Comparative Tarot

BASIC RW DESCRIPTION: Five lads stand in a group on open ground. Each brandishes a wand, but none is actually striking another. No two Wands point in the same direction.

FIRST THING THAT STRUCK ME: It's hard to take the conflict too seriously when the guy in front is wearing polka dots and mismatched shoes. Is he trying to travel two different paths, or what?

UPRIGHT MEANINGS: Waite: A posse of youths, who are brandishing staves, as if in sport or strife. It is mimic warfare, and hereto correspond the Divinatory Meanings: Imitation, as, for example, sham fight, but also the strenuous competition and struggle of the search after riches and fortune. In this sense it connects with the battle of life. Hence some attributions say that it is a card of gold, gain, opulence. Excitement, complexity, turmoil, conflict, strife, struggle, confrontation, rebellion. Hassles and irritations, minor setbacks, nothing goes right, annoying details or trivialities, stress, anxiety about efforts or pursuits, keeping up with an ever-changing field, tension in business, things going in many different or unexpected directions. Working at cross-purposes, lack of cooperation, differing opinions and strategies, dissension, disagreement, quarreling, hot debate or argument, ego conflicts. Challenge, competition, contest, exercise, game or sport, mock battle, rivalry, hazing, initiation into manhood, machismo. Violence, war, images of violence and influences dangerous especially to children.

ALSO: First Blood. Working together, bouncing ideas off each other, merging talents, each with their "iron in the fire," group effort to create something powerful and even theatrical, building and releasing youthful creative and aggressive energies. Constructive collaborative effort that leads to something grand.

REVERSED MEANINGS: Waite: Litigation, disputes, trickery, contradiction. Lapsing into complacency, stagnation, teen apathy, reticence, dilution of efforts, resting on one's laurels without effort toward maintenance or improvement, avoiding confrontation at all costs. Glitches in business deals and contracts, complicated involvement, too many options or opinions leads to indecision, straighten out minor problems before they escalate into major ones.
ALSO: Long talks, conversations, lectures.

BIBLICAL: "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." I Corinthians 9:25
"And Korah … together with Dathan and Abiram … proceeded to rise up before Moses [and Aaron], they and two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel ….
"And it came about that as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them began to be split apart. And the earth proceeded to open its mouth and to swallow up them and their households and all humankind that belonged to Korah and all the goods.
"And a fire came out from Jehovah and proceeded to consume the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense." Numbers 16:1-2; 31; 35 (NWT)

MYTHOLOGICAL: The dragon that guards the treasure, the thorn bush that hides the princess, a mound of straw to be spun into gold.

HISTORICAL: The Battle of Mount Batton, when the kings of the British Isles banded together to drive off the Saxons, and Arthur's empire was established.

ANIMAL; INSECT: Ants. They don't always look like they're going the same direction, but they're working to the same purpose.

HERBS/PLANTS: stinging nettle, chili peppers

LANDSCAPE: open field

TIME/SEASON: indeterminate (not winter)

MUSIC: Heavy metal, esp. Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"

FILM: "This is Spinal Tap"

BOOK: Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur, because men are always "brasting their spears."

PUBLIC PEOPLE OR EVENTS: Bonfire of the Vanities?

OCCUPATIONS: team sports player(s), coach or trainer

SITUATIONS IN MY LIFE: Mosh pit. Freischarmanoever.

THIS CARD IN MY LIFE: This card stands for child-raising (the whole aim of which is to lose control). A child (and parent) is subject to conflicting views and ways, whether it be parents, grandparents, neighbors, peers, etc. It's one of the challenges of motherhood to manage these conflicting views and way, and help the child assimilate (or not) the concept. For example, just because little Johnny's mother let's him eat cookies before dinner…

FAVORITE REPRESENTATION: Healing Tarot, in which this card is titled "Collaboration," and the figures use their five wands to create a star.

OTHER: As I've been pondering the Five of Wands, it's occurred to me that one of the best analogies for this card is slave labor. Slavery has been known throughout history and across the globe. Slaves as spoils of war represent the elements of conflict and strife. Since slaves were acquired by conquering other tribes or countries, there was diversity, thrown together in the same "class." Slaves labored together to construct the world--from the pyramids of Egypt to my grandaddy's North Florida church. (Today, they're making our clothes and shoes, but that's another story.)

One Love All Love
Moonchild