Upright Meaning:
When Five of Pentacles turns up in a career reading, it shows that you are struggling within your career – perhaps you are unable to make ends meet in the job you are in, or you do not feel supported by your boss or coworkers. Your mental resources could be low, or drained, by the current career situation, and you are unable to focus on anything but how hard things have been for you.
When the Five of Pentacles appears in a reading about finances, it is an indicator that things are tight right now – or that they appear that way to you. It can also indicate that you are overly worried or focused on your finances, which may actually create an unwanted manifestation of financial woes in the future. It is important to be mindful that you do not focus too much on what you do not have, for it can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Five of Pentacles shows up not only as an indication of lack or loss but also as a reminder that you are focusing too much on lack or loss.
Reversed Meaning:
In a career reading, Five of Pentacles reversed can show that a period of struggle within your career, especially pertaining to feeling abandoned or unsupported, is ending. It can also mean that these feelings need to be paid attention to in particular, and put ‘on notice’ for you to work on in the future.
When it comes to finances, a reversed Five of Pentacles indicates that financial hardships could be coming to an end. Since a reversal can sometimes be taken to mean that the lesson of a card is not ready to be learned yet, it can also mean that you should take more control of your finances, lest you lose control of them and come to a situation where you are deep in the Five of Pentacles lesson of loss.