The Five of Pentacles has traditionally been considered a good card for love and a bad card for money.

5 of Pentacles foreshadowed young men and women marriage for love, at the behest of the heart, but contrary to all materialistic considerations (and, accordingly, paradise in a hut without inheritances and dowries, in disfavor with relatives).

Probably, some could rejoice at such a prediction, while for others this idea could pretty much frightening.

The Five of Pentacles loves those who live by the heart.

It supports the spiritual principle, destroying the material (so the disease of the body often guides the spirit on the true path).

It usually means the loss of something material and the acquisition of worldly experience in return, learning a lesson.

All Fives symbolize the beginning of the transformation that should fundamentally change our lives, and this does go with pain.

The secret of the Five of Pentacles is that the most important thing on this card is the Temple. Spiritual strength helps to overcome life’s miscalculations and becomes a natural support of a person in material activity, and a true feeling has great power and gives a person the opportunity to rise above circumstances.

The traditional meaning is material hardships, but also the opportunity to receive the spiritual wisdom.

The Five of Pentacles is a card of hard times, crisis, hardships, worries, losses. 5 of Pentacles indicates the uncertainty of the situation and fear of losing the ground under your feet. It must be remembered that in life, as in any other journey, anxiety is a bad conductor. Such periods of decline are characteristic of any crisis of growth, when a person leaves a certain sphere that has become familiar, stable, and moves into a new, still unfamiliar, and possibly dangerous environment.

In any case, 5 of pentacles speaks of a waste of resources and energies has exceeded the limits.

One of the old interpretations is a waste of time and effort.

The universal meaning of the card is unachieved goals, failed enterprises, mistakes and failures, business disasters, material losses, even poverty.

The questioner is or will soon find himself in a situation where money is tight, and the income he was counting on is passing by. Sometimes it is the result of circumstances beyond our control, sometimes it is the result of our own actions, extravagance and imprudence.

This is a collision with unpleasant life realities that break the illusion of perfection.

5 of Pentacles predicts loss and a depressed state of mind, and this is not necessarily because of material problems – just that there is a difficult period ahead and you will have to tighten your belt to overcome it.

This is a time of fatigue and exhaustion (lack of physical strength, loss of vitality and joy), or poverty, a beggarly existence (inability to improve financial situation), or desperate loneliness (lack of love, coldness, rejection), or uncertainty in yourself (loss of faith in yourself).

5 of Pentacles says that for quite a long time it is necessary to postpone expectations and hopes, be careful and save the rest.

Life will be full of daily worries, and troubles, difficulties and restrictions, perhaps failures, attempts to make ends meet.

5 of Pentacles can carry an unstable position and self-doubt both with regards to work and relationships.

The traditional interpretation “everything will be resolved after five weeks” is often confirmed in practice.

You need to know not to lose your head. It will take some time to suffer, but this time will end, even if difficult circumstances are catching up with despondency, and strength is running out.

5 of Pentacles indicates shocks caused by the beginning of some kind of transformation in life. You go to a gym. The next day, muscles excruciatingly sore – that is, according to sensations, it has become worse than it was. The Five of Pentacles often describes such a “disastrous” initial stage and says – be patient for five weeks.

Personal Mood

Devastated and depressed, anxious and unhappy. Five of Pentacles energy puts a person in a kind of half-asleep and half-depression, when nothing attracts and there are no convincing reasons to either live or die.

At best, “blessed are the poor in spirit.” This is a decline, an unhappy streak (lasting five weeks, according to ancient beliefs), when we feel miserable, abandoned, and sometimes actually in cramped circumstances.

Gloomy reflections, fears for one’s position, pessimism, when it seems that everything around is just falling apart.

The Five of Pentacles describes a difficult internal state, when thoughts go in circles, a black hole of hopelessness forms in the depths of the soul, and creative energy is blocked and it is impossible to do something sensible, to make any changes. This experience is always deeply touching. It cannot be pushed out so easily.

This card, following the Nine of Swords, often emphasizes anxiety, agonizing anxiety. 5 of Pentacles is literally the fear of poverty, the fear of difficulties and failure.

Heavy thoughts about your loneliness, uselessness, abandonment, lack of love are possible.

Anxiety and emptiness come as a result of the summation of negative influences in the wrong direction.

A card of debtors, the poor, the unemployed, outcasts, people who are extremely insecure or aware of some of their defects, limitations, inferiority.

An inferiority complex is also the Five of Pentacles. This card indicates that at the moment a person is missing something very much – money, love, food, warmth

… he is lonely and does not take care of himself. According to the Five of Pentacles, a person may be in cramped circumstances, in a serious crisis, or be deeply offended. The ground leaves from under the feet and only a feeling of wretchedness and impotence remains.

On a Deeper Level

The card describes one of life’s toughest challenges – to be a spiritual and creative person when there’s nothing to eat. Stay strong and whole while sick or disabled. Do not lose inner beauty by contemplating physical defects in the mirror.

Stay true to your principles when it threatens with loss and suffering. This is the opposition of external and internal, physical and mental, material and spiritual, worldly and heavenly, and the question is – will you have enough? Are the poor in spirit truly blessed?

Fives are connected with the mystery of the Fifth Arcanum. This card reflects the simplicity and incomprehensibility of the Sermon on the Mount.

One of the interesting meanings of the 5 of Pentacles is that it often really indicates closeness to the church and its ideals.

The hermit and ascetic life, which purifies the soul with hardships, humility and patience cease to be a metaphor here, and the old observation comes to mind that deeply religious people endure life’s hardships and stresses in a completely different way.

The light emanating from the teachings of the church warms and supports in the midst of truly difficult times quite realistically.

The Five of Pentacles can speak of the need to maintain a humble and highly spiritual position under any circumstances and remind us that such trials and sufferings are transient.

Snow on the card is a sign of the presence of water, the possibility of future purification.

Crowley has an interesting observation that the key word of the Five of Pentacles is the anxiety that a person feels because of the loss of an imaginary security that until yesterday determined his thinking (being a great illusion). And the root of this anxiety is a lack of faith. We are losing faith, we become crazy and insecure.

After all, in ordinary life we all “walk over the hit”, our well-being and life itself can end, but the belief that everything will be fine, allows us to feel quite carefree on a perch above the abyss, comfortable and confident.

At the moment when the Five of Pentacles falls out to us, this faith disappears and we feel terribly vulnerable, defenseless and “above the abyss” – the soil on which we so firmly and thoughtlessly leaned suddenly leaves from under our feet.

There is an opinion that the Five of Pentacles acts on a sleepy soul in the midst of everyday life like a stone thrown into a swamp. No other card so accurately reflects the state of the hero, crazy from the benign state of the Four of Pentacles, like the Five of Pentacles.

From an astrological point of view, the theme of this card is Uranus, exiled in Leo. Where Aquarius is “absorbed” by a new idea, Leo will get himself a mistress, so the Five of Pentacles often means erotic passion, flirting, love games (and reversed – disharmony in love, fear, waste of energy).

The situation of a rake, revelers often walks along the Five of Pentacles. The explosion of the calm atmosphere of the Four, of course, is not given just like that. It is often accompanied by monetary losses, breakdowns, failures, disappointments, ambiguous situations. Sometimes the disruption of the Four turns out to be erroneous, and the person only thinks about how he could return back (the demon beguiled). The Five of Pentacles symbolizes karmic situations. Payment of karmic debts, the theme of the return of the prodigal son.

In general, if the Fours are confidence and order in life, then the Fives are an external influence that breaks the illusion of perfection and plunges into a depressed state of mind.

The Five of Pentacles means difficulties leading to success and affirmation at a new level (according to the Six of Pentacles, this is good luck in getting help), or returning back to the level of the Four. One way or another, the memory of the lived experience remains, regardless of whether it was positive or negative.

The sign of Taurus symbolizes the ability to creative work. But true creation is a harmonious combination of the material and the spiritual into a single whole. If the actions of Capricorn are based on their own inner core and their “I” is able to lead him to the goal because it turns out to be more significant for this sign than everything else, then for Taurus his “I” dissolves in feeling and desire.

The main task of the first decade of Taurus is to realize your feelings, understand the desires that have crept into the soul and respond to them. This decade is characterized by enterprise in everything that concerns the sensual sphere – and therefore it is distinguished by successful functioning and administrative activity in the field of art.

5 of Pentacles has an emotional receptivity, which endows her with a tendency to search for Mercury. Feeling assimilates information not at the same speed as the mind, but firmly: comprehending, it lays the foundation for the building of the future. Sensory experience becomes the basis of life wisdom.

The 5 of Pentacles shows beggars under the windows of the temple. The pitiful figures of two cripples show how much a person has no power over the earthly.

Free will often only cripples a person: he is often unable to follow his life path without mistakes (and as a result feels uneasy due to waste and violations).

5 of Pentacles shows the space that a person creates, but often it turns out to be far from perfect due to his excessive ambitions and unfulfilled desires.

It is believed that two beggars wandering into the snow reflect the general condition of all mankind.

The light in the stained glass window symbolizes esoteric wisdom, the comprehension of which gives liberation from worldly adversity.

Alas, the poor fellows wander past, not realizing that deliverance is near, although a bell hangs on the cripple’s chest, symbolizing the voice of intuition.

Light and shadow (advice and caution)

The advice is to save money and not get into any risky ventures. Now is not the time to test yourself. Simplify your lifestyle by reducing needs to what is necessary.

Prefer solitude over maintaining a dark bond.

5 of Pentacles advises to seek help in a difficult situation – the world is not without good people.

The trap is to ossify in habitual and eternal dissatisfaction (including with oneself), to show shame, toil with a feeling of inferiority, to be terribly afraid of rejection. Get stuck in a hopeless situation.

This card is often a warning, an indication of the need to pay due attention to things, follow every step, demonstrate commitment to work, do your duty and stop wastefulness.

Often we spend the money we have on anything, just do not invest it in our own stability, security and development.

The card can also indicate that unjustified pride prevents you from accepting the already offered and much needed help more than once.

Professional Situation

“Wow, how everything is running.”

Catastrophic business failures.

Enterprise bankruptcy. Unpromising projects. Crisis, helplessness, despondency, hopeless affairs, hostility and bullying.

This is a poor thing – it either literally lacks financial injections, or it is generally devoid of any solid foundations. This can be expressed, for example, as a lack of demand.

Surrounded by favorable cards, the Five of Pentacles can indicate a very promising business that has to be “started in a barn”, like the founder of Micfosoft. At first, it will be difficult, some may not understand the intentions and even condemn them, you will have to defend yourself and your convictions, working in a difficult environment.

As a symbol of the collapse of the balanced scheme of the Four, 5 of pentacles can manifest itself in the form of anarchy, confusion and vacillation, a clash of group interests.

The Five of Pentacles – is a black hole that affects the very depths of the subconscious, the wandering of thoughts in a circle in a fruitless internal dialogue despite the fact that the energy is blocked.

Difficulties, bullying, expulsion from the group. Problematic communication, its disgusting residual negativity, a sense of loss like “I’m bad – you’re bad”, which brings a loss of vitality and joy.

The Five of Pentacles can describe both being overwhelmed with work with clearly insufficient remuneration, and dismissal, job loss, unemployment.

In a positive sense, 5 of Pentacles is a card of sponsors, patrons, that give money with the purpose for the development of art (again in the sense of sacrificing the material and gaining the spiritual).

As a symbol of professional affiliation, 5 of Pentacles can be related to working with a hospital, a nursing home, a hospice, a social center, in churches or in organizations that provide assistance to refugees and victims of mass disasters.

Financial situation

Money loss. material difficulties. Ruin, poverty. Loss of roof over head. This is a card of poverty, hard times, need, loss, lack of material resources, impoverishment, lack of prosperity.

Unemployment, living on welfare. The need to save every ounce of resources, dependence on others, the compulsion to beg, the need for charitable assistance.

Tight with money – through once own fault or due to circumstances.

Loss of advantages and advantageous position.

The income for which the calculation was made will pass by, the invested funds will not be returned. This may be a situation where a person spends more than he earns. Burdened with excessive financial obligations, the need for immediate repayment of debts, a fine.

The best that a card can give is freedom from the obligations associated with money and property, but few people have such a level of philosophical perception of reality as to appreciate this freedom as something especially positive.

A reversed Five of Pentacles can mean unexpected gains.

Personal Relations

As for relationships, here, after all, everyone must draw a conclusion from a personal experience.

5 of Pentacles tells about a strong, inseparable connection between two people who suffer together, unrecognized by society, but will never part, no matter how hard their connection implies.

5 of Pentacles symbolizes people (or a person) who have gotten used to their position and do not even think that their position can be changed.

The basis of relationship is the joint struggle against the cruel world (therefore, inverted, this card, promising a general improvement in life, puts such relationships at risk). Sometimes a person goes through it through moral torment to a literally hard-won decision.

5 of Diamonds speaks of the legitimization of relations.

This may be a period in a relationship when at least one of the partners is crying into the pillow from a feeling of defenselessness and self-doubt, he is hurt and scared and he is tormented by the feeling that he has nothing to do next to the other, he is unloved and unnecessary. Inferiority complex and the mindset of the victim. Feeling of loneliness, uselessness, abandonment, rejection, mental wounding.

Another meaning is an exhausting relationship in which the partner clearly abuses the resources of the questioner – money, emotions, sexual energy … no matter what the case is, there is vampirism without a glimpse of mercy. The result is a loss of vitality and joy. Perhaps the lack of money interferes with love. Another meaning is erotic adventures leading to losses in business.

Sometimes there is separation of people, problematic communication in relationships, they are under threat and everything seems completely hopeless and impossible.

Five of Pentacles can describe a passionately loving and deeply suffering partner who “stands at the door and knocks” (and sometimes literally ready to live under the door in the stairwell) as long as he is much richer in heart than the rejecter. He stands at the locked doors of another cruel heart like a beggar, repeating “have pity!”

Health

Bad! Serious health problems.

Depression, depression, a sharp decline in strength. Energy hit.

Complete depletion of vital resources, sitting immunity. Chronic disease that depletes vitality. Cancer.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, professional burnout, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The presence of bad habits that undermine health.

Anorexia, beriberi, malnutrition.

Colds, diseases caused by hypothermia, pneumonia.

Fractures (especially of the legs), injuries.

Malformations, congenital pathologies.

Reversed 5 of Pentacles

In a reversed position, the Five of Pentacles means waste of energy, extravagance, vulnerability, fear. It can symbolize disharmony in love relationships. Here the struck sign of Leo or the Fifth House is played out. Traditionally – “shameful love”, “dissolute way of life”.

The card can also indicate stagnation in business, worldly worries, discontent. It may happen that the questioner sees great opportunities for himself, but they are not yet fully within reach.

At best, the card may indicate that the losses are not as great as one might fear. Getting a job after being unemployed, improving health after illness, restoring prosperity after bankruptcy, amnesty.

The prospect of spiritual rebirth, the end of an unfavorable streak. The window on the card becomes a door leading to a peaceful haven. Humility, patience, calmness are attributed to this card.

With Other Cards:

With Strength – strength, endurance in trials

With the Tower – marriage breakdown, hard times

With the Wheel of Fortune – a happy marriage

With the Hanged Man – a danger to honor (with Strength – to avoid dishonor).

With Temperance- Restore Health

With the Sun – vitality, strong physique

With the Six of Wands – recognition, fame, the card is considered to weaken the influence of the Five of Pentacles

With the Ten of Wands – hard work, trying to make ends meet

With the Three of Swords – refusal, lack of support

With the Five of Cups – rejection, loss of approval and support

Alister Crowley 5 of Pentacles

The Five of Pentacles is a negative card. 5 of Pentacles speaks of a crisis, anxiety and, in general, a black streak. A person will feel defenseless and very unhappy. But the card rarely promises serious and irreparable losses. Yes, 5 of Pentacles does not promise anything good, but in the end everything will not be as scary as it seemed at first glance.

I must say that the artist Frieda Harris, who worked on creating the images, managed to very well convey the tension and anxiety corresponding to the meaning of the Pentacles.

The dark background of the card, dotted with yellow-red strokes, really makes an annoying, depressing impression.

The pentacles are arranged in the form of an reversed pentagram, we can talk about the instability of the material foundation, which, as Crowley himself wrote, leads to the same consequences as an earthquake.

We see the symbols of the five tattvas that exist in the universe and are associated with the physical plane, as well as the human body. Tattvas seem to hold parts of the body, preventing it from falling apart completely.

Symbols of the five tattvas on the disks Elements: fire, water, air, earth and ether, which hold the body together, keeping it from decay

The Five of Pentacles symbolizes the impact of Reason on Labor, as well as protracted inaction. In a more everyday sense, we can say that there is a crisis going through the Arcana, anxiety for the state of material affairs, instability and inner experiences, fears associated with it, which is in many ways similar to the classic 5 of Pentacles. However, we should not forget that any crisis can be an acquisition of useful experience and a powerful impetus for further positive changes.

5 of Pentacles shadow side

The shadow manifestation of the 5 of Pentacles is the despair that keeps a person from getting out of this crisis. We can say that this is a complete collapse and anxiety, reaching a dangerous edge – then a person seems to be stuck in the Five and cannot go further.