Tag: Five of Swords

Posted in Matilda's, Memoir Writing, Narrative Therapy, Women's Health, Women's Stories

Five of Swords – Isabella Mary Kelly

Posted on by Heather Blakey

The Five of Swords is about a battle in which there are no winners – by the time someone had triumphed, it is over anyway. There may ‘officially’ be winner and a loser… but from over here it kinda looks like everyone lost.

The stories that have circulated about Irishwoman Isabella Mary Kelly are amazingly lurid. As recently as the 1970s and 1980s tabloid articles about her feature headlines such as ‘Female settler was tyrant to assigned lags’, ‘Wild ways of grazier Bella’, ‘Sex-hungry tyrant lived by law of the lash’ and ‘Isabella Kelly — a bitter, sadistic hellcat of a woman’. This forensically researched books dispels these outrageous claims and honours her memory.

Isabella Mary Kelly (no relation to Victorian bushranger Ned Kelly) was born in Dublin, and arrived in Australia in 1835, a wealthy single woman in a man’s world. Kelly was surely the only woman who alone in those wild days took up virgin forest for settlement as a pioneer in Australia. She was the first, or one of the very first, ‘free’ selectorson the land north of the Manning. 

Isabella ran her  property herself, using assigned convict labour.  Isabella was disliked by her male counterparts who lived nearby and was eventually accused and convicted of a crime she did not commit She struggled to prove her innocence and obtain justice.

When this card appears in a reading it calls upon you to think about the areas of conflict in your life. Is the fight still worth it? Was it ever worth it at all? The truth is that old grudges eat up our energy, take up brain space and cause you pain and harm. Sometimes it is better to just walk away – even if that means admitting defeat?

In this case however, Isabella, accused amongst other things of being a gun-toting wildcat. does need to have her name cleared. Stories concerning Miss Kelly’s heart-less doings in those wild days have been many, and particularly outrageous tales have easily been attached to this ‘Pioneer in Skirts,’ for she seems to have had very few friends to advocate her cause.

Read the printed material of the tme and you would be led to believe that she was a masculine, evil-minded, ill-tempered, unnatural sort of individual. For instance, it is alleged that she shot down convicts with the two big old horse pistols, that she carried at her belt; that she murdered her maid servant in her tantrums; and even drove chained convicts 50 miles on foot, to Port Macquarie to be flogged after they had saved her own life in a swollen river. 

Such stories are outrageously libellous to her memory, one even accusing her of flogging men to within an inch of their lives for refusing her favours. Most of these accounts end with Kelly receiving her just desserts by dying as an impoverished beggar living in a cellar in Sydney’s dockland in the 1890s.

The truth is less spectacular. Kelly successfully managed her property herself, becoming a noted breeder of horses. Current thinking about Kelly is that she was greatly resented for the free lifestyle she led as an unmarried woman. Posthumously, The Trials of Isabella Mary Kelly, by Maurice Garland offers a different picture of this spirited individual and provides some justice for Isabella. It reveals the lengths her adversaries went to and shows just what a stoic female pioneer she was.

Isabella died in Sydney in 1872, not wealthy but certainly not a beggar. She is now recognised in the Manning River area as a pioneer woman of great determination and ability.

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Posted in Matilda's, Memoir Writing, Narrative Therapy, Women's Health, Women's Stories

Five of Swords – Juanita Nielsen

Posted on by Heather Blakey

The Five of Swords Tarot card comes with a warning as it can signify hostility, aggression, intimidation and violence and as such it can represent situations we would hope to never encounter in our lives such as crime, theft, bullying, abuse, assault, rape, murder. 

Juanita Nielsen, a member of a prominent Sydney family, was a passionate activist and journalist. She lived in a terrace house in Victoria Street, Kings Cross, Sydney, and her father bought her a local newspaper called ‘Now’ which she published from her home.

There are some battles which put our lives at stake and taking on F.W. Theeman was one of them. Juanita conducted a vigorous editorial campaign in support of the ‘green ban’ movement against the redevelopment of Victoria Street by Theeman’s real-estate company, Victoria Point Pty Ltd. With her neighbour and trade-union activist Jack (‘Mick’) Fowler, she played a prominent role in mobilising residents against the demolition of Victoria Street’s historic terraces and the eviction of their tenants.

On 4 July 1975 after visiting the Carousel (previously Les Girls)—a transvestite nightclub and underworld haunt at Kings Cross—on advertising business vanished and was never seen again. During initial investigations, police uncovered information relating to a conspiracy to kidnap Ms Nielsen on Monday 30 June 1975 – four days prior to her last known sighting.

The “Five of Swords” in Tarot typically represents conflict, defeat, and betrayal. It can indicate a situation where someone has come out on top at the expense of others, often through manipulation or deceit. This card encourages reflection on whether the victory is worth the cost and advises against seeking success at the expense of others.

Attempts to find her or her corpse have proved fruitless and no one was ever charged with her murder. Despite public outcry, the mystery remains a major case in the annals of unsolved Australian crimes and has been the subject of podcasts and television programs. There is a significant reward for information that will finally provide some closure, especially for extended family.

The Five of Swords represents a conflict or tension between individuals, which, if not resolved, will be a no-win scenario for everyone involved. This card symbolizes loss, betrayal, weakness, and the realization of limitations, which often stems from the desire always to come first, which is the root cause of the conflict, to begin with.

Much of Victoria Street was saved, but Juanita paid the ultimate price. She is remembered as a fierce advocate of community values and fighter against corruption. Her small terrace house at 202 Victoria Street is now heritage listed.

Posted in Matilda's, Memoir Writing, Narrative Therapy, Women's Health, Women's Stories

Five of Swords – Professor Lyndall Ryan

Posted on by Heather Blakey

There is little positive to say about the five of swords, especially at this time in history as we witness the horrors in active war zones. There is even less that is positive if you lay Barbara Walker’s Five of Swords alongside the Ten of Swords. It’s about a battle in which there actually are no winners – by the time someone had triumphed, it was over anyway. There may ‘officially’ be winner and a loser… but from over here it doesn’t look like anyone is triumphant. And then there are the ongoing ripple effects of what has been done.

During their school years the majority of Australian students are not taught about the Indigenous massacres on Australian soil or are able to gain an understanding of what the stolen generation is all about. Even if they do watch ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ or hear about these horrors. there are disturbing truths about the aftermath of all these actions that need to be acknowledged. It takes courage to look dispassionately at this stuff and understand the trails of trauma that have shaped so many lives.

The daughter of Edna Minna Ryan (1904–1997) a committed feminist, communist and trade unionist, Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan believes that she was bestowed with a responsibility to present available facts and figures about indigenous massacres in Australia. It is her wish to present material in such a way that helps people understand and come to terms with the events of the past.

For the past eight years this 79-year-old and her research team have upheld an unwavering commitment to uncover and confirm the truth about Australia’s early colonial history.

It’s been an endeavour that has unearthed confronting and deeply disturbing details of the colonial frontier massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The image of the 5 of Swords is usually depicted with a person who has captured the swords of his adversaries who are leaving, rejected and lost. There are storm clouds in the background. This card shows that you might be the conqueror or the conquered. But neither position has actually won. This battle was pointless, it was unfair and it was full of cowardliness. Basically, this is not one of the higher points of life.

The research project’s fourth and final stage’s recently released findings now estimate more than 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s lives were lost during at least 414 massacres committed during the period 1788 to 1930.

Evidence also shows around half the frontier massacres were carried out by colonial officials, such as police and soldiers, either solely, or in conjunction with settlers and/or their employees.

And unexpectedly, the attacks during the spread of pastoral settlement in Australia did not decrease as the decades passed; they intensified.  More massacres occurred in the period 1860 to 1930 than in the earlier period of 1788 to 1860.