The Five of Pentacles card in tarot symbolizes being left out in the cold or abandoned. This is a negative card. It can also symbolize poverty.
Element: Earth (Taurus)
Planet: Venus
The Five of Pentacles card is an overall negative card.
The Five of Pentacles resembles hardship and poverty, sometimes.
The card also indicates an emotional feeling of feeling abandoned or left out, or like someone has turned their back on you.
This card has different meanings when interpreted upright as it does reversed (upside down, not the same as face down).
The table below shows a brief summary of interpretations, followed by more in-depth analysis of the card in both positions below.
| Upright | Reversed |
| Abandonment. Loss. Hardship. Struggle, adversity, isolation. Unemployment. | Recovery from loss. Feeling welcomed. |
| (Yes/No?): No | (Yes/No?): Yes |
Number 5 Meaning
Numbers have various associations in numerology.
The number five correlates with interaction, discord and strife. It also represents the clashing of ideas, conflict, crisis or struggle.
Like other odd numbers, the number 5 is considered to be a masculine number.
Fives are a signal to adapt to change.
The Five of Pentacles Card Description
In the original Rider-Waite tarot deck the Five of Pentacles card depicts two people walking in the dark.
They are walking through the snow, it's freezing cold, and they are passing a stained glass window with five pentacles on it.
One of the people is barefoot in the snow, covered with a blanket with their head down.
The other is on crutches with a broken leg.
The expressions on their faces are haunting and depressed, perhaps in agony.
The overall feel of the card is excruciating.