Shadowscapes - Five of Swords

triple_entendre

Concentrating narrowly on one's own self-interest, power play, battle, sacrifice of integrity.

-- from Shadowscapes.com

A figure with long, flowing platinum yellow hair, and magnificent white and gold wings, flies through the scene. The figure wears armor, and his sword is drawn. Two black swans fly ahead, carrying one sword each (in their webbed feet.)

What I found very interesting was that the RWS version of this card portrays abandonment, whereas PML painted pursuit.
 

Kloeyy

RE: Shadowscapes- Five of Swords

Well, I would think abandonment for upright and pursuit for reversed.
Typically I read this one as defeat upright and winning in reversed.

The imagery on this card speaks battle and power play.

~Kloeyy
 

CoffeeBlood

there are 2 more swords on his back. 4 swords are sheathed, while the one he holds is drawn - like ready for a fight.

the card look dark, overall, but he seems to bring some light...
the geese seem confident he will win ... [these birds look nothing like swans to me]

i think this figure represents God Mars and the birds are geese not swans.
In Roman Gaul, the goose was associated with the Celtic forms of Mars, and archaeologists have found geese buried alongside warriors in graves. The goose was considered a bellicose animal because it is easily provoked to aggression.
found this on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(mythology)#Sacred_animals

i first remembered this really old anime called Sailor Moon, and one of the characters [sailor mars] had 2 crows alerting her of certain less desired situations... the crows were named after the moons of the planet mars.. and after remembering this i wanted to see if the god of war had any bird-companions... and he did...