Pamela Colman Smith · RWS deck
The Minor Arcana
Five of Pentacles
Geburah in Assiah
- Suit
- pentacles
- Rank
- Five
- World
- Assiah
- Station
- Geburah
- Verb
- I ground
Geburah, the cut and the boundary
Geburah is severity: the faculty that cuts, bounds and defends. Every Five in the deck shows trouble, and the fit between image and station is the cleanest of any rank.
Upright
Flowing. The cut made real in matter: scarcity, exclusion, being outside what others have. In the world of action the boundary is not an idea. It is cold, hunger and a door that seems closed, and the window is lit for anyone who looks up.
Misdirected. Not seeing the door that is there, or pride that keeps help away.
Reversed
Blocked. The lack is not named and help is not sought or seen.
Flooded. Scarcity everywhere, every resource treated as lacking.
The image
Two figures in rags walk through falling snow, one on crutches, one barefoot with a bandaged head. Beside them a church window glows, with five coins set in its panes. Neither looks at it.
Learn how to read Five of Pentacles in a spread
This page shows you what Five of Pentacles means. Knowing how to read it — how it shifts next to the other cards, what the reversal is really telling you, and how to turn a spread into a clear answer — is what the RWS Decoded course and book teach, card by card.
