1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. Five of Swords

Minor Arcana · Swords

Five of Swords

• loss
• the master in possession

Upright meaning

Winning at a cost. Waite's figure is the master in possession while others walk away dejected. A card asking whether the victory is worth the loss.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite says the same. A prompt to repair what a disagreement has cost.

• the same

Symbolism

A disdainful man gathers swords while two figures walk away dejected.

Group

Minor Arcana · Swords

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part III §2 (The Lesser Arcana). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.