Baroque Bohemian Cats: Five of Pentacles

The third card that I pulled from the deck today. The Cats have spoken.

A tabby and white cat leads an orange tabby kitten by the hand. The tabby is dressed in simple, patched clothing with a shawl drawn tightly around her shoulders. The kitten (doesn't really look kittenish, he looks like a small adult, but he's kitten-sized) is wearing simple clothes that look like they were once relatively fine, but are now very worn. He is holding a simple wooden staff. They are walking in front of an ornate palace or church of some kind, and the pentacles/coins are in the beautiful gothic windows of the building.

Definitely conveys the accepted RWS meanings of the card. The contrast between gilded palace (although it looks rather grim) and poor cats is strong. The thing that I love best about this card (and many of the BBC cards) is the expression on each cat's face. The mother cat is looking ahead resolutely, and is even leaning forward to emphasize her intention and movement. The kitten is looking discontented, and is looking off to the side and at the ground, away from his mother. She seems to be almost pulling him along, or at the very least she is the engine for their locomotive.

This really signifies being the support for a loved one in hard times, for the occasional inequality in the balance of work or earnings, and also the idea that plowing forward with head high is better than languishing and lamenting. "The Lord helps those who help themselves", as it were.

Makes me think that the kitten doesn't want to go somewhere but he have to follow without any heart. I remember. as a child, I hated to go shopping for clothes with my mom. It was a chore for me. Well, I think the kitten feel it as a chore he doesn't want to do. And the mom is firm. She think she is doing for the best of the kitten.

Exactly! It adds another layer of interpretation to the card--is the querent dealing with the situation as the kitten, or as the mother, or as an observer? Three very different perspectives.

Just wanted to throw in a small detail, because I think it's hard to spot on this card - the ginger kitten (and you're right, he isn't a small kitten, he's nearly grown up) in fact has lost the sight of one eye (it's very hard to make this out I think - but his left eue - right eye as you look at the picture - is blind.) We actually used a cat from the cat shelter here who really had lost an eye when he was young. He was a handsome young guy though and seemed not to be unduly disabled. We felt that there was something in his whole story - a street-cat that has been mistreated but finally found a good safe place in the shelter - that really fitted this card (it's a no-kill shelter - they do a GREAT job with the cats too). I hope he now has a permanent home - he was such a sweet cat that I'm sure he has.

By the way, he is also on the Four of Swords - same cat shown in a happier and more contented setting.

This is one of the things that I also like about this deck - the stories that come with the cats, such as the one of the 'street cat' with blindness in one eye. He becomes more than an illustration; I will always remember that story now, alongside the meanings I will develop for the card. I just checked the 'Four of Swords' - I am glad to see him in that relaxing and safe environment as well.

LB