The Images of the Tarot Oracle in Psychic Readings

The Five of Wands

The image of Five Wands describes all the anguish of competitive struggle; or, conversely, the benefits of productive cooperation, between people. The art of life always requires a healthy balance between polar forces, and so it is fairly evident to objective observers that our era suffers from an excessive emphasis on competition. The global victory of capitalism has put a price on all things, and loosened all traditional reins on the social battle for acquisition. Something of elementary human kindness has diminished in the brute battle of all against all, for the idea and meaning of the word kindness is dependent on its root "kin," which reveals the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people. When we lose sight of our inherent relation with others, life becomes nothing more than a jangling discord, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury."

Even so, the image of Five Wands often signals the healthy vibrancy of rivalry, and the thrilling sportsmanship of mutual challenge that can bring out the best in us if not taken to extremes. One of our clients, being highly sensitive himself, and also finely tuned to the sensitivities of others, found that he was troubled by his work in the intense environment of a Wall Street brokerage house. In his Reading, we saw the appearance of the image of Five Wands as a message about the increased strength and resiliency that was being imparted to his personality by the nature of his work. The towering pine needs to have some hardness in its fiber to withstand the storms that shake it inevitably in the course of its life and growth. Just so, a man needs more than a soft sensitivity to be in this world.