Five of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning

Five of Pentacles upright

Two poor travellers struggle through the snow past a lighted window. Waite says the card foretells material trouble above all — and, strangely, also love and lovers, concord and affinities. Hard times are easier together, and help may be nearer than it looks: the light is already on.

Five of Pentacles reversed

Waite reversed gives disorder, chaos, ruin, discord and profligacy. Get practical support and put spending back in order.

A reversed card (What does Upright / reversed card mean?) is one drawn upside-down.

Is Five of Pentacles a yes or no?

Upright: Leans no. No for now — secure the basics first.

Reversed: Reversed, Five of Pentacles reads as a gentle no: disorder, chaos, discord.

The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.

Symbolism in the Five of Pentacles card

What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:

• Two travellers in the snow — Waite: material trouble
• Lighted window — warmth and help close by

In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)

Upright: material trouble above all; destitution; another reading — love and lovers, concordance, affinities.

Reversed: disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, profligacy.

Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.