I’ve written interpretations for every card in the Wild Unknown Tarot. As the box of the deck states, there are no rights or wrongs. These are simply my perspectives on the tarot card meanings. I hope you find them useful!
Click here for a directory of all posts in my Wild Unknown series.

Five of Pentacles :: Wild Unknown Tarot
Deck creator’s keywords: sadness, illness
Carrie’s keywords: material struggles, scarcity

Who knew roses could look dejected and defeated? Not me, until I started working with the Wild Unknown tarot. In the Five of Pentacles, a rose takes on a human-like posture: bent over, weary, and worse for the wear. A shriveled red petal drops to the ground below. What was once a healthy, thriving blossom is now struggling to go on.

The background of the card is lined with black, giving the impression of a dark night sky, or possibly a storm. The environment here is harsh and unforgiving. But at the top of the card, five pentacles form a half circle of light. Perhaps this light is a reminder that better times might be closer than they seem.

This card speaks to the hard times which are inevitable in the human experience: financial duress, poor health, and other disadvantages. We all have times where moving forward seems difficult. There are certain times when we are impaired or lacking to some degree. Instead of being ashamed when you struggle, be gentle with yourself. It’s not useful to dwell in self pity, but it is crucial to acknowledge that your struggles are valid.

This card hints of times of scarcity, but not just in a monetary sense. There are many ways to be impoverished: sometimes, we lack physical energy, necessary resources, acceptance, societal support. This can be a difficult card, but that is when it is useful to redirect your attention to the light. Even if things seem hard now, consider that there are still ways you can support yourself and re-direct yourself towards vitality.

The Five of Pentacles is often considered to be one of the more difficult cards in the deck. This card shows the ways that poverty and illness can cause real distress in our lives. As human beings, we like to solve problems and focus on the good. Sometimes that approach is useful with this card, as at times this card indicates that you are focusing TOO much on scarcity and need to re-focus on opportunities for abundance. But it is also important for us to honor, and not bypass, the very real difficult situations that can be reflected in this card.

When you experience rejection and lack, it is natural to struggle. Validate and honor your difficult experiences – but don’t dwell incessantly on them, and don’t make them out to be worse than they actually are. We all have times when our suffering truly is of a severe magnitude, but more often than not the Five of Pentacles indicates nothing more than inevitable bumps in the road. Keep your perspective and no matter how dire things seem remember to do what you can to keep facing the light.

In the Waite-Smithdepiction, this card shows two battered looking people trudging along in the snow. They are just outside of a church window – that warmth and comfort so close at hand. One way of interpreting this image could assert that the figures have been rejected from the church, but another interpretation could suggest that comfort and support is often closer than we notice.

This card can ask you to look at where you are experiencing deprivation. It is entirely possible that your lack is caused by an external source, but just as often we are the bearers of our own deprivation.

Are you giving yourself the support, encouragement and inner resources you need? It may also be necessary to look outside the box. The top half of the card is filled with a white light – there is goodness to seek, if we remember to place our focus there.

If you truly are in a situation largely outside of your control, this card asks you to remember that this won’t last forever. Energy ebbs and flows. Hard times come and go. Do what you can, and don’t forget to ask for help! Others want to see you thrive.

The Five of Pentacles may be reminding you to prioritize our spiritual wealth. It is easy to fall into a scarcity mindset, and life becomes very draining when we set up camp there. What will support you not only in a material sense, but also in a spiritual sense? It’s time to choose to look towards those things. When you focus on seeing potential, you’ll start to find resources in unexpected places.

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