54-Five of Athames – Reversed Salem Deck

Your Chosen Card – Five of Athames Reversed Salem Deck

When reversed, the Five of Swords suggests that you have been licking your wounds for too long. The time has come to confront your sense of defeat and humiliation and see if there is a way to effect reconciliation. Wallowing in self-pity only prolongs your hurt feelings and sense of inadequacy.

Keywords Reversed: Affront, rejection, hurtful humiliation, a painful parting of ways, hard feelings, wounded pride, meanness, slander, betrayal, loss, abandonment, dejection, defeat, anxiety, blame, feelings of inadequacy, Pyrrhic victory, gloating, poor sportsmanship, sorrow, mourning, licking your wounds, feeling slighted or abandoned, leaving without saying goodbye; all’s fair in love and war.

Timing: 0 Aquarius–10 Aquarius. Tropical, 20 January–29 January. Sidereal, 13 February–22 February.
Astrology: Lovely and affectionate Venus in the first decan of airy Aquarius, realm of the Waite King/Thoth Prince of Swords (Air of Air) and the Star (Aquarius). Venus is linked to the Empress.
Number Symbolism: 5 – instability, disruption, loss, crisis, tension, competition, conflict.

Etteilla: Loss, waste, decline, deprivation, affront, meanness, humiliation, degradation, setback, avarice, thief; (R) grief, mourning, despondency, distress, chagrin, bereavement, funeral rites, interment.

When Five of Athames is reversed you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Five of Athames is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Five of Athames is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your reversed card reading for Five of Athames using cards from the Salem Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.


Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Elements of the Psychic World
Book Details
Elements of the Psychic World: Crowley’s other published works include The Diary of a Drug Fiend (1922), The Equinox of the Gods (1937), and the Book of Thoth (1944), which is his interpretation of the Tarot. Two volumes of his autobiography were also published. In 1934 he tried to sue Nina Hammett for her biography of him, Laughing Torso, in which she stated that he practised black magic and human sacrifice, but the jury found in favour of Hammett.

Tarot Books

Reversed Cards: If you thought the suit of swords was mental before, wait till you take a walk through the blocked aspect of the Five of Swords. Does the phrase ‘cut your nose off to spite your face’ mean anything to you? It is the expression gifted to people who seem to rush in, blow things up, and then wonder how it all went so wrong. You could also call it self-sabotage. This is what holding on to fear will do. It will make you impulsive and reckless, but not in a good way. Actions have consequences here in the Five of Swords, and you are about to find out what they are.

Tarot for Beginners: Reversed, the card indicates a downturn in luck due to negative external forces over which you have little or no control. Unfortunately, you may have little influence over events at this time, but the situation will not prevail. This card is gently reminding you that everything—the good and the bad—is temporary.

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Reversed Cards: Sometimes what you need is what you already have. When this card shows up in the protection aspect, the universe may be telling you to dig deeper. It may seem like you need outside assistance, but the truth is you don’t. More to the point, you’re not in the right position to accept. Think of it like this: you want to ask the bank for a loan but you don’t have all your paperwork in order or you still have some outstanding debts that could cause your loan application to be tanked. This means you need to do more work. You have to put yourself in order before asking for more.