The Five of Pentacles

Many people have keywords like "poverty" to describe the Five of Pentacles. In the most common images we see people who are injured and bedraggled. They are walking in the snow, and walking right past a building where they could find the things they need. Surely, at the moment, they are indeed impoverished.

Some tarot authors have written about the Five of Pentacles in regards to love relationships - being left out in the cold, or a failure to make the relationship work.

When I see the number five in tarot I always think about expansion. To me, five represents what it takes to leave the comfort zone and push out to the place where the magick happens.

The poor people in the Five of Pentacles have the opportunity to walk in to the building, instead of walking by it. There is an opportunity there that they refuse to see.

For me, the keyword for the Five of Pentacles is "opportunity." This card is an invitation to reevaluate the situation, and find the opportunity within it. What are you not seeing that could help you?

Five of Pentacles

The recent Lammas Tarot Blog Hop focused on the suit of Pentacles. It was very cool to read how 37 different tarotists view the Pentacles, and the particular cards within the suit. I read a few discussions about the Five of Pentacles that sparked my interest.

It seems many tarotists view the Five of Pentacles specifically as a financial or physical loss; a loss of job or income, or a deficit in health. Certainly the Five of Pentacles can show up this way for all of us from time to time.

Traditionally, some readers actually associate a romantic loss with this card. Although the suit of Pentacles is more often associated with money and resources, many people see this card as describing a situation where a romantic opportunity is lost, perhaps due to misunderstanding or lack of communication.

This is an interesting example of how the four elements can cross between the tarot suits. Romance (usually associated with Cups) shows up in cards like the Ten of Pentacles, or more sadly in the Five of Pentacles. Communication, more often associated with the Suit of Swords, can be the deficit in the Five of Pentacles.

The word “opportunity” is one I like to associate with the Five of Pentacles. In fact, I prefer the concept of “missed opportunity” for the Five of Pentacles to the concept of “loss.” In many depictions of this image, it seems clear that the characters on the card are missing the opportunity to gain a resource they need.

The question is this. Why are they missing the opportunity? Is it stubbornness?  Could it be laziness? What about lack of faith? Maybe it’s lack of imagination?  Are they stuck in pride? Are they afraid? Or are they just plain stupid?

Often when I see the Five of Pentacles, the message I get is this. The opportunity you need is right in front of your face. You’re just not seeing it.

In tarot, all the “five” cards depict some difficulties and conflicts. That’s because five is the number of expansion. In the number four, we are in our safe comfort zone. With five, we push past those limitations.

From this numerological perspective, perhaps the Five of Pentacles is asking us to push past our own limitations to discover what is truly possible. This may be especially true in areas of business, money, physical ability and wellness.

When you see the Five of Pentacles, try asking yourself this. Where are opportunities to improve my physical and financial wellbeing? Am I resistant to opportunities I should be embracing?