The Competitor ~ The part of you that’s been in the ring with everyone, including yourself, wrestling for position, recognition, or just the right to take up space.
Keywords:
Conflict • Competition • Struggle
Meaning
The Five of Wands is the moment you realize you’re in the middle of a struggle and you’re not entirely sure how you got here or what you’re fighting for anymore. It’s the energy of competition, conflict, and chaotic striving, everyone swinging their wands, nobody quite landing a blow, everything feeling like effort without progress.
This card points toward the part of you navigating multiple competing demands, clashing perspectives, or internal conflicts that won’t resolve cleanly. It’s the exhaustion of holding your ground while everyone else pushes back, of trying to be heard in a room where everyone’s talking at once. The Five of Wands asks you to look at where you’re currently struggling and whether the fight is sharpening you or just wearing you down.
Connection to Previous Cards:
After yesterday’s Knight of Wands charging forward with all that decisive action, the Five of Wands feels like running headfirst into opposition I didn’t anticipate. The Knight wanted clean momentum; the Five shows me what happens when everyone else has their own agenda.There’s a collision here between my impulse to move and the reality that other people are moving too, in different directions.
Before that, the Sun on February 2nd was all clarity and uncomplicated joy. Now I’m in the mess, the tangle, the place where nothing’s simple and everyone’s got an opinion. The progression feels like moving from individual clarity into collective chaos.
Shadow-Side
The shadow of the Five of Wands is picking fights just to feel alive. Watch for the tendency to turn every disagreement into a battle, or to compete compulsively even when cooperation would serve you better. There’s a flavor of this energy that thrives on drama and conflict because calm feels too vulnerable or boring. You might notice yourself creating friction where none existed, or refusing to collaborate because admitting someone else has a point feels like losing.
The trap is getting addicted to the adrenaline of struggle and mistaking exhaustion for productivity. Sometimes the chaos isn’t happening to you, you’re generating it to avoid something quieter that scares you more.
Guiding Incantation:
I lower my stick, I choose my ground
Not every battle needs to be found
I hold my power, I know my worth
I walk away when conflict holds no birth
If you find value in these grounded, no-bullshit tarot reflections, you can explore more of my work at Old Town Witch.
