Five of Swords

Quick answer

The core meaning of Five of Swords is Conflict in the realm of Thought. Upright, it usually points to Degradation, destruction, revocation, infamy, dishonor, loss, with the variants; reversed, it may suggest The same; burial and obsequies.

Card imagery

A disdainful man looks after two retreating and dejected figures. Their swords lie upon the ground. He carries two others on his left shoulder, and a third sword is in his right hand, point to earth. He is the master in possession of the field.

Upright meaning

Upright keywords: Thought: Conflict. Waite gives the upright divinatory meaning as: Degradation, destruction, revocation, infamy, dishonor, loss, with the variants and analogues of these.

Reversed meaning

Reversed keywords: Thought: Conflict (blocked). Waite gives the reversed divinatory meaning as: The same; burial and obsequies.

Love, Career, Money, and Growth

Love

Upright, the Five of Swords is a wounding victory: winning the argument and losing the feeling, or someone getting what they wanted by unfair means. Reversed, seeking reconciliation and dropping the fight, or an old grudge still simmering underneath.

Career

Upright it is office politics, being pushed out, success at other people's expense, a win with no honour in it. Reversed, wanting to repair the relationship and admitting you went too far, or staying stuck in the power struggle.

Money

Upright, beware unfair deals, contracts that take advantage of you, or gains made by harming others. Reversed, stepping out of a dispute and accepting a loss for peace, or a dispute that refuses to settle.

Personal growth

The Five of Swords asks what you won and what it cost. Upright, separate right from winning; reversed, some battlefields are worth walking away from.

Example question

You ask whether to keep pressing this argument and draw the Five of Swords. Upright says even if you win the point you will lose the relationship; ask whether you want victory or resolution. Reversed says there is a chance to reconcile, or an old grudge is still quietly fighting on; leaving the field on purpose may be the better move.

How they feel

When Five of Swords shows how someone feels about you, the feeling shows up in how they understand you, and in what they want to say but haven't. Things have not gone the way they hoped, and frustration or insecurity is mixed in. Upright it leans toward conflict, a costly win, and a tug-of-war over power; reversed, toward seeking reconciliation, old grievances unsettled, or ending a pointless fight.

Yes or No

Upright

No

Reversed

Maybe

This is our own quick read, based on which way the card’s meaning leans. Traditions disagree about individual cards, and a “Maybe” needs to be weighed against the position in the spread and your actual situation rather than taken as a one-word answer.

Waite’s Original Text (1911)

Additional Meaning

An attack on the fortune of the Querent. Reversed: A sign of sorrow and mourning.

Quoted from A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. The text is in the public domain.