Last month when I asked my Facebook friends what cards they’d like to see, someone wanted to see all the 5s. I understand why…the 5s are often challenging cards. The 5 of Cups has already been posted HERE.
With the Thanksgiving and holiday season coming upon us, the 5 of Pentacles seemed a good choice. May it help us remember and be grateful for all we do have and encourage us to help those who are in need. As a card image, I love how the perspective highlights the sense of drama and anxiety.
5 of Pentacles
“There is no sugar coating it: these are hard times, very hard times indeed.”
Core meaning: Physical need.
She feels the biting wind, not as discomfort to herself, but as she imagines it feels to him. He is so much younger, so much weaker, than she. For his sake, she plunges into the wind and darkness and snow in search of safety and perhaps the slightest comfort.
What is more poignant than innocence facing the cruelty and neglect of the world? If anyone were to see such a plight, surely they would help? This experience, while not as picturesquely displayed as this card, happens every day and often goes unalleviated. This is not a card of relief granted and mercies raining down from heaven. It is a card of need.
Steampunk worlds are created by the mash-up of genres. Here it looks like the stories of the Little Match Girl (from Hans Christian Anderson’s story of the same name) and Tiny Tim (a character from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol) have collided in a tale of epic tragedy. The image of the suffering, abused, or neglected child is common in Victorian literature and art. The stories mentioned here were written only two years apart, in the mid-1800s. Some say that images of children became symbolic for the part of humanity that was sacrificed to feed the Industrial Revolution.
What of the church in the background? What symbolic role does it play? Is it help that is at hand but overlooked or rejected by the children? Is it help from an institution that should be offered but is not because the institution lost its vision and compassion? What is the relationship between the children’s physical and spiritual lives?
When this card shows up in your reading, it describes a time of physical need. Money could be lacking, health could be in question, time might be non-existence, or basic survival needs are perhaps not being met. This complex card does far more than describe the situation. It brings a pile of questions and drops them at your feet. As you work your way through them, you will likely find wise advice for improving your situation.
