Meet the Cards: Five of Water

What I See:

Reflection. Whether the woman is depressed or grieving or regrets something, I get the sense of inner thoughts. She’s taking stock, reevaluating, and perhaps hoping for divine intervention. According to the book, she’s holding a scrying bowl.

This scene makes me think of the beaches along the Pacific NW coast. You don’t lay out and tan. You only swim if the weather is balmy, you have a wetsuit on, or you’re crazy, LOL. I’ve always referred to the beaches as ‘mood beaches’ and they are great places to walk and think.

There is a sense of loneliness but it feels like she went off on her own for a purpose. This is one of the rare cards where both the light and shadow keywords seem to apply no matter which way the card is drawn.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

Let healing flow, moving you out of the gloom.

• Keywords: Renewal, Healing Rifts, Forgiveness, or Crossing Bridges.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

“Being say may have become a habit that’s hard to break.”

• Keywords: Betrayal, Abandonment, Disappointment, or Regret.

Plots:

With that gray fog, perhaps weather plays a key role in your story. How about a setting along a beach or riverside? There’s a boat in the distance, perhaps your MC has been lost at sea, or abandoned.

Perhaps, your story focuses on the supernatural — witches, shapeshifters, etc. How about a vision quest? Or a simple camping trip?

• Five Themes: Challenge, Crisis, Conflict, Instability, or Change.

The traditional depiction of this card is similar in that we see a man gazing out over a river under a cloudy sky. There is more a sense of loss with the man’s head bowed. Perhaps, a study of grief?

In the background is a bridge, or a boat in this case, which often symbolizes a connection between worlds. Perhaps, even dimensions.

Characters:

Direct your gaze inward.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Fives in general, please refer back to the Five of Air.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

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