Strength and Five of Wands

The ruler of Leo with its first decan. Strength closes the lion jaws gently; the Five of Wands is five figures contending with staves and nobody hurt. The tradition reads the pair as friction handled without escalation, and it is the clearest statement in the deck that force is optional.

Associated with an argument that did not become a row because one person declined. Read as capability rather than as capitulation.

Rivalry defused by somebody choosing not to win it. Frequently read where the restraint was the effective move.

The Five of Wands is noise and Strength is the card that knows it. Answering it in kind is the only way this pair goes wrong.