#5pents — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

@curiousjay in most RWS-y decks, #5pents does show subjects of poverty, typically at least one of them are on crutches or visibly disabled. both are literally shut outside in the cold. but the strongest figure in the card's image is actually their background, the bright and warm church window, and all the 5 pentacles depicted in the stained glass design. it's strong, but inanimate, not even a subject, it's an object.

so although 5 pents is about poverty, my interpretation is this card depicts a barrier creating in groups and out groups. it's about division, not scarcity.

we can assume scarcity is enforced by the decisions of the unseen priests & congregation on the inside, not even pictured on the card. they have such excess, the only possible relief from scarcity for the subjects on the card is maybe some warmth can escape through the window pane more than the grey wall around it. but even so, the subjects are still moving across the card (perhaps away from the church?), the crippled one with great difficulty-- why?

the actual situation this card may point to isn't necessarily religious but it does moralize poverty and preach a sort of prosperity gospel in a way many powerful churches do. the barrier exists in part due to the belief good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people, and poverty is somehow deserved.

in #Thoth, this card is titled worry. the image is abstract, but also depicts a grey barrier blocking warm colors behind it. the warmth of the background is only a bit visible through some gaps in this barrier.

the astrology bits depict the rule of Mercury (planet of both Gemini and Virgo) over Taurus. and these astrological concepts are typically opposed. So this is an intense and unstable strain between the materialism, comfort, and stubbornness of Taurus and the intelligent, reasonable, and communicative/diplomatic personality of Mercury. There are a lot of contradictions, strength and instability, stagnation/inaction and movement, coldness and warmth, all in the same image.