I like to think of myself as the type of person that will do anything to fight for what they believe in. And while doing so I strive to follow a code of ethics with a basis of do good and good will be dealt back to you. As time passes however, and with a little bit of help from today’s card of the day, the Five of Swords, I am starting to realise that everyone’s perception of right and wrong is different. What might be seen as the right thing to do for one person could be construed as wrong by someone else. And this makes me think of the interplay in other fields of life. In the case of this card, one person’s victory, and all the glory and honour that comes with it, is another person’s defeat, mired with dissatifaction, pain and sometimes utter devastation.
Traditionally the Five of Swords represents a victory tinged with defeat. Self-Interest, discord, dishonour, betrayal. The classic image is that of one man in the forefront staring at his conquered enemies, who are skulking off in the background, in possession of five swords. To me this clearly shows a victor and the defeated. However the sky is cloudy, which symbolises that it isn’t a clean cut victory, all is not well despite the fact that the battle seems to have concluded.
In the Shadowscapes card however I struggle to see this represented. This is probably one of the few cards in the deck that I dont see a clear cut representation of the traditional meanings. Now of course these meanings can be inferred if you know what the card traditionally represents but I don’t think it is clearly evident through its image. The feeling that most overwhelms me when I look at this card is Isolation! Often when we fight for what we think is right there is a chance that we will hurt those around us and as a result isolate ourselves from them. Once the conflict is over you may try to rectify the situation but those who were hurt in the line of fire may be less inclined to heal the severed relationship. So to me one of the biggest things this depiction shows is that it is very important to establish whether your view or opinion is important enough to put your relationships in the firing line. For wherever there is victory, there is defeat.
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the fox and the otter 