Five of Wands
Wands
How This Card Is Derived
Papus gives no separate description of this card. It is derived from his system: Wands is Yod (י), the active, originating principle, acting in Atziluth, the archetypal world; the number 5 is He of the second series, the passive reaction to what was realized. The meaning below is that combination read out — the active, originating principle taken at its 5th term — not a quotation from him.
Upright
The passive reaction to what four established: competition. The moment something is founded, other wills arrive to test it. Five figures, five staves, no visible stakes — and Papus's fifth term is a reaction rather than an attack, so this is friction rather than war. Rivalry, the scramble, the meeting where everyone is talking. It is the natural consequence of the frame, not a misfortune befalling it.
Reversed
The contest avoided — the ground conceded rather than argued for. Or rivalry hardened into hostility, which is a different and worse card than the one drawn.
Correspondences
- Suit
- Wands — Yod (י), Atziluth, the archetypal world
- Suit principle
- the active, originating principle
- Number
- 5 — He of the second series
- Numeric role
- the passive reaction to what was realized
In a Spread
At the commencement, the matter begins in a crowded field. In opposition, competitors plural — Papus's fifth term is rarely one opponent. At equilibrium the situation is held in place by everyone pushing at once. As the result: contest, unresolved, and six is what resolves it.