(Another) FIVE OF WANDS IN THE FOUND TAROT

So here's at least the third Five of Wands for my Found Tarot* that I've posted over the years. (Yeah, I'm really into trees recently, even more than usual.) This version is the most stressed out one, though. It puts me in mind of a PTSD episode. Not surprising I'd say that as my own life's been extremely challenged recently by things out of my past. I hasten to add that I'm getting better at making it through times like this without destroying my present life. And that there are lots of insights, and hopefully further healing, resulting. I keep reminding myself of one description I heard decades back of the Five of Wands: the battle of life. Why is that sort of comforting (and it is)? I don't feel quite so picked on by fate, if you will. It's one of the things that life does.

And for comparison, here's the Five of Wands in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck:

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*ABOUT THE FOUND TAROT: Since sometime in 2009 I've been making occasional posts here of photos of mine in which I see Tarot cards. However, I don't take these pix with the Tarot in mind, rather only see cards in them at some point later once they're on my computer screen. If you'd like to see previous Found Tarot posts, you can use the search function at the top left of this page, or "The Found Tarot" label at the very bottom of this post. There are also multiple versions of some cards. If I should ever wish to produce a physical version of this deck, I'll simply have to choose one. But that eventuality is highly unlikely. I simply enjoy indulging myself here in sharing pix of mine in which I see Tarot images.

N.B. A small thing, but just in case: some of the extra reference links offered at the very end of my oldest (years old) posts no longer work. As there are so many posts here to go through I am choosing not to search for and change all of those links that are "dead." (Though I immediately delete any I now stumble across that lead to questionable sites.) If you are interested, you can try Googling for the name of the site or article referenced. I'm finding that some are still around in new locations or incarnations, some not.

'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever ways it comes to you in your life,





****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only; and THE MARKER TAROT.

THE FIVE OF WANDS

TODAY'S CARD IS The Five of Wands. This version is from the Tarot of the Cat People:



For comparison, here's The Five of Wands in the Rider/ Waite/ Smith deck:



THE FIVE OF WANDS: Unfortunately, the scene in this card (in the RWS and many other versions) is how I feel a great deal of the time: embattled. However, one of the readings for this card -- to take a more playful stance -- is definitely applicable. (One of my family of cards in the Tarot, The Devil, also advises not taking things quite so seriously.) On those occasions when I have been able to take a lighter stance -- provided the situation itself was also amenable -- the situation became more productive. OK, so where'd I find that lighten up switch the last time? Maybe that slightly bemused/amused cat in the first Five of Wands above knows? :-)

DIFFERENT OR LESS COMMON, EVEN QUIRKY MEANINGS FOR THE FIVE OF WANDS (i.e. the below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with this card):

Fives in general: A sense of separating (or wanting to) from "the herd," as during the times of emotional and psychological growth and change.

Stage fright; the anxiety experienced by some before a creative project or sharing.

Fear of not being in control, especially of one's own feelings and/or actions.

Feeling embattled; a contentious or challenging situation.

Defensiveness and/or blaming of others, possibly out of fear of being blamed.

Whatever's been a struggle or long and arduous is almost completed.

Try to take a more playful stance.

Accomplishing a great deal at a busy time.

Playful competition.

Energy for creative use being raised in a collective effort.

Preparing for victory.

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Resource: Understanding Tarot: Beyond the Myths, by Christin Snyder, a good overview of what Tarot is and isn't.

Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep remembering to play, and enjoy The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****

A FIVE OF WANDS WAKEUP (Dream Exploration Using The Tarot)

[The Five of Wands in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck]

This post is a bit of a departure from my blog's basic focus, but certainly within the topic of The Tarot. It's an old dream exploration of mine that illustrates how dream work, in this instance using The Tarot, can occasionally offer very pragmatic help. (It appeared in 2003, in a slightly different form, in the email newsletter "Dancing World.")

In early May, 2003 I had a lengthy dream that ended with an image that intrigued me:

We have ordered lunch. When it arrives I eat it all, but avoid the pile of orangey-yellowish very fine grain. It winds up spilled on the floor. I clean up as much as I can by hand and tell my friend I will get the broom to get up the rest.

When I did journal work with the entire dream all but this closing image yielded insights. No matter how I thought about and followed the vaguest associations to it, I could not get a decent handle on the “orangey-yellowish very fine grain.” I knew this had to be an important image to which I was resisting relating. This kind of impasse is an example of what can bring me to The Tarot when doing dream work.

I pulled a card at random and got the Five of Wands in the Tarot of the Cat People. This just sort of sat there and did not really resonate, either (1). So I did what I often do when stumped by a card, I reached for my favorite Tarot book, "A Guide to The Herbal Tarot"(2). As soon as I put my hand on the book, I remembered that the Five of Wands in The Herbal Tarot has Turmeric on it.

Gadzooks! It hit me that I had started taking Turmeric – along with other herbs and supplements, losing weight, and exercising – to see if it could help with osteoarthritis pain in my knees. The fine grain in the dream looked just like Turmeric in its spice form, and was the color of the Turmeric tablets I’d been taking.

Why had I resisted seeing this? It was so obvious! Then I remembered what I did in the dream: I did not eat the fine grain. Oh, my, I then became quite sure that the dream image was saying that I should not take Turmeric, that it is not good for me. In dream work this sort of image is called “prodromal” – a message about/from one’s body.

And my resistance to seeing Turmeric in the dream image? I spend a great deal of time researching and then deciding on which herbs and supplements to take, as I have a lot invested in finding healthy alternatives to NSAIDS for pain alleviation (3). So I tend to resist letting go of even one of the many things I have placed a lot of hope in.

Being endlessly curious, I then began to wonder how it was not good for me. As I read what “A Guide to The Herbal Tarot” says about Turmeric, the fact that it stimulates digestion jumped out at me. I’d been having a noticeable increase in appetite that I could trace to starting on Turmeric, as I keep a detailed food and supplement journal. OK. Turmeric was definitely not good for me.

Then I locked on to the part of the dream image of “clean up…by hand,” relating it to the recent increase in the itchiness of eczema patches on my palms, that I had attributed to the healing process. OK. I’ll bet Turmeric was starting to aggravate the eczema(4).

Need I say it? I’ve stopped taking Turmeric as a supplement. I hasten to add, this is based on my own body’s responses. Many, if not most folk might tolerate Turmeric fine as a pain management supplement. (Always, of course, under a doctor’s management.)

Ultimately, this experience has reminded me that no matter how carefully I research and think over anything in life, nothing is certain until I risk doing it.

Footnotes:

(1) Since the five of wands can be seen as representing “the struggle of life,” I did briefly wonder if what the very fine grain symbolized might be stressing me.

(2) “The Spirit of Herbs: A Guide to the Herbal Tarot;” U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT, USA; 1993; ISBN: 0-88079-525-5.

(3) Over-the-counter, anti-inflammatory pain relievers like aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen.

(4) Still curious much later, I looked up the Five of Wands in The Tarot of the Cat People deck on Tarot.com and got a chuckle out of the comment that one might need to develop a thicker skin!

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Resource: see footnote (2) above.

til next time, keep listening to your body and enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****