Five of Swords
Fixed air: self-determination, excommunication, liberation
FIVE OF SWORDS
The Five of Swords is about excommunication and being flung into space.
It is sibling rivalry and self-determination.
It is trading off between the battle and the war.
AQUARIUS I + FIVE OF SWORDS
This card correlates with the first decan of Aquarius. You can learn more about the decans here.
Aquarius I is Black Sheep. It is a symbol of self-determination and exile. It is fixed air.
T. Susan Chang writes about the visionary aspects of Aquarius I and the Five of Swords:
If Saturn is the wall-builder, Capricorn designates the kingdom within the wall, and Aquarius the cold outer space beyond it. Here - excommunicated, unique, untethered - we are free to look back upon the civilization we left behind and imagine what a better world might look like.
She also recalls the myth of Ganymede – the Aquarian figure of the cupbearer – who has been exiled from his home without a choice.
We can also consider the Aquarian myth of Ganymede - kidnapped for his beauty and compelled to serve as cupbearer the gods. So the 5 of Swords, we can say, touches on themes of leaving home - whether by force or by choice. It touches on themes of sibling rivalry and insecurity; of belonging and not belonging.
– T. Susan Chang - ‘Winners and Losers’
Kira Ryberg expands on T. Susan Chang’s essay and reminds us that this card and decan are the place of the outsider, the black sheep, the truth-teller.
The notion of “Winners and Losers” can be seen plainly in the Five of Swords, where two figures have their backs turned to the main character featured on the card. Swords have fallen, but others have been recouped. Stating our opinions, especially when they do not fit the mold, can often bring ire into our worlds and relationships. At the same time, they can also release us from toxic entanglements.
The black sheep cannot be integrated into the system, processed, or used for transactional gain. Its wool cannot be dyed, and in this way, it is a symbol of self-determination.
This self-determination is hard-won. Any creative visions are both grounded and limited by the rocky, Saturnian path that the black sheep must walk.
The Five of Swords asks us to distinguish between the battle and the war – is a minor victory worth it or does it provide an obstacle to your vision?
How might you use a black sheep in your own writing? How might a character who sees the truth about a monoculture be a portal to a new world?