21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card -- Step EIGHT -- part one.

Ivy Rhiannon

Druidcraft ~ 5 Pentacles
Pic: http://tarotstudies2.50webs.com/druid_craft/54.jpg

hmmm this is difficult. I have tried not to read others metaphors but I am wondering exactly how to go about this one. I guess I am not sure I understand. Are we talking about popular phrases that have become a staple sayings in our society? If I am not doing this excersize correctly someone please tell me.

5 Pentacles:

- blinded by the light
- exhausted in thought
- the sun is still shinning
- lean on me
- can't run from your problems
- two toned
- weighed down
- refusing to see the truth
- you can't hide from yourself

Number 5:

- humanity
- open arms
- astronomy: venus
- astrology
- five senses

Pentacles:

- protection
- witchcraft
- encircled
- star
- love

Above is the pentacle, below is pentacle as associated with tarot:

- wealth
- money
- stability
- work

The metophors that worked for me:

- the sun is still shinning
- refusing to see the truth
- you can't hide from yourself
 

easternsunrise

STEP 8.1 Mythic Tarot-Five of Cups

8.1a Metaphor Five of Pentacles

"Shake the dust off your feet."*
"Time to hit the road."
"Get a move on."*
"Luck never gives, it only lends."

8.1b Metaphor for 5's and Pentacles

"Turned my world upside down."*
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."*
"A penny saved is a penny earned."*
"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

8.3 *Work for me.
 

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Prism

The Tarot of Prague 5 of Pentacles shows a desperate looking mother holding a baby. They are sitting outside of a church. Though it is raining quite hard, the sun is also shining, suggesting that this desperate situation may not last so long. The mother looks poor, by her clothes, but she looks strong -- her arms are muscular.

8:1:1
Desperation is the mother of invention
Misery loves company
Only the strong survive
God helps those who help themselves
Into every life a little rain must fall
Raindrops keep falling on my head

8:1:2
Loss of money; worry about security; reversal of fortune; a desperate situation

8:1:3 From Mary Greer's list, I would keep:
No rest for the weary
Beggars can't be choosers
Looking for shelter
Light from above
A window of opportunity
Within a stone's throw ...
 

SistaSpirit

21 Ways...Step Eight Part 1: RWS The Emperor

Step Eight –Part 1

Five of Pentacles

Misery loves company,
None is as blind as those who will not see
Insult to injury
without hope there is despair without belief there is desperation”
Don’t ask anyone to do for you that you can do for yourself
The Divine helps those who help themselves

Keywords for fives plus phrases
crisis creating challenges and opportunities problem-solving; “don’t ask anyone to do for you that you can do for yourself” Look to your own inner and material resources to improve your circumstances.

Adversity; “without hope there is despair without belief there is desperation” (Koontz) Here’s where your fortitude, confidence and character work together with your belief system to help you work your way out of this situation.
Harshness; Insult to injury, seemingly impossible situation, when there is a piling on of hardships


Keywords for Pentacles plus phrases
Skills; The Divine helps those who help themselves, have faith in a power greater than yourself.

A happy and content ,prosperous suit with a family orientation; None is as blind as those who will not see - sometimes help is as close as the family

Adapt; misery loves company, sometimes the environment can cause stagnation,

Mary Greer’s that I like:
Out in the cold
Walking wounded
Crippled spirit
Window of opportunity
Support in adversity
 

Joon

Step 8, Part One – 5 of Pentacles, Whispering Tarot

I can’t find an image to link to, so I’ll describe the card.

There are two figures on a stone paved walk or road, or perhaps a courtyard, in front of a stone building. The building has a 3-step stoop leading up to the threshold. The stones of the building, the steps, and on the ground are all white. The doorway to the building is arched with a sturdy wooden door fitted with iron hardware. On either side of the door are two similarly shaped windows (tall, arched), shuttered with wooden shutters.

A figure in a blue dress holds the door ajar and looks out at the two figures in front of the building. One of the two figures in the foreground is an older woman in an orange dress and red cowl which she wears on the back of her head and which drapes over her shoulders; she carries a handbag. The other is a boy whose head and left leg and foot are bandaged. His green tunic is patched; he wears leggings and a black boot. He leans on one crutch. He and the old woman have an arm around each other.

This is a different image to the RWS and Robin Wood, so as I looked at those and considered MKGs suggested metaphors, I looked at the Whispering Tarot card alongside them. Some of the thoughts I had at that time carried through in my thought processes as I did exercise 8:1, so I will put my short list of those, with commentary, here.

*out in the cold: winter white (the dominance of the white background, building and paving stones)

*walking wounded: the figures on this card are not walking, but in order to walk one will use his crutch; his leg, foot and his head are bandaged

*no rest for the weary: the figures in the foreground do not look weary, however the woman in the doorway looks indecisive, certainly not energetic; maybe the building houses a shelter or a soup kitchen, and she is meant to have this time off – should she extend herself and invite them in anyway?

*world weary: the woman in the doorway thinks, “They just keep coming. My work is never finished.”

*beggars can’t be choosers: the woman might use a judgmental or remonstrating tone. (Whereas the RWS or RWood figures might be resigned or philosophical about this.)

X – looking for shelter: aside from my thoughts above, this card really doesn’t suggest looking for shelter to me. I did hear the Stones’ Gimme Shelter in my head as I read this, which works nicely for RWS.

A storm is threatening my very life today
If I don’t get some shelter, I’m gonna fade away

*support in adversity: at first look, I saw this building as a private home, so the woman in the doorway might be looking out to see if her neighbors are okay; with the soup kitchen or shelter idea, this could be institutional or governmental charity support in adversity

*within a stone’s throw (as pictured)

*for better or worse…. ’til death do us part: here the boy and older woman could be grandson/grandmother; the vow works familial-y, but the age difference gives it a different feeling!

*cold comfort: doorway woman doesn’t look like a warm, fuzzy comforter to me; I see her offering with reservations, not truly open-hearted

Exercise 8:1
1) My metaphors for the Whispering Tarot 5P
* - a heart of stone
* - a hand-out (the woman in the doorway has one hand on the outside handle)
* - lend a hand
* - crack in the wall (door is “cracked” open)
* - open your heart/open hearted
* - stand on your own two feet (because of the crutch and leaning on older woman)
* - on the doorstep/at the threshold

Also I was struck by the age metaphors in the colors of the foreground figures’ clothing: grandmother in orange and red – sunset, grandson in springtime green. The woman in the door is in blue, a more wintry color.

2) I used Dave’s suggestion to look to the keywords in the appendices for prompts.

My metaphors for 5s:
X - crisis: the Chinese ideogram that is meant to stand for both crisis and opportunity
X - instability: log rolling
* - adaptation: a leopard changing its spots (and the pentacles look like spots)

My metaphors for pentacles:
* - hex signs
* -money: doesn’t grow on trees
* - welcoming: My door is always open. Mi casa, su casa.

3) My metaphor shortlist – see above.
* - means they are on my short list
X – means they are not
 

Probie

Greer (2006) 21 Ways - Step 8 - Part I

Rider-Waite-Smith
Five of Pentacles


8.1.1 - The Five of Pentacles

  • Just the clothes on your back
  • Can't rub two nickels together
  • Walking wounded
  • Out on the street (homeless)
  • No where to lay your head
  • No place to call home
  • One of Angie's clients (our homeless social service worker who's clients have to be on the street, in a car, or in a shelter at the time of referral to her)
  • A charity case
  • Lazarus at the gate of the rich man
  • Beggars can't be choosers
  • Down and out
  • Can't put a roof over their head
  • Downsized
  • Out of unemployment benefits
  • Former General Motors/Chrysler/Ford autoworkers
  • Indefinitely laid-off


8.1.2 - Number Five

  • Motivations
  • Motion after rest
  • Upsetting the balance
  • Loss of tranquility through the beginning of motion
  • Upsetting the apple cart
  • Change
  • Flux/Shift
  • A New Development in a Settled Affair


8.1.3 - Selection for the Five of Pentacles

The Keep Pile
  • Upsetting the balance
  • Upsetting the apple cart
  • Change
  • Flux/Shift
  • A New Development in a Settled Affair

The Toss Pile
  • Motivations
  • Motion after rest
  • Loss of tranquility through the beginning of motion
 

dadsnook2000

Very comprehensive listing

I like the extent and current-context focus of your list. Dave
 

Probie

dadsnook2000 said:
I like the extent and current-context focus of your list. Dave

Thanks Dave! To be honest when I can get past all the silly gossiping & office politics, my job gives me meaning. I love it that I can help people avoid an eviction or keep heat on during a US Midwestern winter.

We're disbursing ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) or "stimulus money" to "Main Street" in "Small Town, USA" and it can be stressful, but we're one of the few surviving community action agencies (Def: non-religious charities that seek to alleviate poverty to hope to eliminate it) because grants usually have $0-little dollars for "administrative costs" (read: paying workers' wages like me). So when people stopped giving, the charities had to lay off people too which made helping people who got laid off even harder (not to mention more chronic sufferers)!

However, ours gets a "Community Federal Block Grant" (CFBG) that can be used for those purposes so we're one of the few surviving charities around. The Saint Vincent de Paul workers are all volunteers who have to work out of their homes, use their own gas, and call on their own phones. It's bad, really, really bad but the Light refuses to give up! :angel:
 

pacificwaters

21 ways, Step Eight (Part One)

Since I am working with the RWS deck for the purpose of the study, the card to be chosen for this part of the study (Five of Pentacles) is also from the RWS. Following are my interpretations for the same

8.1.1: Metaphors for Five of Pentacles
-Down but not out
-Till death do us apart
-On a crutch and prayer
-Nothing as harsh as an icy winter
-Braving the vagaries of nature
-When the (icy) wind cries Mary
-Chased out of town/outcasts
-To Lord we turn with hope
-In search of shelter
-Orphaned by the world
-To look in the eye

8.1.2: Metaphors for number five in a Tarot deck
-Battling the odds
-Defeated by circumstances
-Making an effort to adapt
-Unfavorable circumstances
-You have just come halfway yet!

For number 5 with relevance to the Pentacles suit without thinking of the picture:
-Midway in the path of wisdom/spirituality
-Not yet secure
-Materialistic stuff not enough, more needed
-The work is not yet finished

8.1.3 Metaphors for Five of Pentacles which I think work for me
-Down but not out
-Till death do us apart
-On a crutch and prayer
-Nothing as harsh as an icy winter
-Braving the vagaries of nature
-Chased out of town/outcasts
-In search of shelter
-Orphaned by the world
 

fractalgranny

step 8 - 21 ways - crow's magick

the ones that work for my card are starred

metaphors/phrases for 5 of coins

*easy does it
*climb every mountain
*desperation is the mother of invention

come on!
(if i can do it) you can do it
whatever the struggle, continue the climb
i can do it
if god brings you to it, he will bring you through it
pull out all the stops

between a rock and a hard place
what next?
it’s just around the corner
no matter where i go, there i am
grateful to be here

no laurels to rest on yet
pain is in the resistance
all progress is precarious
one that would have the fruit must climb the tree
dutch courage won’t help
no rest for the wicked
god helps those who help themselves

chasing one’s tail
help!
hard up
between you, me and the gatepost


metaphors/phrases for 5s

*5 minutes
*half way there
*five alive
*gimmie five
*five senses


5 fingers
5 continents
50 ways to leave your lover
5 numbers on a research scale
jackson 5
5-day work week
pentagram
pentagon
the 5 olympic rings
5 gears in a car
pleading the 5th amendment
5-second rule
the five cards in a poker hand



metaphors/phrases for coins

* riches
* flipping a coin
* heads or tails

money
gold
silver
ancient coins
all the words for coins – loonies and toonies in canada, for example, and dimes and quarters
payment
wallet
“serious coinage”
coining a phrase
metal
coin collectors
minting coins
commerce
exchange
commemorative coins
buttons
(self) worth
status seeker
privilege