this as one common reading. You can ask a yes or no question and draw a card for it.
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More Swords cards
Ace of SwordsTwo of SwordsThree of SwordsFour of SwordsSix of SwordsSeven of SwordsEight of SwordsNine of SwordsTen of SwordsPage of SwordsKnight of SwordsQueen of SwordsKing of Swords
‹ Four of SwordsAll 78 cardsSix of Swords ›
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