In my ongoing effort to connect with my tarot deck and my intuition, I drew a card today. My question was “How can I align with my true self?”
I drew the Five of Pentacles, and I’m just not seeing how that might be relevant to my question.
Any ideas to put me on the right track?
I have noticed that sometimes I get so far off track that I have to go through a big break in order to get back on the right path for me. These breaks can appear as misery, illness, despondancy, or undue difficulty. Do not fear this, though. You will make it through. Keep looking for the silver lining, since the experience is just a little cloud.
Hi @jayne,
Georgia has some solid advice on how you might read the Five of Pentacles as aligning with your true self. If I can add a few more points on the table, I’d say that the Five of Pentacles is a card of hardship, but it’s also a card of spiritual enlightenment.
May I ask which deck you used for the reading? While the Rider Waite tarot is often used as the standard, different decks add or change things - your deck and its artwork may have some deck-specific insights for you to consider.
If you used the Rider Waite deck or something very similar, then the artwork likely depicts a chapel/cathedral/church in the background (there’s a picture of it along with some more ways to read it on the card’s page on Spells8). One way to interpret this card is that the people out in the snow are struggling, but help is right there - the warm lights of the religious building offer sanctuary on both a physical and spiritual level.
Perhaps this card is encouraging you to devote more time to your spiritual/religious practice in order to help you become your truest self?
Just a thought on the table! Good luck and blessed be 
Hi @jayne,
As always, @georgia and @BryWisteria have given you some great advice, can I offer an alternative?
Like you, I was initially confused and couldn’t see a connection, so I went back to ‘keep it simple and specific’…what do I see? Well, you’ve said a few times that you’re struggling with tarot…and 5 is the number of challenges, pentacles are the sign of physical things…maybe the cards are telling you that they can feel the physical and spritual anxiety you’re feeling?
Think of your tarot deck like a phone, the connection between you and who you’re communicating with. If you don’t dial the number, or you’re in a confused state and don’t dial correctly, the call won’t work; but if the phone isn’t working, or you don’t understand how to work it, then the call won’t work either. The only differences between your phone and your deck is that your deck knows stuff, it feels things and it doesn’t lie.
Maybe you should start with exactly what the issue is - overwhelmed with definitions, lack of confidence in your abilities, (I still feel that way most of the time by the way, so you’re not alone) whatever it is - you need to identify it. Until you do, it will be harder to work through it. In the meantime, think about taking the pressure off of yourself; get to know your deck, not the cards, and then break the process down into chunks.
I would spend time grounding yourself, then rub your hands together to generate some energy and when your hands feel warm, hold your deck in your hands - don’t pull any cards, just get used to their energy and let them get used to yours. Talk to them like a familiar, tell them what’s happening (either verbally or mentally) - that you’re getting used to their energy and letting them get used to yours. Do that a few times, until their energy becomes familiar, and talking to them becomes familiar too.
As for learning definitions and cards, that’s a process which is different for everyone…I would start with the basics i.e. the Minor Arcana, learn the numbers 1 to King, and the suit meanings. Some people learn quicker using playing cards to test their memory; if you like snap or solitaire, try to remember the number meaning and the suit meaning. Hearts=Cups, Spades=Swords, Diamonds=Pentacles and Clubs=Wands; so if you saw a 5 of hearts for example, you might remember that 5 is about challenges and struggles, and hearts=cups and cups are about emotions and intuition, so you can surmise that it probably means someone’s having emotional or intuition issues.
That’s your base level, the most basic information you can utilise in a reading - the number and the suit. After that, it’s just adding layers, one at a time; with our example, you might then go home and pull the 5 of Cups…what do you see? A hooded figure, 5 Cups on the ground - are the cups all together or apart? Are they upright, in a specific arrangement or cast aside? Full or empty? What do you feel - is this person paying attention to the cups/wands/etc.? What do YOU feel that means? Don’t underestimate your abilities or your intuition, it’s very important in readings and divination in general. After that, you can delve into deeper meaning with symbols, the illustrations on the cards, astrology, elements, whatever you feel comfortable with.
Okay, I totally didn’t mean to ramble on like that, I should’ve just posted a cheat sheet or something haha! But in a nutshell, it sounds to me like if you could develop your relationship with your deck, that will boost your confidence too. I hope some of that helped!
x Blessed Be x
@BryWisteria It’s a Rider-Waite deck, and now I look at the card again, I totally see what you mean. That could be a good way to interpret it. Thank you.
@Nikki-Phoenix What an awesome reply. Thank you! My poor deck is probably frustrated with me for being such a dunce!
My main problem is that I still have to look in the guide book, or on Decoding the Cards at Writual Planner, in order to decipher them. So I can only go by what is written there.
I actually just got the Astra Tarot app, which is like a game show on your phone that teaches you all about the different cards and how they work in different spreads and tests you along the way. It costs an arm and a leg, but it’s the sort of way I can learn, as opposed to just reading - seeing it and answering questions as I go really helps it stick in my mind.
And while I’m doing that, I will certainly spend some time developing a relationship with my deck.
Thank you all for your help.
Hey @jayne, you’re most welcome. And you are not a dunce - you’re human, and you are learning. Feel free to ignore the following, but I wish someone had told me this when I started out. I think this is the perfect time to develop your intuition when reading tarot and nurture your relationship with your deck, and this is why.
There are 78 cards in the deck, and each card has, let’s say, at least 3 keywords; that’s 78 different pictures, and at least 234 words to associate with those cards. I’m not trying to scare or overwhelm you, I’m trying to put it in perspective - even if you memorise all of that, plus the keywords I didn’t count, what you’ve learned is an assortment of words and the pictures they can relate to.
Those words aren’t the reading - how you interpret them, how you relate them to the other cards, how you apply knowledge of the client…all of that comes from you. There is a reason that most decks have keywords written on them - it’s okay to use them, or not use them as the case may be.
Consider your initial question - you got 3 answers, and none of them were wrong. They were different. Another example, take these 2 cheatsheets I found via Google - they’re very similar, but not exactly the same. The only difference between them is choice.
Some people make up stories about each card to learn them, some make up stories with the cards. For example, a story about Jasmine who lived in the palace and decided she wanted to explore the world. Her friend called her a Fool, but Jo began her journey and arrived at a cliff. She felt so free, invincible, as if she could do anything she wanted to do. She turned the corner and saw a Magician called Gandalf, who conjured pictures of the elements… and so on.
I still use a “learning” set because I’m still learning and my memory sucks, they have information printed on the cards, there are even flashcard tarot decks for learning tarot.
Anyway, you are on a fascinating journey, enjoy!
x Blessed Be x
I’ve been having fun with the Astra app. And it seems to be helping me retain the information. As I look at that first cheat sheet you posted, it brings to mind what I learned in the Astra app, so hopefully that will stick in my head. (wonders will never cease, lol)
