Deck: Modern Witch Tarot by Lisa Sterle
Pull: Five of Swords and Ace of Wands
Interpretation: Five of Swords is known as the card of defeat. Are you the one in front, holding the swords of hubris? (Maybe you won the battle, but you'll eventually lose the war.) Are you the one in the middle, numbing out? Or are you the one in the back, losing your shit and fleeing the scene? We can be any one of these fight, flight or freeze characters, depending on our nervous system and the context of the "defeat" at hand.
Some things to consider: Is being right getting in your way of being kind? How do you deal with defeat? What can a wounded ego teach you right now? How can you best build yourself back up? What did you learn about yourself the last time you felt defeated? What's your usual reaction when confronted? (I'm personally a flee kinda gal!)
Ace of Wands is here to get you fired back up again after nursing those wounds or eating a little crow. Either way, admitting defeat or learning to apologize requires humility and lots of honesty, and that is courageous. Use the passionate energy of the Ace to rekindle a flame of self-worth and confidence that is strengthened by each battle and everything you learned in the process. THAT is the way to cultivate those under-celebrated inner victories.