Tarot of Prague Café Club – 5 of Wands

Bean Feasa

This scene is so packed with conflict it looks almost abstract at first glance. The individual figures are not immediately distinguishable – it’s just a hubbub of conflict, a scene of wall-to-wall aggression. Figures are pushing and pulling and flailing, and the scene seems to pile up towards the skyline, where the distant towers of the city are silhouetted against a reddish sky.
On closer inspection there’s a slightly cartoonish aspect to the whole scene. Somehow, I don’t really reckon this lot are doing each other too much harm. But they are causing each other a lot of bother and hassle – it all looks like a big muddle of low-level aggression.
The colouring, watercolour-like washes of orangey-red could suggest blood but somehow doesn’t quite. Some of the warriors in the card are wearing helmets, some wide-brimmed hats trimmed with big foppish-looking plumes. This could be a re-enactment scene of a historical battle where nobody’s sure what exactly they should be doing, or who they should belt next with those uncompromising red wands, but where people do have some petty grievances against each other and are glad of this opportunity to let off steam about it.
The book does mention that this card deals with petty, everyday irritations and tribulations – the kind that wears you down gradually unless you're careful to deal with the stress of it.
 

Jewel-ry

Hi Bean Feasa.,

First impressions are that a battle is in full flow, closer inspection shows a lot of energy being used but very little of it is productive. What strikes me is that a couple of these men have their eyes shut. Its almost like they are completely ignoring what is going on around them. Maybe they are there just to make up the numbers or they can't see the wood for the trees and don't really understand why they are there. This reminds me of the fight that goes on between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth at the end of Bridget Jones' Diary, a lot of throwing punches but the only thing that gets hurt is their pride. This lot need to sort their differences out and channel that energy more positively!

I have to laugh at the look on the horses face. He looks thoroughly fed up, not the slightest bit scared at all. As I recall from watching TV, horses tend to get very spooked in a battle situation.

Lots of key phrases come to mind :

Need to work together,
Trying to work something out,
Not wanting to get involved,
Confusion,
Chaos,
Lack of co-operation,
Lack of structure
Frustration

J :)
 

Bean Feasa

Jewel-ry said:
I have to laugh at the look on the horses face. He looks thoroughly fed up, not the slightest bit scared at all. As I recall from watching TV, horses tend to get very spooked in a battle situation.

There is a kind of bizarre humour in this card, isn't there? See the guy whose head is sort of in the centre of the card but a bit lower down - he looks like he's biting the arm of the guy beside him brandishing the wand.

It strikes me looking at the card again that there's a dream-like aspect to the scene - not a serious nightmare, but the kind of muddled, strange and restless dream that we all get from time to time, possibly especially when we're under stress.
 

annik

It look like a mess. Each character tries to get it's way. They tries to get thru this crowd.