The Five of Wands Yes or No: No, Not While Everyone Is Fighting

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Five of Wands is a no made of noise. Here is how I read it for yes or no questions, upright and reversed, and why the reversal is about a fight gone quiet.

If you want the short answer, the Five of Wands is a no. In a yes or no draw the upright card says the thing you are asking about is blocked by competition, conflict or scattered energy, and that nothing is achieved while everyone is waving sticks. It is a no about contest, not about the thing itself.

This is a card of no as a scrum. Five figures, five wands, no winner and no result.

Is the Five of Wands a yes or a no?

Upright, I read the Five of Wands as a no. Reversed, I read it as unclear, neither a clean yes nor a clean no. My free yes or no tarot draw uses the Major Arcana only, so if you want a quick draw, use that; these Minor Arcana values are the ones I apply when a full deck is in play.

Tina Gong's the Five of Wands guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with conflict, competition, disagreement and scattered energy. Brigit Esselmont's yes or no tarot overview at Biddy Tarot notes that readers assign yes and no values differently, which is true, and it is why I state mine rather than pretend there is one correct table.

Why the upright card reads this way

I read the Five of Wands as no because the card is about effort cancelled by other effort: the young men sparring in a field, none of them landing a blow. When a question wants a result, the Five says the energy is there and it is going into the fight rather than into the goal.

The no is temporary and loud. Arguments end. The Five of Wands says the answer is no while the contest continues, and the contest continues until someone decides it has.

The Five of Wands reversed as yes or no

Reversed, I read the Five of Wands as unclear. The reversal describes conflict avoided, cooperation found, or tension pushed underground where it still delays things silently.

If you drew the Five of Wands reversed, ask whether agreement has actually been reached or whether everyone has just stopped shouting. Only the first opens toward yes.

The Five of Wands yes or no in a love question

In a love question, the Five of Wands is a no to a relationship that is currently all friction, and a no to winning someone over rivals by competing harder. It can describe a couple who argue constantly and a situation with several people in the running. Reversed, it suggests the fighting has stopped and asks whether the feeling has survived it.

The Five of Wands yes or no for work and money

For work and money, the Five of Wands is a no to the project where the team cannot agree, the pitch against too many competitors, the decision nobody will settle. Reversed, it suggests the conflict has gone quiet and may still be delaying things from under the surface.

When a yes or no draw is the wrong tool

The Five of Wands answers questions about contested situations. It is a poor card for solitary questions, which it may answer by describing an inner argument instead. A single card answers a single, well-formed question. If the question is really three questions, or is about another person's choices, a yes or no draw will give you a confident answer to the wrong thing. My guide to a one question psychic reading explains how I handle questions that need more than one card.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the exact question you asked, every voice in the contest around it, and the one process that would end the contest. The third note is where the no turns.

For comparison, the Seven of Wands yes or no and the Two of Swords as timing answer differently. The the Five of Wands card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Five of Wands as timing and the Five of Wands as feelings cover the two other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to an online psychic reading explains how readings work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.