Five of Swords - You are experiencing difficulty in communicating your ideas to others - see how your mind creates doubt and pessimism which fragments your thinking. Decisions become difficult, bringing confusion and doubt as you experience memories of defeat, conflict and loss. The "image" of an enemy can refer to a real person, to an overall situation or to an "inner" feeling of inadequacy when the battle has been lost and the weight bears down heavily - resulting in weakness and a sense of humiliation. Rely on your "inner" voice now as others try to impose their ideas on you. Take a look at your thinking - your thoughts are "conditioned" from the ways society says you have not done well enough. Are your thoughts so rigid that there is no room for other opinions? One persons perception of "defeat" is another persons perception of "success". Trust that you have the faith and wisdom to move through the fears generated in your mind and accept input from others without letting it destroy your own perspective. Consider it a means of looking at all the possibilities and rejecting none.

Use your creative visualization and affirmation now - cut out the negative thinking. Trying to prove that you are right is not going to change peoples minds - you may win a point and lose your best friend in the process. When an encounter has hurt or injured you - you will need to heal and be made whole again. Call on the spiritual strength inside you for guidance. Great healers gain their gifts from personal wounding that has been transcended and now allows them to assist others in the same process.

The paradox of freedom and uncertainty, a multiplicity of choice at the mental level. The dilemma - how to preserve the order and discipline from the foundation while moving forward? Pause for reparation. Activity is local, circular and repetitive rather than linear, yet is progressive. Rummaging the file cabinet of the mind, investigating, reviewing, evaluating, priortizing. Picking up the pieces you want and discarding the rest. Looking for potential problems, but only to ferret them out, not to be negative. The self begins to become a larger self with priorities that include the extended family of loved ones and close friends. Detailed planning, contemplation, thoughts and communication flowing freely. Positive critique. Collecting information, experimenting with ideas - continuing education, but only to flush out your existing fields of knowledge - nothing drastic or new. Mental patience, appropriate worry, sadness or disappointment. Preparation for next vital move.

Questions to Answer: Do you expect to get "stung" in this situation? What are you afraid of? What is causing division in the solidarity of your group? Why don't you feel good about what you are doing? What do you need in order to feel good? What would be the ethical thing to do? What is so important to you that you have to prove everyone else wrong?