FIVE OF PENTACLES
Dark Night -- The dark night of the soul. Trials and tribulations that can make or break romantic, familial, and friendly relationships. The highs and lows of being together. Struggle and drudgery. Old wounds rise to the surface.
SHADOW: The Five of Pentacles suggests the breakthrough and release of a blockage that once held relationships back. It is the working of the problem. It is sticking around when times get tough, not just when things are easy and fun. This is the transformative moment of a relationship that shows two people what they are made of together.
Snow fills the Dark Wood. The landscape is illuminated by an unseen moon. A couple walks together up an embankment, suggesting an uphill struggle. They are sad; their clothing is in tatters. They are barefoot and ill-equipped to deal with the snowfall, wind, and brittle cold. Betrayal between them creeps through the card. It is the classic dark night of the soul à la La Bohème.
The five pentacles are packed inside the base of a tree, hidden like treasure in plain sight. If the couple could see past their pain, they would look up and discover salvation is at hand. They are too consumed with familiar and comforting pain to discover the pentacles, which are the answer and refuge they seek. The Five of Pentacles foreshadows the Ten of Pentacles. The tree of life holds entrance to the underworld, but it is blocked.