Five of Pentacles
Five of Pentacles
Number 5 Earth
A pentacles card: money, body, and the ordinary business of living.
Upright
hardshipexclusiongoing withouthelp not asked for
Two figures in the snow, passing a lit window they do not look up at. The Five of Pentacles is real hardship: money, health, or the feeling of being outside something everyone else is inside. Its sharpest point is the window: help is closer than it appears and is not being asked for.
Reversed
recoveryhelp foundcoming inside
Coming in from the cold. Reversed, this is the end of a hard stretch, help finally accepted, or a situation improving materially. The recovery is often slower than the fall and it is still recovery.
What is in the picture
Two figures in snow beneath a stained glass window, one on crutches. The window is lit and neither of them looks at it.
What it says about…
The line a reading leads with, depending on what you said you were asking about.
A bit of everything
Upright: a hard stretch, and help nearer than you think. Ask.
Reversed: coming in out of it. Slowly and genuinely.
Love and relationships
Upright: feeling shut out, in a relationship or from having one.
Reversed: warmth returning, or being let in.
Work and direction
Upright: out of work, or in work that is not sustaining you.
Reversed: a way back in. Take the imperfect version of it.
Money and security
Upright: genuine money trouble. There is help and it has to be asked for.
Reversed: the pressure lifting. Rebuild slowly and do not celebrate early.
Me, honestly
Upright: you are not failing at something everyone else finds easy.
Reversed: let somebody help. It is not a debt.
A decision I am stuck on
Upright: not alone. Whatever you choose, tell someone first.
Reversed: yes: the one that gets you back inside.
With other cards
With Six of Pentacles
Hardship and help, in that order. The window in the Five is answered by the hand in the Six: the help is there, and the card before it is why you have to ask.
If this card leads
Look up at the window. Ask the specific person.
As a yes or no
Upright, it reads as no. Reversed, yes.
“Asking for help is the door, not the failure.”
Draw it in a reading
The meaning above, applied to something you are actually asking about.
