Last updated: January 28, 2026
The pairing of Five of Wands with The Devil brings a sense of alignment and flow to your reading, suggesting that different aspects of your situation are working together.
Competition, creative tension, and challenges that ultimately lead to growth. The Five of Wands represents competition, conflict, and creative tension. While this may seem negative, this card often indicates healthy competition or challenges that push you to improve. The keywords most associated with this card—competition, conflict, struggle, disagreement—give us insight into its core energy.
Bondage to material desires, temptation, and the illusion of being trapped. The Devil represents bondage to material desires, addictions, and limiting beliefs that keep you trapped in patterns of suffering. This card often appears when you're caught in cycles of behavior that you know aren't good for you but feel unable to break. This card carries the themes of bondage, temptation, materialism, addiction, which interact meaningfully with Five of Wands's energy.
The earth energy in this combination brings practical wisdom and real-world applicability to the reading's message. Abstract insights become actionable guidance.
When you encounter Five of Wands and The Devil together, consider what area of your life requires the integration of competition with bondage. The cards don't appear together randomly—their pairing is meaningful and specific to your question or situation.
This combination often surfaces during times when you're being asked to hold multiple truths simultaneously, finding wisdom in the space where both cards' messages overlap and inform each other.
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In love readings, Five of Wands with The Devil suggests a relationship or romantic situation where energies flow naturally and partners complement each other well.
When these two cards appear together in a love reading, they bring a nuanced message about your romantic life.
Five of Wands in Love: Relationship conflicts, competition for attention, or passionate disagreements. You and your partner may be experiencing disagreements that feel more like power struggles than constructive communication
The Devil in Love: Unhealthy relationship patterns, codependency, or sexual obsession. This card can indicate being trapped in toxic relationships, unable to leave despite knowing they're harmful
Together, Five of Wands and The Devil suggests a relationship or romantic situation where energies flow naturally and partners complement each other well. This combination speaks to the heart of your romantic situation, asking you to consider how these two energies manifest in your love life.
Trust the connection. This combination indicates that love is supported by the universe right now.
Whether you're single and seeking, newly dating, or in a long-term partnership, this card combination offers relevant insight. For singles, consider how these themes might relate to what you're attracting or need to develop before finding love. For those in relationships, reflect on how these energies play out between you and your partner.
The intersection of competition's energy with bondage's influence creates a specific romantic signature that's meaningful for your situation.
For career and finances, Five of Wands with The Devil indicates a professional environment where your skills, goals, and circumstances align favorably.
In professional matters, this card combination carries specific guidance for your work life and financial decisions.
Five of Wands at Work: Workplace competition, team conflicts, or professional challenges. You may be competing with colleagues for promotions, dealing with disagreements in team projects, or facing challenges that test your professional skills
The Devil at Work: Career bondage, work addiction, or compromising values for money. This card can indicate jobs that drain your soul, workplace environments that bring out your worst qualities, or careers that require you to act against your principles
The combination of Five of Wands and The Devil indicates a professional environment where your skills, goals, and circumstances align favorably. These cards together paint a picture of your current professional landscape and the opportunities or challenges ahead.
Move forward with confidence. Professional endeavors are supported right now.
Consider how the themes of competition and bondage apply to your specific work situation. Are there projects that need this combination's energy? Relationships with colleagues that reflect these dynamics? Career decisions that these cards illuminate?
While this combination primarily speaks to career, it also influences financial matters. The harmonious energy suggests stable financial conditions.
Spiritually, Five of Wands and The Devil together invites you into a period of spiritual alignment where inner and outer realities support each other.
On a soul level, this combination speaks to your spiritual path and inner development.
Five of Wands's Spiritual Wisdom: Spiritual challenges, conflicting beliefs, or growth through spiritual struggle. You may be questioning your faith, dealing with spiritual doubt, or encountering teachings that challenge your current understanding
The Devil's Spiritual Wisdom: Spiritual materialism, shadow work needed, or being trapped by false beliefs. This card can indicate using spirituality for ego purposes, being controlled by religious dogma, or spiritual practices that have become compulsive rather than liberating
Five of Wands meeting The Devil invites you into a period of spiritual alignment where inner and outer realities support each other. This is not a random pairing—the universe is highlighting specific spiritual themes for your attention.
Given this combination's energy, consider incorporating meditation, gratitude practices, and mindful presence into your spiritual routine.
The intersection of Five of Wands's wisdom with The Devil's teachings creates a unique spiritual lesson. Meditate on both cards together, allowing their combined imagery and symbolism to speak to your soul. What message emerges when you hold both energies simultaneously?
This combination appears when you're ready to integrate competition with bondage of your spiritual understanding. The growth available now requires honoring both cards' teachings.
When either card appears reversed, the combination's meaning shifts toward internal work and blocked energies.
Five of Wands Reversed: Avoiding conflict, inner tension, or competition turning destructive.
The Devil Reversed: Breaking free from bondage, overcoming addiction, or recognizing personal freedom.
Both Cards Reversed: When both Five of Wands and The Devil appear reversed together, this signals a period of significant internal processing. External action may be premature—focus instead on inner work and self-reflection.
The reversed combination asks: What needs to be unblocked or healed before these cards' upright potential can manifest?
The imagery of Five of Wands and The Devil creates a rich visual dialogue, particularly through their shared symbolism of Clashing Wands & Torch in Left Hand and Uneven Ground & Black Background.
Five people hold wands aloft, appearing to battle or compete with each other. Their wands cross and clash in the center, creating a chaotic but energetic scene. The conflict appears more like spirited competition than serious combat.
Key Symbols: **Five Youths**: Competitive energy - Conflict as growth opportunity
A horned, winged devil-like figure sits on a throne with an inverted pentagram on its forehead. The figure holds a torch in one hand and raises the other in a gesture of false blessing. Two naked figures - a man and woman - are chained to the throne, but their chains are loose enough to remove. They have sprouted horns and tails, showing how base desires have transformed their nature. The entire scene is set against a dark background, suggesting the realm of illusion and spiritual blindness.
Key Symbols: **Horned Devil Figure**: The shadow self and lower nature given form - The aspects of self that we deny or repress, now demanding recognition
**Inverted Pentagram**: Spirit trapped in matter, materialism over spirituality - The reversal of natural spiritual order through materialistic focus
**Bat Wings**: False power and the illusion of freedom in darkness - The appearance of power that actually keeps one bound to lower vibrations
When these cards appear together, notice particularly how Clashing Wands & Torch in Left Hand, Uneven Ground & Black Background, Wand/Staff & Torch in Left Hand create visual and energetic echoes between the two images. These shared symbols amplify the combination's message.
Shared Symbolic Themes:
Five of Wands (5) and The Devil (15) combine to 20, reducing to 20—the number of significant transition.
Five of Wands - Number 5: The number of change, challenge, conflict, and instability. Disruptive energy that tests commitment and forces growth through competition
The Devil - Number 15: The number of temptation, materiality, and the choice between light and shadow. The energy that tests spiritual development through material challenges and shadow confrontation
The combined numerological vibration of 20 brings the energy of significant transition. This underlying numerical influence colors how these two cards interact, adding a layer of completing and transcendent energy to their combination.
Five of Wands
The Competitor, The Warrior in Training, The One Who Struggles
The Devil
The Shadow, The Tempter, The Illusionist
When The Competitor, The Warrior in Training, The One Who Struggles meets The Shadow, The Tempter, The Illusionist, these archetypal energies work together in natural alliance, each supporting the other's expression. Consider which archetypal patterns are active in your current situation and how their interaction might be playing out in your life.
The Major Arcana The Devil brings archetypal weight to the everyday energy of Five of Wands.
The Devil's Archetypal Journey: After Temperance's balanced integration, The Devil tests that balance by presenting temptations and illusions. This is where the soul learns to distinguish between real limitations and self-imposed bondage, between authentic power and false control.
Five of Wands's Suit Progression: The Five of Wands disrupts the stability of the Four with necessary conflict. After celebration comes challenge - the competitive struggle that tests whether the creative fire is strong enough to survive. This is training ground energy, where skills are honed through opposition and the will is tempered.
When Major and Minor Arcana appear together, the Major card often shows the larger life lesson or theme, while the Minor card indicates how that theme is manifesting in your daily experience. The Devil's archetypal energy infuses the practical situation shown by Five of Wands.
Use these questions for journaling or meditation with this combination:
Combined Affirmation
“I embrace challenges as opportunities for growth while also embracing the wisdom to recognize my freedom.”
Understanding the astrological and elemental energies behind each card reveals deeper layers of meaning in this combination.
Saturn (Five of Wands) meets Saturn (The Devil) - this combination blends Saturn's energy of discipline and structure with Saturn's influence of discipline and structure.
About Five of Wands and The Devil
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