Cosmic Tarot, 5 pentacles

paradoxx

Five Figures, men and women alike wander through the rubble of what looks like a modern day city, although that could be conjecture. The left are five gold pentacles etched in a ruined pillar. the quality of the pentacles varies, as to symbolize the differences in the people in the picture.

The two figures in the background have no discernable features other than being human, they could have been beggers all their lives or they could have fallen from on high. The figure in the middle is wrapped in a stiff blanket, perhaps a rug, like a mummy, awaiting the light to come through. The figure in front is salvaging what she can, the remaining figure looks for hope.

Green and gold dominate the card without question, the term "beggers card" is used to a creative extent. Economic concerns, and their emotional attachments, come to mind regardless of its position in a spread.

No longer present is the cathedral with teh pentacles in its stained glass, there are more people present, and it is not snowing. These details give a very different feeling to this card as a whole, the removal of the pre 1900 and Golden Dawn Symbolisim provides another perspective on such well known cards.
 

LittleWing

i also see this card as ill health. as it means loss. loss of possession, of status, of ego, of health and vitality. but this card also reminds us that no matter how bad we feel about this - all is not lost - we will always have love and people around us. and others are going through the same thing. have trust.
 

divinerguy

I see the card as Eastern European, with the smoke of war or the cold of fog.

The destruction of the buildings suggest they are refugees of war.

The faces are grim, and the barren bnranch indicates hunger and want.
 

tink27

How would you feel if a tornado or hurricane came blasting in your neighborhood, destroying everything you own? This is the sense I get from this picture and from the tattered pentacles still standing. Or was it something within the structure of the building that sent in tumbling to the ground….or is it war?

Something you vitally invested your spirit in, that you labored so hard to control physically and keep together mentally, has been infiltrated by a destructive energy and suddenly it’s gone! But just where are you in this confusing process?

The Cosmic Tarot shows us a different image of the 5 of Pentacles compared to other cards. Through the rubble of once could have been a beautiful town, two authority figures (boundaries, rules and control?) are keeping watch as three people carrying whatever possessions they have left, leave through the crumbled city gates. For some it hurts to leave this place, it’s all they ever had. There must have been others before them, who fled as quickly as they could. But these three somehow stayed together, waited and leaned on each other for support. The path they are on looks well traveled, they may well be the last three through this gate.

http://www.angelpaths.com/decks/cosmic/pents/fiveofpents.html

Where are these people going to go and what will they live on? Did they anticipate the possibilities of losing everything they invested in and hung onto? Did they after spending so much time organizing and protecting their assets, plan ahead and insure themselves in the event of this happening? Or were these factors ignored, shrugged off, so sure what they wanted would be rewarded to them.

This card could be saying that a perception we believed would offer us long-term security and power has somehow failed us. In the physical world we are taught the harder we work and give our best the more we will be richly rewarded. I’ve discovered me, this statement just isn’t true!

These people are having to shift their focus from prosperity and money to loving and caring for one another. When all else fails, we still have a mind, a body and a spirit that although traumatized can work together with what possessions they have to begin anew.

tink :love:

P.S. does it look like the person at the front is smiling? Is this hope and faith or are they thinking about a big insurance claim?
 

star-lover

LOL@smiling thinking about the insurance claim!

I think there ishope for thefuture in this card, grim asthe situation seems they are moving forward towards the light - they are walking towards the promise of the 6 of pentacles

Abandoning the past and taking what ever little they have to make a new life though they probably have little orno idea what this will be
 

cosmic_bubble

I thought it was a smile too :) This card came up for me once when I was going through rough times, healthwise. The smiling person seemed to indicate that s/he was quietly glad to leave the ruins behind. It seemed as if the person in the back with the 'duvet' around him, was the most 'ill' and affected, the next lady seemed stronger as if she was ploughing on with determination, and the person at the front seemed to be relieved.

Not sure if my ramble made any sense (!) but I think I was trying to say that for me it signified my journey from ill health to getting well again :)
 

Arania

I place importance in the pentacles here. They are damaged, almost destroyed. There is no touch with reality (earth) anymore save the reality of sorrow.
 

Myrrha

This card is mysterious to me as it isn't clear where it is supposed to be. I guess it could be anywhere, and not knowing exactly where it is makes it harder to file it away as something that happened somewhere else and could never happen to me.

These people have lost their homes and are dazed, almost in shock, setting out to save what they can and find a safe place to stay. The card has a murky quality as if fumes and sediment from the disaster are still in the air. The five pentacles glow yellow and seem to be a warning sign.

Someone once posted (I wish I could remember who) that in the Thoth deck on which the Cosmic is based astrology is really important to the meaning of the cards in the lower numbered cards of the Minor Arcana and becomes less important in the higher numbered cards. In the higher numbered cards the card's kabbalistic value, its place in the tree of life, becomes more important. That is a bit disappointing because astrology seems very real to me but kabbalah just feels made up, arbitrary and much more abstract.

The astrological attribution of this card is Mercury in Taurus. Mercury is quick-thinking, communicative, analytical. Taurus is a slower influence very concrete and practical. So maybe this is where the title of the card, Worry, comes from: thinking a lot about practical things. It wouldn't be such a difficult card with just the astrology, but like the other Fives the card is in Geburah. This is the kabbalistic sphere that is ruled by Mars and indicates challenges and hardship. The word Geburah means severity and has to do with God's rigor and justice.

Although I try not to take this card too literally it is a card about loss, poverty, job loss, being displaced. The imagery is a little extreme but it does a good job of making me "Worry" when it turns up.

I don't really understand why the tarot meaning should be influenced by kabbalah. Why connect them? This card would be more about day to day financial worries and wouldn't have this implication of serious disaster if it were just based on the astrology. It would be interesting to see a deck done this way.