V, Suit of PentaclesFive of Pentacles tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedFive of Pentacles in shortIn short
The Five of Pentacles is hard times. Two poor people struggle through snow at night, a man on crutches and a woman in a shawl, past a lit stained-glass window holding five pentacles. Need, loss, being left out in the cold, and help that may be closer than it looks.
- Hardship
- Need
- Exclusion
Piece oneThe snow
Snow falls everywhere and lies deep, and the woman walks through it barefoot. Waite sets the scene in a snowstorm. The snow makes the need physical: cold, hungry, outside.
Why it is hereThe snow sets the stakes. Without it the two would be poor; with it they're in danger. It also explains the window: on a night this cold, a lit room a wall away is the thing you need most. The man and the woman keep walking through it instead.
Piece twoThe lighted window
Above them a tall stained-glass window glows, five gold pentacles among green leaves. Waite says the two pass a lighted casement. Warmth and light sit a wall away, and the two keep walking.
"Two mendicants in a snowstorm pass a lighted casement."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe window is the card's question. Help is right there, lit and warm, with the five coins set in its glass. The man and the woman keep walking past it. Hard times can narrow your eyes until you miss the door beside you.
Piece threeThe woman in the shawl
A woman bows into the wind, clutching a ragged orange shawl. Waite notes some readers take the card as love and lovers, and says the two meanings can't be harmonised. Read that way, these two still walk the storm together.
"For some cartomancists, it is a card of love and lovers..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereShe holds the card's other reading. Waite notes that some read it as a card of lovers, and she walks beside the man through the worst of it. Her head is bowed, turned from the window above. The shawl is all the warmth she has, and she keeps it.
Piece fourThe man on crutches
A man on two crutches hobbles through snow, one foot bandaged, a small bell at his neck. Waite says the card foretells material trouble above all, here as destitution. Of the two, only he looks up.
"The card foretells material trouble above all..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereHe shows the loss in the body. Crutches, a bandaged foot and a bell at his neck make the trouble physical and public. Of the two, only he looks up. The snow makes every step cost him more than it costs her.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
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The snow
Off-white snow on black night, the harshest contrast on the card, with no sun in the white. The Hermit also stands in snow, on a peak he chose to climb, holding his own light. These two have no lamp and did not choose the cold. The snow falls on them, and they have only each other.
Also in -
The lighted window
Gold, red and blue glass on black: the warmest part of the card, and the furthest from the people. The Four of Swords has a stained-glass window too, above a knight resting inside the church. There the window shelters someone. In the Three of Pentacles the coins sit in a church wall that people are still building.
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The woman in the shawl
Rust orange on midnight blue, the only warm colour at street level, and worn thin. In the Five of Cups a figure in a black cloak stands with head bowed over spilled cups, alone. Same number, same bowed head. This woman at least has company in the storm.
Also in -
The man on crutches
Faded blue and dull green rags, washed out as if the cold drained them. The next card answers his. In the Six of Pentacles a man in a patched blue cloak kneels at a merchant's feet and asks for help. The same blue, one card later, close enough to touch the giver's boot.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Five of PentaclesUpright
Upright, this is material trouble: money worries, job loss, illness, or being shut out. Waite says the card foretells material trouble above all, as destitution like the picture, or in some other form.
The window matters most. Light and shelter are close, and the two keep walking past. Admit the time is hard, then look for the door: help, community, support you've stopped expecting.
Five of PentaclesReversed
Reversed, Waite's words are disorder, chaos, ruin, discord and profligacy, which means reckless spending. Hardship gets messy, or comes from careless money choices.
Many readers today also see the worst of the cold starting to pass. Bring order back: count what you have, stop the waste, take the help on offer.
Yes or noNo, for now.
No, for now. The lit window is right there, though. Ask for help and it can change.
Five of Pentacles in your lifeIn your life
Love
Feeling left out or unsupported, or a couple getting through hard times together. Waite notes an old reading of love and lovers: two people who stay side by side through the storm.
Work
Job loss, low pay, or being shut out at work. Ask for support. Pride won't keep you warm.
Money
Money is tight. Cut back, get advice and help, and take on no new debt.
Health
Look after yourself and take pain or exhaustion seriously. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Comfort and faith feel far. The light is still on, even behind glass.
Advice
Ask for help. The warm window is closer than you think.
As a person
Someone in a hard time, or who feels like an outsider. Loyal when things are bad.
Past, present, future
Past: loss or need that still shapes you. Present: a hard stretch with help nearby. Future: trouble that eases if you reach out.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Pentacles
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- Mercury in Taurus
- Sephira
- Geburah
- Upright
- Material trouble
- Reversed
- Disorder
QuestionsCommon questions
It's one of the hardest for money and comfort: need, loss, exclusion. The lit window says help is close, and hard times pass.
Feeling left out or unloved, or a couple facing hard times side by side. Waite notes some readers take it as a card of love and lovers.
No, for now. It can change once you look for help.
Waite says the two pass a lighted casement. It stands for shelter, charity or community, close by. Help is there and they walk past it.
Mercury in Taurus, in the Golden Dawn system. Restless Mercury in comfort-loving Taurus, and the card shows that comfort lost.
Waite says the card foretells material trouble above all. Some read it as love and lovers, and he says the two meanings can't be harmonised.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Pentacles