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Five of Wands

The Lord of Struggle

Wands, 5

Saturn in Leo. Saturn works against the natural bravery of the sign of the Lion. At any rate, this card shows struggle in all its forms.

Nothing ever stays the same: what could be more natural than that after the relaxation of the four of wands we should swing back to struggle?

In this card we see a man walking through a city at night. I like to think that it's his first time in this city. The building seem to have been placed in a disordered, disarrayed maze and have become a sort of labyrinth. All human endeavour is as a shrine to strugggle.

We see the garishly-lit stadium where sports competitions take place and only one can be the winner, and we see a temple-like building, which could be a court of law and again, only one part can be the winner. Maybe it really IS a religious temple, but that would not really change things since struggles between man and his God(s) are quite common. The last possibility I can think of, that the building is some sort of library doesn't change much, since it would then be a place of academic struggle. The near wall (in the foreground) is sheer and devoid of windows or doors, there is no one to help or see if something happens to the man. In fact, the only thing that identifies the wall are the astrological markings, and in this case they have taken the form of graffiti, which implies the presence of gangs which are, in turn, all involved in their own struggles.

Far off in the background we can see large buildings, which I like to think are where the city's people live. Even they look unfriendly, like huge Council Estates. Though there is ONE small door, through which the man could go. Maybe he's going home, but the way home is fraught with danger. The city is all made of harsh grey concrete and there are no living things (such as plants) to imply that any ease can be found in this city.

The wands that the man could use as possible weapons seem to rain down accusingly on him, singling out his loneliness and defencelessness to the world at large. They might also be like huge alarm signs that he's giving out.

To his left, we see the gigantic advancing shadow of a possible enemy who is armed with some sort of club. Will a fight ensue? It is hard to say. Maybe it is not a club at all, who knows? The shadow might be that of a friend who has come to greet the man in the card. All the same, the man will have to struggle to overcome his possible fears and find out whose shadow it is. The shadow is there to show that struggle can be implied or internal to our own mind just as much as it can be tangible or physical.

Lastly, I have added the moon (which has its own "struggle" with the sun) and a number of stars. As above so below: what makes us think that the struggles on this planet aren't repeated a trillion times over across all the galaxies of the Universe? 

Meaning

Conflict, tests, competition, opposition, fighting, struggle. May represent the rat race. Success will only come through hard, incessant, diligent work. We must put one foot in front of the other and carry on.

Reversed

Arguments, lawsuits, fighting among partners. Bickering. People who are unnecessarily competitive, bordering on the aggressive.