Fives in Tarot signify conflict and change. They are midway between the ace and number ten, therefore halfway in the arc of the suit’s journey. Here we are midway in the journey of pentacles: material wealth, resources, earthly values.
A destitute couple trudge barefoot in a snowstorm. The man is on crutches and looks up to the heavens in defiance. The woman is bundled in rags and huddled over, eyes downcast. They are so caught up in their despair they don’t notice the illuminated pentacles in the stained glass window of the church at their side. Help is at hand if only they would lift their eyes from their despair to notice it.
When problems come they tend to take over our entire perspective and we get caught in a negative mindset. We go over the problem, how it started, how awful it is, how impossible it is to solve and we become closed off to any chance of awakening to a possible solution. If we don’t believe a problem can be solved then how can we ever be receptive to a solution?
These unfortunate souls in this picture remind us of the pitfalls of a scarcity consciousness. Times may be difficult and challenging. But sure as the Wheel of Fortune goes up and down, nothing lasts forever, there is always change, and even in the darkest night there is the light of the stars.
What a dismal scene. A man and a woman are walking in a snowstorm. His legs are bandaged and he uses crutches. She is barefoot in the snow wrapped in a cloak. Her gaze is downcast, he looks up to the heavens as if to say, “Why me?” Each despairs of their condition which is abject poverty. So engrossed in their unhappy and hopeless situation are they that neither notices the bright lights coming from the pentacles (gold coins) depicted in the stained glass windows in the church to their left. It is a cautionary tale, one that messages the mistake of too much attention to the problem rather than solution. If we keep our heads buried in the circumstances of our despair we will miss the signs of hope and help. Look to the light…always.
SpiritedTarot 