Tarot of the Spirit - Five of Fire
Pamela Eakins, Ph.D., Scribe; Joyce Eakins, MFA, Painter
Publisher: U.S. Games Systems
ISBN 0-88079-544-1

5 of Fire (The Struggle) shows a black six-pointed star. Framing it is a larger blue-gray star. Outside of this is a pale gray star. Framing the pale gray star is a dark red star. And framing them all is a large muddied orange-yellow star, its boundaries blurred by the swirls and whorls of darker color surrounding it.

The LWB says: You feel a sense of conflict. The struggle that seems to be happening outside of you may, in reality, be happening on the inside. You feel as if you are striving, but you are immobilized at the same time; chaos has resulted from the presence of conflicting ideas. Allow yourself to "fail", allow yourself to "lose", and you will gain everything. In this case, you are merely reinforcing that which is obsolete

Bee's Buzz: At first glance this card looks like something colored by a child who wanted to see what happens when you mix all the colors in the box together. There is a frenetic energy present in the background. It resembles an abstract painting done by a mad genius. There are red and oranges overlapped and intermingled with blacks and grays. And the red star is infused with orange and yellow. But as you get closer to the center star, the black star, the colors become purer and clearer. To me this image suggests the craziness and chaos that gets created when we are struggling for something - whether it is outside ourselves or within ourselves. But the more we can get away from the struggle, the more we can release that energy and let go of our own fears and doubts, the purer and clearer things become. Rather than moving outwards, I see this card as drawing us inwards. As we enter each successive star we leave some of the chaos and frenzy behind us and move to the core of the issue, the core of ourselves. Perhaps as we pass by each star towards the core we are able to let go and drop whatever isn't helping us. We struggle to the center of ourselves and learn from each step and we are able gain clarity and move towards the next step in our journey.

Bees Blessings
Debbie