The Shadow Spiral of the Swords: A Tarot Journey from the Five to Ten of Swords

Jul 13, 2025

Dive into a gripping exploration of the Five to Ten of Swords in tarot. Discuss the emotional turbulence of hollow victories and deceptive shields against pain. Journey through escapism, self-deception, and mental imprisonment, unveiling a psychological narrative that resonates deeply. Witness the transformation from collapse to catharsis, revealing how confronting our wounds can pave the path for healing. Join this reflective experience as we navigate the dark spiral of escapism and discover the light of personal growth.

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INSIGHT

Five of Swords' Hollow Victory

The Five of Swords represents hollow victories that lead to relational fallout and emotional pain.
It symbolizes short-term control driven by fear, resulting in long-term relational damage and no true winners.

INSIGHT

Six of Swords as Fantasy

The Six of Swords is a fantasy of healing, more about escaping pain than true growth.
Moving to new places doesn't remove internal struggles or harmful narratives carried along.

INSIGHT

Seven of Swords' Self-Harm

The Seven of Swords shows self-deception, clutching harmful swords by the blades to escape discomfort.
This card reveals the costly irony of avoiding pain by harming oneself mentally or emotionally.

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This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, I had every intention of doing a neat little compare-and-contrast between the Five and Seven of Swords. But in true Swords fashion, what began as a tidy intellectual exploration turned into something much more raw, spiraling, and unexpectedly revealing.

In this episode, I invite you into a descent through the second half of the Suit of Swords: from the Five through the Ten. What emerges is a psychological narrative about the cost of self-protection, the seduction of avoidance, and the long-term consequences of abandoning ourself.

We begin at the Five of Swords with its hollow victories and relational fallout, and journey through the Six’s dissociative escape fantasies, the self-deception and silent bleeding of the Seven, the imprisonment of the Eight, and the mental reckoning of the Nine. Finally, we arrive at the Ten of Swords, which proves it’s not only a card of collapse, but one of catharsis and clarity.

There’s a throughline here about the ways we try to outrun pain and how we carry our wounds into new landscapes, call avoidance healing, and sometimes end up wounding ourselves in an attempt to feel safe. But there’s also a glimmer of hope because in the darkest point of our sword's spiral, we can meet our truth, and maybe, forge a new path.

So grab your deck, pull out the Five through Ten of Swords, and join me for this reflective and emotionally potent archetypal journey.

Deck referenced: Dreamkeeper’s Tarot

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Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Deep Resonance Sound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Timmoor from Pixabay