5 of Coins as What should be done ?

[bluelagune]

What do you mean by "let him learn his lessons" ? Could you expand ?

I use RW. There are two figures in this card. A woman who looks very upset and the guy with a cows bell around his neck. In old times the cows bell was hung on a person who stole something or cheated someone. So he knows he is guilty, he knows he hurt her ... but she still tags along with him. As they both continue on this path, she will be quiet. As they walk, it will be his time to think about his mistakes and how he was wrong to hurt her by his actions.

 

[Teheuti]

I've only heard of the bell placed around the neck of a leper, so that people could give them wide berth. [Another version says that the bell is used for communicating when the throat has been damaged.] There's a picture at this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy_stigma

This page has a medieval picture of a leper and a cripple walking along together - very reminiscent of the RWS image.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/lepers.htm

Or how about this quote from Graham Greene's The Quiet American?
"Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm."

 

[Teheuti]

Waite calls the figures in the RWS deck mendicants, which means a person who lives by begging or a member of an order of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.

The word is from the Latin for begging and needy, and related to mendum, meaning a physical defect.

 

[bluelagune]

I've only heard of the bell placed around the neck of a leper, so that people could give them wide berth. [Another version says that the bell is used for communicating when the throat has been damaged.] There's a picture at this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy_stigma

This page has a medieval picture of a leper and a cripple walking along together - very reminiscent of the RWS image.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/lepers.htm

Or how about this quote from Graham Greene's The Quiet American?
"Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm."

Depends on a country of origin. I think Turkey used sheep bells. Russian empire used cows. The prizon tatoos still depict the bell as "time served".

Leprosy, I think was considered a curse for bad deeds and people were send away to an island or monestery to pray for their sins but then again depending on the country.

Thank you for sharing

 

[Tiggy-cat]

I agree with you here. I find a lot of the "affirmation" language high in calories and low in nutrition, especially as applied to traditionally difficult cards. I don't usually do churches, but I happen to have the Golden Tarot so I pulled out the 5 of Coins.

I certainly don't see this as a joyous or uplifting card. It looks like a "downer" to me. The people may be "in" the church but they're not "of" the church; their expressions are resigned, not beatific (especially the woman, who seems like she's looking for the door). They take no part in the church's opulence or vaulting spiritual values - those are far above them. And there is no solicitous churchman to minister to their needs, the church is dark and there are no candles; I'd be surprised if the heat is even turned up. As the tour MC used to say to the hopeful female fans, "Elvis (the Hierophant) has left the building!" The card looks like one of unattainable succor. There seems to be scant mercy in it.

The LWB with the deck makes no bones about this: misguided goals, the possibility of destitution and misery. I would suggest unrealistic expectations; the old cliche about "if wishes were horse, beggars would ride." The advice seems to be to make do with what you have, however meager, and get on with your life. These people need a soup kitchen, not a priest. My thought is that they should stop expecting miracles and look to their physical needs. You can't eat lofty promises. So they should leave the "church" (the situation that they're hanging onto in hope of relief) and go find a shelter (a situation that is more conducive to here-and-now comfort). This looks more like a card of dejection and penance than ultimate reward, unless they plan to stay there until the Apocalypse. As the old Mainer said to the lost tourist: "You can't get there from here."

What should be done? Beat them out the door and go find satisfaction elsewhere.

Very interesting take. I'd never thought of it this way and have always been a bit stymied by this card but this interpretation could make a lot of sense in some situations.

 

[samantha]

"For better or worst, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." (For Etteilla & based on Pythagorean numerology, 5's were the number of marriage.) So, I go with sticking with someone through difficulties.

Another level of this card is what was termed choosing "voluntary simplicity" by Stanford University, characterized as: "a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich."

It was one of my initial* possibles* but I'm more inclined to put it ("sticking with someone through difficulties) as a main focus now. I'm not well versed on numerology but thanks for that link- I will check him out.

I've never considered a voluntary renouncement of materialism with this card, but Virgo26 seemed to make the same point- and actually, in the situation that the cards were drawn, makes a lot of sense.

 

[samantha]

-Simplify. Go back to the basics.
-Give up material stuff and bad habits.
-Go out, don't stay home. Walk in the streets, wander around and take conscience about the world you live in and all what you already have.
-Leave.

Sorry Inana, you also mention it ("give up material stuff") - can't keep track scrolling up and down ! It makes me wonder why I never saw that meaning (possible meaning) in the card before ; makes me think of that line by Lily Allen " I'm aware of massive consumption, but it's not my fault just the way I've been programmed to function " Hmm....

if you read Daniels great post on the visuals of this card (Golden T deck) then you'll see that this couple are already inside the church...but otherwise I get what you are saying about the walkabout - which goes back to the point about the simple life.

 

[samantha]

The card looks like one of unattainable succor. There seems to be scant mercy in it..........
I would suggest unrealistic expectations; the old cliche about "if wishes were horse, beggars would ride." The advice seems to be to make do with what you have, however meager, and get on with your life. These people need a soup kitchen, not a priest. My thought is that they should stop expecting miracles and look to their physical needs. You can't eat lofty promises. So they should leave the "church" (the situation that they're hanging onto in hope of relief) and go find a shelter (a situation that is more conducive to here-and-now comfort). This looks more like a card of dejection and penance than ultimate reward, unless they plan to stay there until the Apocalypse. As the old Mainer said to the lost tourist: "You can't get there from here."

What should be done? Beat them out the door and go find satisfaction elsewhere.

Thanks for your post (horribly truncated above) I really liked the idea of having been *taken in* (literally) by the church (symbolic ); not a haven at all as first hoped. This is an interesting idea in itself (a first for me) and very on point as personal advice- so many thanks for that. You are absolutely right, my *salvation* lies elsewhere