Five of Swords tarot card meaning: upright, reversed and symbols

The Five of Swords shows a man holding three swords and smirking as two defeated figures walk away from him toward the sea. Two more swords lie on the ground. The sky is torn with clouds. It is a card of conflict, defeat and a victory that costs too much. This page covers what the Five of Swords means upright and reversed, the symbols in the 1909 card and how to read it in love and work.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: conflict, defeat, betrayal
• Reversed keywords: reconciliation, making amends, past resentment
• Number: 5 in the suit of Swords
• Suit and element: Swords, Air Later tradition
• Astrology: Venus in Aquarius Later tradition
• Yes or no: No Modern

The element and the planet in a sign (one of the 36 ten-degree slices of the zodiac called decans) come from the Golden Dawn system of the 1880s and 1890s, not from the first tarot decks. The yes or no lean is a modern reading habit. Use these layers if they help you remember the card, and skip them if they get in the way.

The card: what Pamela Colman Smith drew

Waite wrote: “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.”

The smirk

He looks pleased with himself. He has won the argument or the battle, and everyone else has left.

The walking figures

Two people walk away, one with his face in his hands. Somebody paid for the victory.

The torn sky

The clouds are ragged, as if after a storm. The air is not clear yet.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Five of Swords is conflict where winning can still feel like losing. Humiliation, empty victory or a fight that damages everyone involved can all show up. Someone may collect the swords and leave the relationship in pieces.

Ask what you are really fighting for. Is being right worth the cost? Sometimes the best move is to walk away, or to put the swords down and repair. If you were the one defeated, you do not have to stay on that field.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Five of Swords can show reconciliation, making amends or old resentment that still lingers. The fight may be over, but the hurt is not.

Make a real apology if you owe one, or accept one if it is offered. If resentment keeps the fight going in your head, write it down and decide what you want to do with it.

Reversals are optional. Many readers never use them and read every card upright, and that is a complete way to read. If you do use them, decide before you shuffle what a reversed card will mean for you, and keep to that choice for the whole reading.

In love, work and spirituality

Love

Upright, a fight that wounds both sides, or one partner always needing to win. Reversed, making peace.

Work and money

Office politics, unfair competition or winning at someone else’s expense. Reversed, repairing a working relationship.

Spirituality

Arguments online about the right way to practice. Reversed, letting go of the need to be right.

As feelings

As someone’s feelings, the Five of Swords shows hurt, defensiveness or resentment after conflict.

The Five of Swords as past, present, future and advice

• Past: A painful conflict shaped this situation.
• Present: A fight is costing more than it is worth.
• Future: Conflict may come. Choose your battles.
• Advice: Ask whether winning is worth it.

A Minor Arcana card usually describes the everyday texture of a situation: a mood, a conversation, a task or a step. If the Five of Swords appears next to a Major Arcana card, let the Major name the big theme and let this card show how it is playing out in thought and the other things Swords rule. If it keeps coming back over several days, write down what was happening each time.

Is the Five of Swords a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, the Five of Swords leans no. Conflict points to no. Tarot is better at showing the shape of a situation than at handing down verdicts, so if the question really matters, turn it into an open question such as “What do I need to know about this?” and draw again.

Affirmation and journal prompts

Affirmation: I refuse victories that destroy what I care about.

Reversed affirmation: I release pointless battles and make amends where I can.

Journal prompts:

• What am I fighting for, really?
• Where have I won and still lost?
• What would repair look like?

What the Five means in tarot

Five is the unstable middle: conflict, loss, contest and disruption. After the steady Four, something shakes. The Fives are the hardest cards of each suit for many beginners, but they are also where the story starts to move again.

Here is how the Five looks across the four suits:

• Five of Wands: conflict, competition, tension
• Five of Cups: regret, loss, sorrow
• Five of Swords (this card): conflict, defeat, betrayal
• Five of Pentacles: financial loss, poverty, insecurity

Learning a rank across the suits is one of the fastest ways to learn the Minor Arcana: the number or court rank gives you the shape, and the suit gives you the setting.

The history and art behind the card

In most decks before 1909, the number cards showed only a pattern of suit symbols, the way a playing card does. The Sola Busca deck from late 1400s Italy is the famous exception. Pamela Colman Smith gave every Minor Arcana card a scene with people in it, and that choice is a big reason the Rider-Waite-Smith deck is still the easiest deck for beginners. In Italian decks the suit is Spade and in the Tarot de Marseille it is Épées, curved blades woven into patterns. Smith drew straight swords and big skies full of wind and cloud. Air is the element of the mind, and her Swords scenes are often about what we think and say more than what we physically do.

The sky in this card is torn with sharp, ragged clouds, and the water in the background is unsettled. The man in front gathers swords and smiles, while two figures walk away from him toward the shore, one with his head in his hands. Two swords lie on the ground. Many readers ask the same question of this card: who are you in the picture? The winner, the ones walking away, or the person watching? Each answer gives a different reading.

When A. E. Waite published The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in 1910, he listed these divinatory meanings for the Five of Swords: “Degradation, destruction, revocation, infamy, dishonor, loss, with the variants and analogues of these.” Reversed, he gave: “The same; burial and obsequies.” Waite said he was offering “a harmony of their meanings” gathered “from all sources”, which means older fortune-telling lists, not his own reading of the picture. On this site I read the picture first and treat lists like this as history.

A spread for the Five of Swords

Use this spread after a painful argument.

1. What was the fight about? The real issue underneath.
2. What did it cost? What was hurt or lost.
3. How can I repair or release it? One step toward peace.

Lay the three cards in a row, read each one on its own first, then read them together as a short story. Write one sentence for each position and one small action you will take.

Common questions

Is the Five of Swords a yes or no card?

It leans no. It shows conflict that costs too much.

What does the Five of Swords mean in love?

Arguments where someone needs to win. Reversed, reconciliation.

What does the Five of Swords mean reversed?

Making amends, or lingering resentment after a fight.

Related cards

• Five of Wands: a noisier, lighter conflict
• Seven of Swords: another card of tricks and taking
• Justice: the Major Arcana card of fairness

Keep learning

The Five of Swords is part of the lesson Swords in my free Tarot for Beginners course. To see the whole suit on one page, go to the suit of Swords. To keep walking the suit, read the card before it, Four of Swords or the card after it, Six of Swords, or go back to all the card meanings. For the suits and numbers in one place, see The Minor Arcana: suits and numbers made simple. For every card with keywords, affirmations and examples, see my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable cheat sheet for all 78 cards, my 45-page Tarot Workbook is on Etsy.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), Part III, sections 1 and 2.
• Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (London: Rider, 1909).
• Nicolas Conver, Tarot de Marseille (Marseille, 1760).
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot, entry for the Five of Swords.