Comparative Tarot

On a country dirt road, a figure made of tar sits with its back toward us atop a hollow log. The Tar Baby wears an orange shirt with a blue patch, and a straw hat covers its head. A light brown humanoid rabbit is fighting the Tar Baby; his left paw is already stuck, and he’s swinging back to strike with his right. Rabbit also wears a straw hat, and has a red/brown shirt and blue overalls with a yellow & red striped patch on his right knee. A large tree dripping with moss grows on a grassy hill behind Rabbit, and the thorny vines of the briar patch curl around behind the Tar Baby.

Like the rest of the Rods in this deck, the card border is orange with vines in autumn colors. Suit symbols frame the image.

LWB: A fight or struggle – either physical or emotional; things getting in the way of plans; unforeseen trouble.

Book Excerpts:
“When the Five of Rods marches into your spread, gather your ammunition, and throw up your shields. A fight or struggle is in the works, and trouble is on the way. It’s time for you to gather a plan of action, and take a firm stand. …don’t spend a lot of time and energy juggling between what’s right and wrong. …follow the first course of action that pops into your head.”

My take on it:
Brer Fox, tired of Brer Rabbit’s habit of not minding his own business, created the Tar Baby to trap him and make a fool of him. Rabbit said hello to it and asked it what it was doing sitting there, and since it didn’t respond, he thought it was snubbing him and grew angry. The more Rabbit tried to get some response for it, the angrier he got, until he finally punched it – and got stuck, which made Rabbit angrier still. The fight escalated, Rabbit hitting and kicking the Tar Baby until he was completely covered in tar and unable to move. If he had simply left the Tar Baby alone, he wouldn’t have been in that mess.

If you’re looking for a fight, look again. Are you getting into something that’s none of your business? If you think you’re being snubbed or insulted, make sure that’s actually the case before acting out. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Phil McGraw is “You wouldn’t care so much about what other people think of you if you realized how seldom they do it.” Perhaps your ego has become so inflated that you’re due for a harsh reality check.

While in most decks the Five of Wands focuses on competition with others, here the “competition” is against karma, a building up of misdeeds leading toward the scales being tipped against you.

Tracy Hite