An empty crossroads on a heath at night, a leaning signpost and poppy heads in the verge.

Swords · V

Five of Swords

Lord of Defeat

The face of Five of Swords, engraved in gold on black, with its title, Lord of Defeat.

Not every win is worth the cost. Choose your dignity over the last word.

Upright

Conflict, defeat and a hollow win. Some battles cost more than they gain.

Reversed

Reconciliation, or letting go of resentment.

Show the spirits

The spirit work

Sallos the peaceable duke by day; Orobas the faithful prince by night. Choose peace over pride.

Where the card sits

Correspondences

DecanVenus in Aquarius, 0° to 10°, the first face
Tree of LifeGeburah in Yetzirah
Governing angelsAniel by day, Haamiah by night
Image of the decanA prudent man, and a woman spinning.
Show the spirits
Day spiritSallos, duke
The seal of Sallos

Appears as a gallant soldier on a crocodile, wearing a ducal crown, peaceably. Causes love between people. Goetia 19.

Night spiritOrobas, prince
The seal of Orobas

Appears as a horse, then a man. Answers of past, present and future, of divinity and creation; gives dignities. Faithful, and will not let the magician be tempted. Goetia 55.

Five of Swords in the guidebookAll seventy-eight cards

The Sablerune Tarot

In the making

Seventy-eight cards in fine gold line. Hear when the deck is ready to hold.

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Notes on sources

The meanings, the questions and the correspondences are the guidebook’s own. The paths, letters and astrology follow the Golden Dawn’s attributions; the angels are the Shem ha-Mephorash, as the deck gives them; the spirits, shown only when you ask for them, are the seventy-two of the Goetia. Where each comes from, and what is old and what is modern, is set out in the guidebook’s Notes on sources and seals.