Renaissance Tarot (Jones / Lyle) - 5 of Swords

Sulis

One of the keywords and meanings that many people put with this card is 'defeat' and looking at the RWS image, I can see where that comes from.
This image, however, is a lot more like the Marseilles Tarot and so I can't really see defeat.
Here we see 4 crossed swords, points uppermost.
Lying over the top of the 4 swords is a ribbon and over that is another sword with it's point facing upwards. This sword seems separate to the rest, separated from them by the ribbon which we are told in the book represents energy.
I like to think of the ribbons in the Swords suit as representing thoughts and words which are also a form of energy.

Fives to me are about change, often unexpected but change that is much needed to get away from the bogged down feeling that can come with the fours.
The changes in the fives are those that because they are unexpected are often seen as difficult or unwelcome but they are needed to help us grow.
With hindsight the fives are often seen as offering us a lesson and this relates them to The Hierophant, the High Priest or The Pope.
They are blessing in disguise cards.

So this is the sword (the thought or the word) that takes us away from the mental rest and consolidation of the 4.
It can be an argument, the breaking point, the thing that makes us change our minds, a small Tower experience.
It can also be the breakdown in communication.
The fact that it is on top of the other four makes me think that as a card of advice it would be advising me to put my own interests first or to get moving, to break out of the inaction that the four represents.
 

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Little Baron

It certainly gets things moving, doesn't it. It changes what we already know or have become used to. In that sense, air starts to flow, and as you say Sulis, that is not always a bad thing. The bad or sombre things in life often get us to think and those thoughts can often shape our future. This fifth sword wakes us up. It challenges what we consider to be secure. It places our mental security and all that we believe to be the truth on the line. Yesterday, for example, I might have felt okay, but today, with the swiping of that sword, I might be held at the mercy of disturbing thoughts or obsessive worries.

When I first looked at the image, I wondered if those four swords, originally quiet and stable, were wrapped in that ribbon. It feels as though the fifth just came along and ripped it off, leaving them lying there, mentally vulnerable, without a word to say in their deffence.

[you're right Sulis .. there is so much more to be found in a simpler card ... something you mentioned in another thread]

LB
 

Papageno

Sulis said:
One of the keywords and meanings that many people put with this card is 'defeat' and looking at the RWS image, I can see where that comes from.
This image, however, is a lot more like the Marseilles Tarot and so I can't really see defeat.

So this is the sword (the thought or the word) that takes us away from the mental rest and consolidation of the 4.
It can be an argument, the breaking point, the thing that makes us change our minds, a small Tower experience.
It can also be the breakdown in communication.

yes, not defeat necessarily but a wake up call that jolts us out of our complacency, but not just gentle "hit the snooze button" event, it's something deeper, it's something that has the potential to threaten the stability and security of the four.............but in my mind, complacency is the keyword here, complacency gets tossed out the window.
 

Sulis

Little Baron said:
When I first looked at the image, I wondered if those four swords, originally quiet and stable, were wrapped in that ribbon. It feels as though the fifth just came along and ripped it off, leaving them lying there, mentally vulnerable, without a word to say in their defense

I like this observation LB and now that you've said it, I can see how the ribbon could well have been wrapping the 4 swords keeping them safe, secure and unable to do any damage to anyone.
Now along comes that fifth sword and cuts through the ribbon so those 4 swords are no longer harmless and wrapped up, now they are as dangerous as the fifth one.

I really like this card, there is so much in it.
 

Enchanted

With this card, I saw the 4 crossed swords, as representing underlying conflict, tension and obstacles. These are the things that perhaps were the reason for the reading in the first place. They are the cause of upset or distress.

With the ribbons lying across them, I saw that as being blocked for now, restricted, this is what you think might be important right now but it says that at the moment there is nothing more you can do.

Which is what causes the feeling of defeat... knowing that at the moment you can't change this. It's frustrating to be told that there is nothing more you can do, it makes things appear hopeless.

But what it does give you, is that one sword, that sword is free, for you to wield. What do you want to do with it? Use it constructively or destructively? It is actually giving you that choice. I get the feeling that it implies that there is one thing that is being overlooked and needs to be attended to first, even if that is licking your wounds.

I got a real sense of trying to overcome the dejected feeling and standing up for yourself and remembering to act in your own long term interests, not just in the heat of the moment.

In conflict, we tend to say things that we later regret and cannot take back. To me, this card reminds you that you still have some power even if you feel like you don't, but also cautions you to use it wisely, as at present there are limits to what you are able to do. Accept that and focus on what you can do.
 

WooMonkey

Enchanted said:
But what it does give you, is that one sword, that sword is free, for you to wield. What do you want to do with it? Use it constructively or destructively? I get the feeling that it implies that there is one thing that is being overlooked and needs to be attended to first, even if that is licking your wounds.

I definately get the sense of separation of the 5th sword. Strange how just a little blue ribbon can do that. But my impression is more negative than Enchanted's. It's kind of an "it's all you've got left" feeling. There's no point in trying to cross over to the other side of the ribbon, because everything's still locked in conflict there. This may also just be coming from my generally pessimistic view of fives...
 

Enchanted

So I guess, you could say it is about limitations perhaps.

That is what I love about these cards, one day I might see that this one sword in a glass half empty way, this is all I have left or to show for my trials, but on another day, when the glass is half full, I might see whoo hoo I have this one sword! :D