For You to See Life - 4u2c.life

The card of the Five of Pentacles portrays Daedalus, shrouded in a tattered brown cloak, creeping away by night from the city where only a short time before he had achieved such acclaim. On a hill behind him stands his workshop, its trellis adorned with vines and displaying five golden pentacles - the success which Daedalus must now leave behind him. The road on which he travels leads toward a barren landscape of brown hills. In the black sky a thin waning moon can be seen.

Minor Arcana ~ The Five of Pentacles

The Five of Pentacles is a card of loss, and we can see how it follows naturally upon the negative response to challenge portrayed in the Four. Because Daedalus could not adjust to the challenge of competition, he tried to cling to the position of the past, and this necessitated the murder of his talented nephew as the only solution. Now he flees Athens as a pauper, leaving behind him all the rewards of his years of hard work.

The Five of Pentacles often indicates the danger of a period of financial loss. But more importantly, it implies a loss of faith in oneself. Because we so often confuse self-value with material security, financial setbacks can destroy not only material confidence but also the individual’s sense of direction and faith in himself or herself. During the disastrous American stock market crash of 1929, many individuals reacted to the financial catastrophe by committing suicide - a harsh response, if we consider how precious a human life is, yet a comprehensible one if we think of how totally many individuals identify their worth with their material success. The message of the Five of Pentacles is to let go, because if material disaster comes then perhaps it is in some way necessary, and the inevitable outgrowth of a wrong or inappropriate attitude.

In the myth, Daedalus’ collapse occurs because there is a fatal flaw in his character, and his loss may perhaps be the only possible way in which he can honestly confront that in him which is his own worst enemy. If material difficulties can be considered in this way, then the problems reflected by the Five of Pentacles can ultimately result in a transformation of the inner individual, so that the future can yield not only renewed material success but also a more solid inner centre which can cope with the challenges which success brings. On a divinatory level, the Five of Pentacles augurs a period of financial difficulty or loss. This may be accompanied by a loss of faith in oneself, and it is important to try to respond to the challenge not only by letting go if necessary and preparing to begin again, but also by considering where one’s own nature might have led to or exacerbated the problem. A reorientation is now possible not only on a financial level but also on an inner one.

I will explain in my readings what each card means, this is a general interpritation taken from the Mythic Tarot Deck

Information Source: Mythic Tarot Deck
[published in 1986 by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene and Illustrated by Tricia Newell (not the New Mythic Tarot)]