Five of Pentacles

What the card means

Upright

Out in the cold, walking past a lit window. Two figures trudge through snow along a church window, and neither looks up. The want is real, and the other half of the card is that help is two steps away and not being asked for.

Reversed

Help is there; asking is the hard part. Reversed, this is more often about having asked and received than about anything worsening.

Love and relationships

Upright

Loneliness together or apart. The feeling of being shut out. Check whether you walked past the window yourself.

Reversed

Said it was hard, and it got easier. Or somebody put a hand out.

Work and business

Upright

Losing work, no money, the sense of being outside. Hard, and not permanent.

Reversed

Somebody helped you into something. Or you asked for help for the first time and got it.

Money

Upright

Shortage, debt, economising on necessities. The worst money card in the deck - and it is about a stretch of time rather than a fate.

Reversed

Found support: an instalment plan, help, work. Asking turned out cheaper than enduring.

The card's advice

Ask. The window is lit and very close, and the only thing walking you past it is a certainty that asking is not allowed. That certainty costs more than you think.

As the card of the day

A hard day. Good for asking somebody for help. Poor for pride.

What is depicted

Two figures struggle through snow: a woman in rags and a man on crutches with a bell. Above them a stained-glass window with five coins burns. The window is right there, and neither of them lifts their head.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Mercury in Taurus - sober arithmetic in a hard season.

With other cards

• Five of Pentacles + Four of Pentacles — held on and ended up with nothing anyway.
• Five of Pentacles + Six of Pentacles — asked, and the help came.
• Five of Pentacles + The Star — after the cold come quiet and help.