The Competitor ~ The part of me that thrives in creative tension but sometimes mistakes chaos for productivity.
Keywords:
Conflict • Competition • Friction
Meaning:
The Five of Wands is back, and it’s still all elbows and noise. Everyone’s swinging, no one’s connecting. This card lives in unresolved tension, competing priorities, scattered energy, friction that hasn’t found a point yet. It’s asking me to notice where I’m caught in chaos that might be sharpening me or might just be wearing me down.
The Five points to conflict, but not the kind that gets resolved. It’s the kind where everyone’s still fighting for position, still testing boundaries, still figuring out who gets to lead. This energy can be generative when it forces me to clarify what I actually want. But it can also be exhausting theater, struggle for the sake of struggle.
The card invites me to examine whether the battles I’m in are moving me toward something or just keeping me stuck in motion. Whether the friction is creative or just draining. Whether I’m fighting because it matters or because fighting feels more legitimate than being still.
Connection to Previous Cards:
Yesterday’s Three of Pentacles was about skilled collaboration and building something real with competent partners. Today, the Five of Wands suggests that collaboration isn’t going smoothly, or that competing egos are getting in the way of the work. The shift is jarring. The Three valued mutual respect and shared expertise. The Five is everyone trying to prove they’re right.
Two days ago, the Two of Cups brought genuine connection and reciprocity. The Five of Wands shows what happens when that connection gets tested by competing needs or when multiple voices start talking over each other.
Earlier this month, the Five of Wands appeared twice in three days, asking me to examine my relationship with conflict. Now it’s back again. The pattern is clear: this energy keeps showing up because I haven’t fully learned what it’s trying to teach me about where friction serves me and where it just drains me.
Actionable Advice:
The Five of Wands is asking me to get conscious about conflict. It’s about discerning which battles sharpen me and which just exhaust me.
– Look at every competing demand on my energy today. Write them down. Then cross out everything except the two that actually matter.
– Notice when I’m arguing just to argue versus when I’m defending something that genuinely matters to me. Name the difference out loud.
– Step back from one conflict today. Just stop mid-swing and walk away. See what happens when I refuse to engage.
– Move the tension out of my body, run hard, punch a pillow, shake it out. Let physical friction release what’s stuck mentally.
– Ask myself about each battle I’m in: “Is this sharpening me or just wearing me down?” Be honest about the answer.
Shadow-Side Warning:
The shadow of the Five of Wands returning is that I might be addicted to the struggle. Watch for the tendency to create conflict because friction feels more real than peace. The Five can pull me into performative suffering, making everything harder than it needs to be because struggle feels more legitimate than ease.
Another trap: treating every difference of opinion as a battle that must be won. Not everything requires a defense or a rebuttal. The card’s repetition this month suggests I might be using chaos to avoid something quieter that needs my attention. If I’m exhausted but still picking fights, or if I’m creating problems to have something to solve, that’s the shadow talking.
Journal Prompts:
• WATER (emotions, relationships): Where am I creating conflict in my relationships because connection without friction feels too vulnerable?
• EARTH (grounding, stability): What’s one competing priority I can release today to create more spaciousness in my life?
• FIRE (passion, drive): Am I using competition to fuel my work, or am I just exhausting myself to prove I’m worthy?
• AIR (thoughts, communication): What argument am I continuing just because I’ve already invested so much energy in being right?
• SHADOW (hidden self, integration): Do I feel more legitimate when I’m struggling, and what would it mean to choose ease instead?
Personal Journal:
The Five of Wands is back for the third time this month, which means I still haven’t learned what it’s trying to teach me. Yesterday’s Three of Pentacles had me collaborating with skilled partners, and today everyone’s elbows are out and the work has descended into chaos. This card keeps showing up to ask me where I’m using friction productively and where I’m just addicted to the fight. The repetition is the message. I’m being shown a pattern: I move toward connection and collaboration, then conflict erupts. Maybe the conflict is necessary. Maybe it’s just familiar. Today I practice discerning the difference.
Guiding Incantation:
I choose my battles. I release the rest.
Not every fight is mine. Not every voice needs answering.
Chaos swirls, but I stay rooted in what matters.
My energy is sacred. I spend it wisely.
If you find resonance in these personal tarot-based reflections, you can explore more of my work at www.oldtownwitch.
