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Tarot Card Meanings:
Five of Pentacles

What is "Five of Pentacles" in Tarot?

The Five of Pentacles (sometimes known as Five of Coins) represents hardship, financial loss, and feelings of isolation. This card signifies difficult times, material challenges, and the need to seek support during adversity.

What are the key symbols in the "Five of Pentacles" tarot card?

  • Two figures walking in the snow: Symbolizes hardship, poverty, and struggle.
  • Tattered clothing: Represents vulnerability, material loss, and a sense of destitution.
  • Stained glass window of a church: Suggests hope, spiritual support, and refuge, even if it feels out of reach.
  • Crutches: Indicate physical or emotional burdens and the challenges of moving forward.
  • Snow-covered ground: Reflects coldness, isolation, and the harshness of the situation.

These symbols are based on the Rider-Waite Smith tarot. Symbols may differ in other decks! 

five of pentacles from the rider waite smith tarot
Five of Pentacles as depicted in the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot by A.E. White, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith

Five of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning

Five of Pentacles Keywords: Hardship, financial loss, isolation, struggle, vulnerability, material challenges, feeling abandoned, seeking support.

The Five of Pentacles in the tarot signifies a time of hardship and financial loss, where feelings of isolation and vulnerability are prominent. This card represents the difficulties you may be facing, whether in material, emotional, or spiritual aspects, and highlights the sense of being abandoned or left out in the cold. It reflects the struggle to move forward amid challenging circumstances and the need to seek support, even when it feels distant or out of reach. The Five of Pentacles encourages you to acknowledge your struggles and reach out for help, reminding you that there is hope and potential for recovery, even in the darkest times.

Five of Pentacles Reversed Tarot Card Meaning

Five of Pentacles Reversed Keywords: Recovery, improvement, renewed hope, financial recovery, end of hardship, finding support, resilience.

When the Five of Pentacles appears reversed in a tarot reading, it signifies a turning point toward recovery and the end of a difficult period. This card suggests that the hardship and isolation you’ve experienced are beginning to lift, bringing renewed hope and the possibility of financial or emotional improvement. It reflects the strength and resilience you’ve gained through adversity and the support that is becoming available to you. The reversed Five of Pentacles encourages you to embrace this positive shift, seek out the help you need, and trust that better times are ahead as you move out of the darkness and into a brighter, more stable phase.

El Tarocchi Insight

Five of Pentacles is a sign to look beyond your feelings of self-pity.

In over twenty years of tarot reading, I noticed that the Five of Pentacles usually shows up for tarot clients who are so deep in a “oh no, poor me!” mindset that they’ve stopped looking for solutions. The hardship is real and valid, but the despair has become its own obstacle. They’re so focused on how bad things are that they can’t see the options and resources that are actually available to them.
This card is a nudge to shift from wallowing in misery to seeking solutions. Sometimes you don’t even have to look very far or very hard for a way out; all you have to do is lift your head and look beyond your self-pity.

Gallery: Five of Pentacles in Various Tarot Decks

Coming soon.