Stoned in the Five of Pentacles

Teheuti

One of Waite's poems seems to speak to this scene:

"’Tis scarcely true that souls come naked down
To take abode up in this earthly town,
Or naked pass, of all they wear denied.
We enter slipshod and with clothes awry,
And we take with us much that by-and-by
May prove no easy task to put aside.

Cleanse, therefore, that which round about us clings;
We pray Thee, Master, ere Thy sacred halls
We enter. Strip us of redundant things,
And meetly clothe us in pontificals."

from Waite, Strange Houses of Sleep.

Slipshod originally meant wearing slippers or open-toed shoes (sandals?), although Waite could have meant "down at the heel" or slovenly, which is how the word's meaning evolved.
 

Teheuti

A Masonic site notes:
"Therefore the anchor keeps us steady in the storms of temptation, affliction, and persecution."

The Mason ritual says in full that an anchor is
“a well-grounded hope and a well-spent life. The anchor which shall safely moor us in a peaceful harbor, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary shall find rest.” Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry, p. 129.
 

tommyross

Awesome thread!

My two cents-

1- The person that posted about the leper and the prostitute. NICE! I've been reading a long time and I never noticed that freakin' bell, lol. When I read your post, I got a jump in my spirit, I think you nailed it there, and a leper and a prostitute would be forms of beggars...

2- I do not see any stone on the ground, lol.

3- Regardless of whether it is a church they're walking by or not, one thing for sure- the arrangement of the pentacles and surrounding design is clearly a reference to the Tree of Life, which there are of course many many in the deck. Lest we forget, Waite and his compadres were very into PathWorking and I do think it is a church as the irony/humor/jest would be fitting.
 

Sword King

The rich West is sick on its own gluttony whilst it rapes and plunders the wealth of others in order to force feed itself. We buy cheap Chinese goods that are cheap soley because those making them have no human rights and employ children. We are content with our expensive mobile phones that run on cassiterite which is mined in the Congo currently a no go area because of civil war funded by the West and so it goes on. The exploited are those two figures and the exploiters sit within the confines of their warmly lit sanctuary.

I recently did an intuitive reading when this card came up, and I immediately gravitated to this "Marxian" interpretation. I could only see Haves and Have Nots. It's nice to know that I wasn't alone in feeling that.
 

Bhavana

I was thinking the same thing! How funny..the person that told me about why they locked the room is a "Christian"... (not that that is bad, or any religion for that matter, we are all on different paths) but, I do not think they "Get it." Isn't there a saying..but by the grace of God go I? Or something like that? This card is the ultimate compassion card for me...

It would be great if you could leave the door open and offer shelter to a few people....but it never works that way. Next thing you know you have 30 people in the room, you need to build them another bathroom and start providing hot soup in the winter and pay someone to clean up after them etc etc. Besides, I've worked in mental health in a major city. There are shelters all over the place. Some homeless people prefer to live on the streets, even when offered shelter. Strange, but it's true.

Anyway, as for the card - while the points about poverty and society's views on it are true - it still just looks like a rock on the ground to me!
 

Bhavana

Whether it's truly stained glass is the crux of the matter for me. In the top corners there are two pieces missing and what looks like a backing with slots, to which the glass was either fastened and subsequently fell off, or was never completed in the first place. Either of which would fit Waite's interpretation of material hardship. If it's truly stained glass there wouldn't be any kind of backing and the interior of the building would be visible. Try as I might, I just can't see it that way. First of all, a 17th or 18th century church would be lighted by candles and a dim light would be seen through the holes. The casement also seems a bit to bright to be lighted from interior candles. To me it looks more like it's illuminated from the exterior by a full moon.

I don't know enough about the glasswork of the period to say for sure, but the whole thing smacks of a "faux" stained glass of some kind which could be found on any number of buildings. If it was church of that period there would be Biblical scenes in the glass.

An artist knows simplicity will have more impact when the art is going to be used on a small scale card - too much detail would be overkill. Only what is absolutely necessary should be included. Also, with this type of art, capturing realistic lighting, such as moonlight or candlelight, is no small feat, not easy to convey. We have the desolate downtrodden figures, the dark building, the snow and cold - all together painting a simple scene with much impact. The shape of the window, and the stained glass - are symbolic of a church. The simple lines give more of a suggestion than a full representation - first impression for most people would be "church". One could always over-think it, but for me, reading is about the quick, first impressions, not spending too much time thinking about it. Maybe this is what the artist intended as well. On the other hand, I find it very interesting, how different people see different things in the same exact image. When doing a reading, this is what matters, what this card means may be different each time it comes up, depending on the situation, the person being read for, and the reader.
 

Teheuti

what this card means may be different each time it comes up, depending on the situation, the person being read for, and the reader.
That's why I love reading interactively. Most of the RWS cards evoke standard responses similar to those found in most books, even from people who have never seen the cards before. This is a real tribute to Pixie's pictures! However, the perspective of the querent can vary—so that the figure they identify with could be anyone in the card or even hiding just out of sight. The perspective alone often changes the story told.

In the absence of specific information from Waite or Smith about what was 'intended,' the field is open for us to make of the images what we will, but Smith seemed to depict certain ideas pretty universally, so that the anomalies stand out as just that. And anomalies are always important! The stories that people tell about the windows in the 5 of Pentacles and 4 of Swords usually reflect their own issue closely.

BTW, in talking to a great many published deck creators, I've found that some of their most cherished, personal meanings for the cards they created came from other people who saw something different in the cards than what they (the artists) originally intended! That is, the artist/creators changed their own understanding of what the cards meant to match a viewer's vision.
 

Tarotdivine

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Pents05.jpg

Has anyone else given any thought to the stone at the foot of the crippled figure in the Five?

Do you think they are being stoned? People are throwing stones at them to get rid off them?

The figure with sticks is looking warily over his shoulder as though expecting another missile.

Yeah it's possible,... this card also indicates that they are shunned and rejected