Hunkering Down with the Five of Earth

A hiker finds himself lost in the deep woods when a storm blows in.  He builds a debris hut and hunkers down inside it to wait out the night. Even though he’s cold and uncomfortable, he knows he has the skills he needs to survive and make it safely out of the wilderness once the storm has passed.

Divinatory meaning: Survival issues, ill-health, financial stress.  How do you handle stress in your life?  What survival skills have you developed that help you cope in times of crisis?

I just love this 5 of Earth (Pentacles or Discs), even though it's one of those cards that makes your heart sink when it turns up in a reading.

My friend Chris Chisholm of Wolf Camp posed for this one, one sunny hot day last July, and I had loads of fun changing the weather to a stormy late fall day. 

What does this card say to you?

Comments

[KerrdeLune (Cate)]

It's a beautiful card, and I have actually created such a shelter - not in recent years but as a young traveller in wild places.

The card tells me to create a haven when in the grip of survival issues, health issues and financial stresses - it tells me to make a hearth or spirit bothy, once there to listen and breathe and remember that the sacred is everywhere, to connect to that which is beyond and remember that there really is no "beyond", that I am enfolded in Her and that all shall be well.

[joanna]

And that's a reminder I need to hear, Cate -- thank you. I just realized that it was while I was working on the 5 of Earth that I was dealing with knee pain that is not getting better . . . just had an MRI done and we'll see what that tell us. Yet . . . all shall indeed be well.

[Susan]

I was visiting your site yesterday, and spent a long time looking at the cards. I also read how you pulled cards for the eclipse/new moon, so this morning I pulled out my year card and month card from my birthday spread ( I do the birthday spread - 12 cards, one per month, plus a card in the centre for the year), and realized that the decks I have don't show the 5 of pentacles as my very first deck (the Aquarian) did......so I came back here to look at yours, and it's beautiful and it FITS. It's exactly how I feel right now, like I have to hunker down and wait out the current storm. I like how you ask in the card what skills we have developed to see us through stress, to financial difficulties. It's a positive way of looking at a dark time - next to the 10 of swords, it's the card that I really go 'oh no!' and sigh at! At least it's my month card only! Thank you, Joanna, for your tarot deck because it really is beautiful and powerful and every image is haunting and captures an essence of the card and meaning. I can hardly wait until you are done so I can order a deck. I think I need these cards! Blessings to you, Susan

[joanna]

Susan, thanks so much. I'm glad you like this card -- it's becoming one of my favorites too. I think that when we read the cards we can always brainstorm solutions. But it's nice to have a solution suggested in the card as well.

I think you'll like my 9 of Air too!