Five of Wands

What the card means

Upright

Five people swing wands and nobody hits anybody: not a fight but a scrimmage between people who all want to build. The friction is useful - it is how it comes out whose method works. It is only bad when it goes on instead of the work.

Reversed

Conflict swallowed rather than had, and it festers. Smiles to the face and agreement on nothing. Sometimes leaving the contest because of tiredness.

Love and relationships

Upright

Quarrels about small things that are really about who leads. Or competing for somebody's attention.

Reversed

Saying nothing and storing it. The conversation both are avoiding costs more than the argument they fear.

Work and business

Upright

Competition, a dispute about approach, too many opinions in one room. Useful if it is driven to a decision; exhausting if it is not.

Reversed

Agreed out loud and doing it their own way. Or a competitor nobody will name.

Money

Upright

Haggling, a tender, an argument about price. A good time to hold your number and a poor one to concede for peace.

Reversed

Conceded to avoid arguing and are now counting the difference.

The card's advice

Take the argument to a conclusion rather than to a truce. Say what you want out loud and first: five people are swinging wands only because nobody named the rule.

As the card of the day

A loud day. Good for holding a position. Poor for fine work and for persuading anybody gently.

What is depicted

Five young men raise wands at odds with each other; none of the blows land anywhere. Their clothes are all different. There is no fight - there is noise, and nobody in charge.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Saturn in Leo - will against will.

With other cards

• Five of Wands + Justice — an argument that will be settled on merit rather than on volume.
• Five of Wands + Five of Swords — won it and were left alone - the cost above the winnings.
• Five of Wands + Seven of Wands — the argument became a defence; you are already one against many.