Tarot · Minor Arcana · Wands

Five of Wands

  • buzz
  • friction
  • healthy rivalry
  • many voices

Key facts

Arcana
Minor Arcana
Suit
Wands
Number
5
Numerology
5 (The Catalyst: instability, resistance, confrontation)
Keywords
buzz, friction, healthy rivalry, many voices

Five of Wands upright

The Five of Wands is a tangle of energies all wanting to speak at once. It rubs, it stirs, but this disorder often hides a lively vitality. Each voice that pushes back helps you sharpen your own. Rather than fleeing the friction, use it to hone what you truly carry.

Five of Wands reversed

Reversed, the Five of Wands speaks of tensions wearing thin and spinning their wheels. The debate no longer nourishes, it drains, and maybe you’re fighting out of habit more than conviction. You have the right to set your wand down and walk away from a quarrel that leads nowhere. The calm you regain will give you back an energy the squabble was stealing.

A question to sit with

In which conflict is your energy scattering instead of serving you?

Frequently asked questions about Five of Wands

What does Five of Wands mean upright?
The Five of Wands is a tangle of energies all wanting to speak at once. It rubs, it stirs, but this disorder often hides a lively vitality. Each voice that pushes back helps you sharpen your own. Rather than fleeing the friction, use it to hone what you truly carry.
What does Five of Wands mean reversed?
Reversed, the Five of Wands speaks of tensions wearing thin and spinning their wheels. The debate no longer nourishes, it drains, and maybe you’re fighting out of habit more than conviction. You have the right to set your wand down and walk away from a quarrel that leads nowhere. The calm you regain will give you back an energy the squabble was stealing.

Sources

  • Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, William Rider & Son, 1911.
  • Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Weiser Books, 1980.