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• Rough terrain that is difficult to navigate and traverse.
• A bombardment from many or all directions.
• A peppering of small crises.
• A great number of simultaneous incidents or proceedings which must be managed or evaluated.
• Taking on too many tasks at once.
• Having to answer to many demands.
• Barely being able to manage it all.
• Highly complicated factors in any undertaking, perhaps ones which were unforeseen.

The Five of Wands is Fire (change, raw power, upheaval, discomfort) related to the element Ether (place, totality, large amounts, the course of events).

This card usually represents some kind of difficult terrain, or signifies things falling into disarray. It may represent an actual mess, a physical space not properly cared for. It may also represent a difficult environment among a group of people: a social group or coworkers, for example.

Such difficult terrain might also simply be physical landscape riddled with pitfalls and snags, and flora and fauna which are likewise difficult to contend with.

Another possible meaning for this card is a test or trial, which demands that one pay attention in life. Such a test or trial is typically surmountable, and victory over such a trial would be a sign of capability. It may necessitate intense engagement, jumping into the fray rather than staying cautiously on the sidelines.

Rather than a single trial, it may also be the case that there is a peppering of smaller crises, which combine to push those affected by them toward or beyond their capacity to deal it all. Such circumstances could be the result of taking on too many projects or tasks.

This is a card of complication. It may represent complicated factors in any undertaking, those which are known as well as those which have not yet been discovered.

Abstract

(Reversed)

• Fear, panic, tension, dread, anxiety.
• Experiences as a result of fear and anxiety, such as nightmares and paranoia.
• Phobias.
• Sources of fear or anxiety.

The Abstract Five of Wands is abstract Fire (pain, impulse) related to the element Ether (multitudes, experience). It signifies fear of all kinds, phobias, anxieties, and sources of such distress.

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