5 of swords

This painting is a part of my Queer Revolution Tarot series. I painted 78 tarot cards based on the themes of traditional decks, but with a gender expansive approach to a traditionally binary categorization. Masculine and feminine are qualities, not bodies, and anybody could embody either or both.

This card represents conflict, disagreements, competition, defeat, and winning at all costs. Your recent challenges have taken a lot from you—even if you won the battle, you may have lost trust, respect, dignity, and friends. Do you compromise, or is your personal win important enough to end relationships over? Do you really need all five swords? Pick your battles—don’t fight every conflict, and apologize when you need to.

The figure looks away from the viewer in shame. He has won a battle at the cost of his self-respect. Leaving two swords behind, he walks away from the evidence of his guilt.