A positive spin on the 5 of Pentacles

[Guest Night Shade]

The 5 of Pentacles is an extremely frightening card, one that no one ever wants to see come up in their reading.  Here are some ways to put a positive spin on it if it does come up (based on the RWS card).

 

The first spin focuses on the church that the two people are passing by.  Most interpretations I've read say that they're overlooking the help that's available to them.  But maybe they're not walking away from the church, but walking toward it, heading for warmth, shelter, and a good hot meal.  So if you get this card, know that whatever your situation, there are people out there who care and want to help you.  Reach out and accept their help, and come in from out of the cold.

 

The next spin is based on the symbolism of the number five.  Fives can represent change, or a turning point.  There are three ways to look at the change the 5 of Pentacles brings from a positive standpoint. 

 

The first is to see it as a turn from the greed and self-absorption of the 4 of Pentacles to an attitude of sharing and self-sacrifice in order to help others.  Maybe you're feeling led to "give till it hurts", or maybe you want to donate your time and talents to a good cause.  Either way, you won't just be lifting up those you help, you'll be giving your spirits a lift too.

 

The second is a move from the poverty and hopelessness of the 5 into the help and provision of the 6.  You may have to swallow your pride, but if you'll keep going, help is just around the corner.

 

Finally, the change could be a spiritual evolution.  Since Pentacles represent the material world, and fives can represent a turning point, you may be rejecting a life of material pursuits in favor of a life of spirituality and self-discovery.  The stained glass window of the church shows that enlightenment is well within your reach.

 

The third way to spin this card is to see that even through the blinding snow, even with their crutches, bare feet, and tattered clothing, the pair are still going.  They haven't lost hope, and they haven't given up.  So if you get this card when you're facing hard times, it's telling you to persevere, even when things seem their coldest and bleakest.  There's always hope if you keep moving forward.

 

Next is the simple but profound fact that the two are not alone.  Everything is easier to bear when you have a friend or loved one walking beside you.  When this card turns up, lean on those who love and care for you in your time of trouble, or lend your support to those who are going through troubles of their own.

 

Finally, this card may be encouraging you to really take notice of the poor and homeless around you.  So many times, we walk right by them, even look down on them, and don't realize that they're just people like us, who happen to have fallen on hard times, whether from job loss, mental illness,or domestic problems.  This card tells us to count our blessings, share them with those less fortunate whenever we can, and live in a state of gratitude.

 

So even in a devastating card like this, there's still some light and hope to be found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ali3n]

this is certainly very useful info, thank you very much for sharing!  :)

[Guest Night Shade]

this is certainly very useful info, thank you very much for sharing!  :)

 

Thank you, ali3n!  <3

[Thoughtful]

Thank you for your positive spin.  Love it and it gives me new ideas to work with  :thumbsup:

[Guest Night Shade]

Thank you for your positive spin.  Love it and it gives me new ideas to work with  :thumbsup:

 

Thank you, Thoughtful!  <3

[Cookie]

The 5 of Pentacles is an extremely frightening card, one that no one ever wants to see come up in their reading.  Here are some ways to put a positive spin on it if it does come up (based on the RWS card).

 

The first spin focuses on the church that the two people are passing by.  Most interpretations I've read say that they're overlooking the help that's available to them.  But maybe they're not walking away from the church, but walking toward it, heading for warmth, shelter, and a good hot meal.  So if you get this card, know that whatever your situation, there are people out there who care and want to help you.  Reach out and accept their help, and come in from out of the cold.

 

The next spin is based on the symbolism of the number five.  Fives can represent change, or a turning point.  There are three ways to look at the change the 5 of Pentacles brings from a positive standpoint. 

 

The first is to see it as a turn from the greed and self-absorption of the 4 of Pentacles to an attitude of sharing and self-sacrifice in order to help others.  Maybe you're feeling led to "give till it hurts", or maybe you want to donate your time and talents to a good cause.  Either way, you won't just be lifting up those you help, you'll be giving your spirits a lift too.

 

The second is a move from the poverty and hopelessness of the 5 into the help and provision of the 6.  You may have to swallow your pride, but if you'll keep going, help is just around the corner.

 

Finally, the change could be a spiritual evolution.  Since Pentacles represent the material world, and fives can represent a turning point, you may be rejecting a life of material pursuits in favor of a life of spirituality and self-discovery.  The stained glass window of the church shows that enlightenment is well within your reach.

 

The third way to spin this card is to see that even through the blinding snow, even with their crutches, bare feet, and tattered clothing, the pair are still going.  They haven't lost hope, and they haven't given up.  So if you get this card when you're facing hard times, it's telling you to persevere, even when things seem their coldest and bleakest.  There's always hope if you keep moving forward.

 

Next is the simple but profound fact that the two are not alone.  Everything is easier to bear when you have a friend or loved one walking beside you.  When this card turns up, lean on those who love and care for you in your time of trouble, or lend your support to those who are going through troubles of their own.

 

Finally, this card may be encouraging you to really take notice of the poor and homeless around you.  So many times, we walk right by them, even look down on them, and don't realize that they're just people like us, who happen to have fallen on hard times, whether from job loss, mental illness,or domestic problems.  This card tells us to count our blessings, share them with those less fortunate whenever we can, and live in a state of gratitude.

 

So even in a devastating card like this, there's still some light and hope to be found.

 

That was quick Night Shade[/member] !  Fab insights as usual!  I have some thoughts to add to yours and then some!

 

This card is very Dickensian, and reminds me of Tiny Tim in Scrooge (apt for this time of year); but we must rem that when these cards were drawn it was 1910 and London still had huge parts of absolute crushing poverty, where if you were born in the slum you died in the slum.  No way out.  In the east-end of London there was a huge child mortality rate, women still prostituted themselves for a loaf of bread or a glass of gin. The two people in the picture would of been people that Waite & Pixie would have seen everyday, and a lot worse.

 

It's hard to know exactly what he was saying with this card.  Was he, like Night Shade[/member] was saying, rejecting a life of material world in favour of spiritual pursuits (which if you look at the stain glass there is just the "As Above" top of the Tree of Life), or an about turn of the 4/pens & "giving til it hurts?' 

Or was it an obvious Dickensian stab at the wealthy and the rather B&W karma of what could happen if one is too greedy (4/pens) one loses everything (5/pens) 

Or is it that Waite was the pompous snob some claim and he thought the poor just took from the church & didn't help themselves. 

  Or the many more ideas of the card...many of which Night Shade[/member] has already mentioned. 

I suspect it was a bit of everything.

 

When i'm asked:  What card is the True Lover's soulmate card?  2 of cups? pah, a card for shallow teenage love.  Lover's? six of cups? 10 of cups ... nope, all of these are fair weather lovers' cards with the fantasy rainbows.  All Jane Austin's fantasy love. 

 

No, the 5 of pentacles is the true soulmate card.  This card is pure unconditional love.  This card is sticking together through illness, poverty, homelessness, wars, and still be full of love for each other.  This card is Nancy's "i'll do anything for you,". 

Real Love isn't flowers & moonlight walks on the beach or proposing under the Eiffel Tower, True Romance is going out in the freezing winds & spending your last pennies on food for your lover & going hungry yourself, it's wiping your lover's backside when they are too feeble/infirmed to do it anymore.  And when one dies, the other dies quickly after because they can't make it alone ... soulmates, no more no less.

 

A truly fascinating card.

[Guest Night Shade]

That was quick Night Shade[/member] !  Fab insights as usual!  I have some thoughts to add to yours and then some!

 

This card is very Dickensian, and reminds me of Tiny Tim in Scrooge (apt for this time of year); but we must rem that when these cards were drawn it was 1910 and London still had huge parts of absolute crushing poverty, where if you were born in the slum you died in the slum.  No way out.  In the east-end of London there was a huge child mortality rate, women still prostituted themselves for a loaf of bread or a glass of gin. The two people in the picture would of been people that Waite & Pixie would have seen everyday, and a lot worse.

 

It's hard to know exactly what he was saying with this card.  Was he, like Night Shade[/member] was saying, rejecting a life of material world in favour of spiritual pursuits (which if you look at the stain glass there is just the "As Above" top of the Tree of Life), or an about turn of the 4/pens & "giving til it hurts?' 

Or was it an obvious Dickensian stab at the wealthy and the rather B&W karma of what could happen if one is too greedy (4/pens) one loses everything (5/pens) 

Or is it that Waite was the pompous snob some claim and he thought the poor just took from the church & didn't help themselves. 

  Or the many more ideas of the card...many of which Night Shade[/member] has already mentioned. 

I suspect it was a bit of everything.

 

When i'm asked:  What card is the True Lover's soulmate card?  2 of cups? pah, a card for shallow teenage love.  Lover's? six of cups? 10 of cups ... nope, all of these are fair weather lovers' cards with the fantasy rainbows.  All Jane Austin's fantasy love. 

 

No, the 5 of pentacles is the true soulmate card.  This card is pure unconditional love.  This card is sticking together through illness, poverty, homelessness, wars, and still be full of love for each other.  This card is Nancy's "i'll do anything for you,". 

Real Love isn't flowers & moonlight walks on the beach or proposing under the Eiffel Tower, True Romance is going out in the freezing winds & spending your last pennies on food for your lover & going hungry yourself, it's wiping your lover's backside when they are too feeble/infirmed to do it anymore.  And when one dies, the other dies quickly after because they can't make it alone ... soulmates, no more no less.

 

A truly fascinating card.

 

Really, really great interpretation, Cookie[/member] .  I love the part about this card being pure unconditional love.  Not only could it apply to your soulmate, but any family member (or anyone at all, really) that you're giving your all to take care of. 

 

It is indeed a fascinating card, with layers upon layers of meaning.

[Cookie]

Thanks...your great insights too. 

 

yes, plenty of people sacrifice their lives to care for a sick child/relative/friend, could be any form of this.  I guess this would be the spiritual side of the card too. 

[DanielJUK]

About the help that's available to them idea. I think sometimes people are too proud to go into that church with the lit window in the card, the reasons why people don't accept help can be quite complex.

 

Secondly I once read the most agonising account somewhere online by a tarot reader who worked in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 80's and this card came up too regularly for gay men, isolated and suffering, it was bleak! The key point of that is what they couldn't go and get help from a local church because many churches were shutting their doors to the gay men. Obviously not all religious places of worship do but often people are ostracised on both sides of the door, they may feel like they couldn't go in and the church may not feel compassion to help them. Again back to the idea of unconditional love that Night Shade suggests.

 

Some venues may not help you, but there is always support from somewhere!

 

Cookie's positive makes me think of this image on the Hello Kitty card (it's not an official deck but it's a great take on the picture!). The card shows two Hello Kitty characters under an umbrella in heavy rain. I think the positive is you are not alone and isolated, there is always someone you can find support from, but it takes a leap of faith on your part to ask for help and you might have doors closed on you as you try different organisations and places. Don't give up :)

[Guest Night Shade]

About the help that's available to them idea. I think sometimes people are too proud to go into that church with the lit window in the card, the reasons why people don't accept help can be quite complex.

 

Secondly I once read the most agonising account somewhere online by a tarot reader who worked in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 80's and this card came up too regularly for gay men, isolated and suffering, it was bleak! The key point of that is what they couldn't go and get help from a local church because many churches were shutting their doors to the gay men. Obviously not all religious places of worship do but often people are ostracised on both sides of the door, they may feel like they couldn't go in and the church may not feel compassion to help them. Again back to the idea of unconditional love that Night Shade suggests.

 

Some venues may not help you, but there is always support from somewhere!

 

Cookie's positive makes me think of this image on the Hello Kitty card (it's not an official deck but it's a great take on the picture!). The card shows two Hello Kitty characters under an umbrella in heavy rain. I think the positive is you are not alone and isolated, there is always someone you can find support from, but it takes a leap of faith on your part to ask for help and you might have doors closed on you as you try different organisations and places. Don't give up :)

 

These are great interpretations too, DanielJUK[/member] , thank you.

 

Not to get down on Christianity, but churches, that are supposed to be all about love, that shut their doors on people and refuse to help them because they don't agree with how they live or who they love should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Jewel]

Excellent post!  My favorite deck, The Alice Tarot, really pulls on the symbolism representing that no matter how lost you are having someone to share the burden helps lessen the load.  I attached a copy of the card below.  Here Alice is in "The Woods Where things Have No Names", neither her nor the fawn remember who they are, their likes, dislikes, fears, etc.  But in that scary lost place they have each other to navigate through it and figure it out.

[Guest Night Shade]

Excellent post!  My favorite deck, The Alice Tarot, really pulls on the symbolism representing that no matter how lost you are having someone to share the burden helps lessen the load.  I attached a copy of the card below.  Here Alice is in "The Woods Where things Have No Names", neither her nor the fawn remember who they are, their likes, dislikes, fears, etc.  But in that scary lost place they have each other to navigate through it and figure it out.

 

Thank you, Jewel[/member] - and that card is adorable!  <3