Minor Arcana · Pentacles · earth
Five of Pentacles
Five of Pentacles in tarot is a card of hardship, need and feeling cast out.
Key meanings
- hardship
- need
- feeling cast out
- cold
- light nearby
Five of Pentacles upright
Hardship and the feeling of being left out in the cold, yet a warm window glows close by, one you're allowed to approach.
The shadow side
Staying out in the cold from pride, just to avoid knocking on a warm door.
Five of Pentacles reversed
The first warmth after a long freeze, a hand held out that you finally notice and dare to take.
Five of Pentacles as the card of the day
You trudge through the snow, wrapped in a thin cloak, feeling as if the whole world walked past without noticing you. But lift your eyes, because a warm window glows close by, and it isn't locked to you. The need today is real, yet help is nearer than you let yourself believe.
The question this card asks
What door are you afraid or ashamed to knock on for help right now?
Five of Pentacles: yes or no?
no
Five of Pentacles trudges through snow past a lit window. Lean times. No.
The scale runs from yes to no through three middle steps, and the earth in this card lands it on no.
One card only leans on a closed question, and here it leans through its theme of hardship. Pull your own card →
Every card is a mirror, not a verdict. Walk the other arcana and listen to what they say together.
✦ See all 56 Minor ArcanaFAQ
Would you call Five of Pentacles (earth) a good card or a bad one?
No card in tarot is simply bad. This one speaks about hardship and need, and how gentle or harsh that sounds depends on your question and on the way the card lands. Scaring you is not my job.
Is Five of Pentacles a major or a minor arcanum, and what does the element of earth add?
Minor, suit of Pentacles (earth). Minors work at the scale of days and small decisions, majors at the scale of a life, and the day scale here is held by earth.
Which cards stand next to Five of Pentacles in the suit of earth?
Inside the suit it follows Four of Pentacles and leads on to Six of Pentacles. All fourteen run from Ace to King, and earth moves through every one of them.
What does Five of Pentacles (earth) mean upright and reversed?
Set the right way up, the card speaks of hardship and need without a mute on it. Reversed, the card loses its footing more than it flips into an opposite, and earth is what loses it.