Five of Pentacles At A Glance
Keywords: Loss, adversity, struggle, unemployment, feeling abandoned, recovery, positive change, forgiveness
Season: Autumn
Element: Earth (the physical, our bodies, health, resources like money, time and energy)
Five of Pentacles Tarot Card Description
The Five of Pentacles is a minor arcana card and the fifth within the suit of Pentacles in the Rider Waite Smith system of tarot. In the traditional imagery we see people walking in the snow past a lit church window.
The woman is hunched in a tattered cloak and wears no shoes despite the cold snow. The man walks behind her on crutches, clearly injured. It is clear from their body language and the gloomy background that they are struggling through adversity, illness and poverty.
The lit window behind them encapsulates five pentacles within its stained glass design. A pentacle is a gold coin with the protective symbol of a pentagram (a five-pointed star inside a circle) stamped upon it. The light through the window is the only warm color and tone in the artwork and so draws our eye to it.
We are reminded that when we face hardships we can turn to our community for support. Throughout history churches were more than a place to worship. They were a sanctuary, a public place where the community could meet.
Many were even taught the basics of reading and writing. So in tarot churches are less a symbol about any specific religion and more like a symbol of believing in community and being welcomed by it.
Five of Pentacles Upright Meaning
When the Five of Pentacles is upright we understand it to mean there is a period of adversity or struggle being discussed. The two people in the art are walking past the lit window instead of heading into the church.
We are not sure if they are avoiding the church out of choice or if they are uninvited for some reason. This evokes feelings of abandonment and a lack of support. However though the situation looks dire they still have each other.
It is important to remember that the Five of Pentacles does not necessarily predict future hardships so we must try to refrain from instantly feeling fearful or upset when we receive this card.
Often the 5 of Pentacles acknowledges our previous experiences. It asks us to remember what these tough times taught us. It also gives us hope because we have overcome every hardship we have ever faced and this one though scary is no different.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” - Maya Angelou
Five of Pentacles Reversed Meaning
When reversed the Five of Pentacles is incredibly positive. This subverts the usual pattern of upright cards generally being positive and their reversals being negative. An upright or reversed tarot card is like two sides of the same coin.
They may discuss the same theme but they will be at opposites from each other when showing how this theme can manifest in our lives. So instead of positive/negative we should instead view uprights and reversals as just opposites/different.
In this case the Five of Pentacles when reversed speaks of healing and recovery from recent hardships and is a positive sign that we are through the hardest part of our recovery journey.
As Pentacles in tarot symbolize not only wealth and abundance but anything that is vital to our survival this recovery could be focused around our finances, home repairs or even about possessions like a car or home appliances. It could even denote the healing of our intangible resources like our time, health and energy.
“What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.” - Haruki Murakami
Five of Pentacles: Yes or No
The Five of Pentacles is generally a no card. As this card discusses themes of hardships and adversity we can understand that receiving this in answer to a binary yes/no question means we do not have enough resources to say yes to this and should first focus on the recovery of those resources.
Let’s Break Down the Five of Pentacles In Our Lives
How the Five of Pentacles answers questions specific to different areas of our lives.
Five of Pentacles In Love
The Five of Pentacles in love readings can signify a feeling of loneliness or abandonment. This may look like a string of unsuccessful dates for single people or those in a relationship may feel a distance growing between themselves and their partner.
Reversed the Five of Pentacles foretells of our recovery from grief or leaving unhealthy relationships and overcoming the emotional toil it took on us.
This could mean starting to cope better with life again or it could mean feeling ready to move on emotionally.
Five of Pentacles With Money
The Five of Pentacles in financial readings can be a strong indicator that we could be about to lose money, struggle to source enough resources or face financial hard times in some way.
The Five of Pentacles is not just about money but other things we need which could affect our ability to earn money like our time, energy or health.
Reversed the Five of Pentacles signifies moving in the right direction to get out of debt, it can also represent finding financial security and healing money insecurities and anxieties.
Five of Pentacles At Work
When we are met with the Five of Pentacles in career readings it is suggesting we may be feeling left out of office teams or friendship circles. It could mean we feel unsure of our next steps in our career or feeling lost in general with where we are going and what we want from life.
Reversed the 5 of Pentacles says we are or will soon be making positive changes in our career. These changes not only benefit us and how we feel whilst going about our work but they also benefit the world at large.
This gives us the feeling of truly making a difference and leaving the world a little bit better than how we found it.
Five of Pentacles With Others
The Five of Pentacles answers questions about society by validating our feelings that we could be shunned or forgotten by our community.
We may be experiencing shame and hiding ourselves away which further exasperates the problem.
Reversed the Five of Pentacles celebrates that we will soon be accepted by a new community or welcomed back to an old one.
This will lead to us receiving better support and our mental and emotional wellness will heal from the recent past trauma and pain we experienced.
Five of Pentacles With Self
When we ask questions about our inner-selves and receive the Five of Pentacles it advises us to try and break through negative spirals we may currently be facing.
Though easier said than done small steps can lead to big changes and the first step is to accept and confront our hardships. It can be tempting to run from our problems but this will only push us to spiral more.
Reversed the Five of Pentacles advises us there is no shame in seeking support for self-development and help with our mental health.
We are reminded that mental and emotional recovery are possible if we commit to working on them daily with professional and medical methods as well as the things we can do ourselves to help.
Five of Pentacles As Feelings
The Five of Pentacles feels like anxiety and sadness as we suffer through our adversities and hardships.
Though times are not good we do also feel hope that things will change for the better and we cling to this.
