5 of Swords

Amanda

Kgirl said:
I wouldn't see Justice the way you do here. I think the influence of Justice is the harsh truth but a fair truth. Justice is the issue being brought to the surface and being faced and dealt with. I don't think Justice means "you get nothing" I would only read it like that if it was to represent someone else exacting "Justice" on you in terms of their own personal vengeance.

I can and have seen Five of Swords to mean giving up especially when representing another person.

Thanks Kgirl! That does make sense. I think I may have been a little too 'close' in the situation when I initially asked about it. It was actually a situation I was asking about, rather than a person, so your idea about exacting justice and me getting nothing makes more sense if an actual person was involved.

I'm just not a person that likes to give up and walk away from something, but that's what I did.

gregory said:
I'd actually say yes. Sometimes the only way to get to where you want (as in a good what you want ) is to stand up and simply bully people into submission - and in the end maybe they will actually see what you were about. So maybe it is wise to look at just what that bully is fighting for.

Thanks gregory! That is a good way of putting it; I have been that contrarian taking the unpopular path before, and people only understood what I was about later so I get what you're saying here, it makes sense. I think that's a good idea actually.. to take a closer look at what that bully is fighting for; I may do that next.

dancing_moon said:
Sure, why not? I often see 5 of Swords as a 'battle of principles', and as hopeless as it may get, it often implies that both parties hold on to their ideas of the 'right' and the 'good', and not just bully each other for the fun of it. The only problem is that those ideas clash with the other person's ideas so much that no truce or compromise is ever possible, that's why walking away is sometimes the best one can do.

Okay, great! That 'battle of principles' definitely makes sense since it's a 5 and connected to the Hierophant, and especially since swords can represent principals as well. It's hard not to see this 'bully' as a bad guy, but the card keeps appearing and the more negative interpretation just doesn't make sense anymore. So, I'll take your information here and turn it into some key words to remember: irreconcilable differences. I'll have to keep in mind that there may be a lack of understanding, a lack of being able to see something from another's point of view, fueling this.

rwcarter said:
Definitely! The underdog finally gets one over on those who have been oppressing him. Or taking up an unpopular cause and winning.

Yay! Okay, I'm glad you and others see this of the card. I wasn't sure because it's always come across more negative to me, and here lately it's been showing up a lot and feeling different in context. It still seems like it's pointing to a difficult situation, but not because the person is being "bad".

Thanks again, I appreciate you helping me sort this out for myself!

5 of Swords

Amanda