FIVE OF SWORDS:
You’ve come across The Cursed Hourglass, for which the Five Eagles of Time are both fighting for and entrapped in. The Five of Swords is a sign that you are finding yourself surrounded by war and competition, that your foes are drawing nearer, or that you’re fighting a battle against Time itself, wasting it away on consumption instead of spending it in growth and creation. The Hourglass has the power to remind you that everything in this world is temporary, that time is running out, that time is always falling. But look a little deeper, and Time is a complicated subject. Time is always moving, that moments of time are both endless and infinite, as if every grain of sand in the universe was a moment of time in the multiverse of possibilities created by each and every passing decision. Is Time your enemy? Or is a gift? Regardless, war exists, and you’re preparing for battle. Think about who or what you’re up against right now, and see yourself holding those things hostage in this magical Hourglass bestowed upon you. Their power is running out, and you hold the key to victory in your hands. You’ve just got to pick up your sword and make the journey.
If you’re feeling blocked:
Even though war and competition seem to be everywhere, Creativity itself is collaborative, not competitive. It’s individualistic and personal, and we each contribute humanity’s web of Creation differently. We aren’t just facing individual conflicts and battles. Together, humanity is facing increasingly global and existential conflicts, endlessly fed by corruption, greed and fear. It will take each of us using our own creative powers to imagine an alternative world in the future that we can all aspire to. But one of the biggest creative blocks we face is our perceived competition, our imposter’s syndrome, the idea that we are not good enough as we are because we are not the best in the world at what we do. It might feel like you’ve been doing a lot, but that nobody is seeing it, nobody is feeling it, nobody is benefitting from it. It might feel like you’re losing or failing at your goals. It might feel like everyone else is beating you, like you’re running from behind. If so, it’s time to step back and remember why you create, what it is that drives your soul, what it is that will bring you peace and purpose.
Often, this is a card about failure, acceptance and forgiveness. Your biggest creative block might lie in the comparisons you make between yourself and other people; shut that down. It could also lie in a project you’re not happy with or a fear of failure; remember that failure is necessary for success. Perhaps you should do something that you know you will most likely fail at that could be helpful to your creative pursuits but is not necessary; something that you can fail at without judging yourself for it. Try to learn to code if you’ve never coded before; take a class in glass blowing; start a novel; start something big that you might never finish. And after you’ve started and failed, if you fail, stop and get back to your other projects, remembering that failure, like everything else in Time, is temporary.
Creativity exercises:
Create an hourglass and fill it with colored sands representing how you normally fill up your days and the ways you wish you filled up your days.
Make a sword out of cardboard and choreograph a sword fight together.
Create a cooking challenge for yourself: Like an episode of chopped, ask three different people to name one required dinner ingredient each, and attempt to make magic. Have a dinner party.
Create something inspired by Eagles; give yourself a strict time limit and stick to it.