FIVE OF PENTACLES — Tarot Card Meaning
FIVE OF PENTACLES in the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot: what the card means upright, what shifts when it appears reversed, the symbols drawn on it and the correspondences traditionally assigned to it.
Hardship
Core meaning
Help is closer than you think—reach out.
- hardship
- loss
- isolation
- worry
- poverty
Upright keywords
- hardship
- loss
- isolation
- worry
- poverty
- illness
- financial struggle
- feeling left out
- insecurity
- adversity
- difficult times
- rejection
- abandonment
- unemployment
- homelessness
- health issues
- spiritual poverty
- cold and hungry
- lack of support
- tough times
Reversed keywords
- recovery
- improvement
- turning point
- spiritual support
- accepting help
- end of hard times
- finding resources
- financial recovery
- health improving
- community support
- hope returning
- employment found
- coming in from cold
- faith restored
- overcoming adversity
Reversed and shadow side
Five of Pentacles reversed signals recovery from hardship. Help is being accepted, or the worst of difficult times is passing.
Symbolism on the card
- two destitute figures
- snow falling
- tattered clothing
- crutches
- stained glass window with five pentacles
- church wall
- bare feet
- cold scene
Correspondences
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- Mercury in Taurus (1st decan, 0-10 degrees)
- Numerology
- 5 — hardship, material loss, feeling left out
Reading the card
- Psychological
- The experience of material or spiritual poverty. The mindset of exclusion that may blind one to available help right outside the door.
- Personality
- Struggling, isolated, impoverished in spirit or matter, proud, refusing help, desolate
- Appearance
- Thin and shivering, worn-out clothing, limping or leaning on another, eyes cast down, pale complexion
- Timing
- Saturn in Taurus, dark moon, freezing winter nights, February
What it means for
- Love and romance
- Feeling left out in the cold by a partner, poverty straining a relationship, loneliness.
- Work and career
- Unemployment, financial loss, business failure, being left out of opportunities.
- Health
- Illness without insurance, health crisis during poverty, being too proud to seek medical help.
- Family
- Financial hardship affecting the whole family, feeling excluded from family support.
- Spirituality
- Spiritual poverty amidst material lack, learning that help is available if pride is released.
Everyday situations
Concrete, literal situations this card can point to in a reading.
Upright keywords
- walking past a warm restaurant you can't afford
- waiting at the unemployment office
- limping to the pharmacy without insurance
- trudging through snow to a night shelter
Reversed keywords
- finally walking into the warm restaurant after getting a job
- unemployment benefits finally approved
- pharmacy bill covered by emergency assistance
- shelter bed and a warm meal after a long cold walk
Related cards
Reinforcing cards
- FIVE OF CUPS — shared deprivation
- SIX OF SWORDS — difficult passage
- THE TOWER — material devastation
- NINE OF SWORDS — suffering and worry
Opposing cards
- THE SUN — hardship vs. abundance
- NINE OF CUPS — poverty vs. satisfaction
- ACE OF PENTACLES — lack vs. new wealth
Tarot content on mezulla is for personal reflection and exploration. It is not a substitute for medical, legal, financial or mental-health advice.