Five of Pentacles

Identity

Symbols

• Stained Glass WindowA hair's breadth between you and warmth — not refusal, but an entry not yet recognized.+

  Waite's phrase is 'a lighted casement', a window hung on hinges, one made to open. Smith sets it high in the black wall, above the pair, and draws no door anywhere in the stone.

• Two in the SnowCompanionship inside lack — the critical fact is that they have not drifted apart.+

  Waite calls them 'mendicants', people who live by begging. Smith draws them in file, not side by side: the woman ahead, bent under her shawl, the man a step behind on his crutches, both heading for the right edge.

• CrutchesBodily injury is honest — it makes the fantasy of 'not needing help' impossible to sustain.+

  He goes on two crutches, not one, and the drawing marks his injury twice more: a bandage wound round his head and another round one foot. Of the two walkers, every sign of hurt is gathered on him.

• Bare Feet on SnowStripped of even basic protection — this is not humility, but literal lack.+

  Her shawl is pulled over her head and hangs past her knees, yet her feet are bare: all the covering she has goes to the upper body, none to the part that touches the snow. She is also the one walking in front.

• Five Pentacles in the PatternHelp and abundance are already inlaid in this window — they need only look up.+

  In the Golden Dawn system this is the 'Lord of Material Trouble', Mercury in Taurus's first decan under Geburah, drawn as a rose branch shedding roses, 'leaving no buds behind'. Smith's glass keeps a green stem linking the five.

• Bell at the NeckA small bell at the man's throat — he is announced before he is seen.+

  In medieval Europe lepers were made to carry a bell or clapper so that others could keep their distance. The drawing names no illness, yet the bell hangs at the man's throat, just below his bandaged head.

• Snow Across the WallThe storm is still falling — weather in progress, not a winter already over.+

  Waite sets the scene 'in a snow-storm', and Smith flecks white across the whole black wall, yet the stained glass is drawn clear of flakes. The storm covers everything in the picture except the lit window.

Story

Nearly all the warm colour on this card is packed into one lit window high in a black wall; the rest is snow, falling across the dark stone and lying white underfoot. Below, two figures cross from left to right. The woman goes first, bent forward under her shawl with her head down; the man follows on crutches, face tipped upward, his body pitched into each step. Their route runs along the wall, not toward it. The storm is still coming down: this is the middle of a walk, not its end, and the right edge of the card is where the two of them are headed.

Correspondences

Elemental Dignity

Shadow

Related Cards

The Tower

Five of Swords

Six of Pentacles