Five of Wands in the 5-Card Spread with the Rider Waite Tarot

Five of Wands as second card : Challenge / Obstacle
in the Rider Waite Smith 5-Card spread

In contrast, the Five of Wands reveals poorly managed tension, unresolved conflict, or avoidance of challenges.

The consultant may be avoiding confrontation, at the risk of fuelling latent tensions, or, conversely, may be too emotionally involved in a rivalry, unable to take a step back.

This card may also reflect an excessive need to dominate, to be right, or to impose one’s point of view, which blocks the flow of communication.

Conversely, it may be a case of submission to external pressure, of personal effacement in the face of the more assertive will of others.

The blockage here comes from an imbalance in the way differences are handled: either they are avoided or people exhaust themselves in a futile struggle.

It may also be a toxic, overly competitive environment where cooperation is absent.

This card alerts you to the fact that conflict is not always to be avoided — but it must be approached intelligently. Running away or overreacting are not the solutions. The consultant is invited to adopt a constructive stance in the face of disagreement: make your voice heard without trying to crush others or remain silent.

Five of Wands as third card : Advice
in the Rider Waite Smith 5-Card spread

As advice, the Five of Wands encourages you not to shy away from challenges, to dare to enter the arena, even if the situation seems chaotic. It is time to test your strengths, your ideas, your limits, accepting friction and contradiction as opportunities for learning.

This card urges you to assert yourself in a group, to defend your position without aggression, but with conviction.

It may also suggest that you review your strategy in an ongoing conflict: are you too rigid? Too passive? Too reactive? It is important here to channel your energy, not to waste it on pointless struggles, but to use it to clarify your position.

The Five of Wands also advises you to accept that the beginning will be messy. Not everything can be smooth sailing from the start. What you are going through is a useful test, a testing ground where you can learn to position yourself better.

The advice is therefore not to get carried away by the noise around you, but to find your own rhythm, your voice, your focus. Be prepared to fight, but only for what is really worth it.

Five of Wands as fourth card : Outcome
in the Rider Waite Smith 5-Card spread

In the outcome position, the Five of Wands indicates that the current situation will lead to a period of stimulating confrontation, but one that is not yet stable. This is an active process, in which the consultant will have to continue to adjust, deal with different forces, and defend their place in a dynamic or competitive environment.

This is not a card of calm resolution, but of continuous movement, beneficial questioning, and construction through effort and friction.

The outcome can be positive, in the sense that it leads to self-assertion, clarification of one’s position in a group, and progress through challenge.

However, it will be necessary to accept that definitive calm is not yet for now.

It may also mark a testing phase before future stabilisation (which the Six of Wands could herald).

It is a transitional result, showing that the stakes are still shifting and that success will come with the ability to adapt, hold fast and play fair in the competition.