Today I’m looking at the role of Taurus in the Minor Arcana.
In the astrological correspondence
system that I follow, Taurus is linked to the Five, Six and Seven of Pentacles
– or Disks, or Coins, or Stones...depending on the deck. Today I’m going to look at the Five of
Pentacles, which corresponds to Mercury in Taurus – and the first ten days of
Taurus.
Taurus is the fixed Earth sign, so we’re looking at
maintaining our resources in a practical, down-to-earth way. Those resources
include anything that gives us a sense of security or stability – so this
covers financial matters, material concerns, issues around health and
well-being...whatever it takes to make us feel safe and comfortable.
Mercury is about sharing and trading information and ideas.
Normally when we think of Mercury, we might envisage the fleet-footed messenger
of the gods, but in Taurus it’s much harder for him to get off the ground, let
alone fly! Instead, he finds himself
having to take care with his words, having to speak more slowly and with more
consideration. Having to slow down and
be more deliberate and down-to-earth is a challenge to Mercury! Rather than communicating through words and
ideas, he may express himself in a more physical way.
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| Five of Pentacles (trimmed):©Sharman-Caselli Tarot |
So how might this play out in the Five of Pentacles? Let start with a relatively ‘traditional’
depiction, for example, the
Sharman-Caselli deck. Here we see two beggars shivering in the
cold, unaware of the warmth and shelter and help on the other side of the
window. They are aware of physical sensation, in this
case the cold, but they are so lost in the physicality that they can’t see
beyond that. The assumption here is that
they’ve also lost all their material possessions – a source of concern to the
Taurean archetype. If they were to look up at the window though, not only would
they see the promise of light and warmth, but also the fruit and flowers carved
in the stone around the window, reminding them of the bounty of the earth –
which they haven’t lost.
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| Five of Pentacles ((trimmed):©Shadowscapes Tarot |
Juliet Sharman-Burke talks about ‘the loss of wealth and
faith’ for this card. The loss of wealth – financial or material - is perhaps
easier to see. The loss of faith comes
through the loss of self-worth that can accompany loss of status in the
material world. Mercury brings the
anxiety and worry, through its ‘Air-iness’ – the thoughts and beliefs that we
carry in our minds – to the earthy concerns around Taurean comfort and
security. But it’s not just about the money; the loss of faith or self-esteem
or self-worth can also lead us into a ‘black hole’ of feeling hopeless; it may
be time to address more ‘spiritual’ issues too.
The Shadowscapes deck also has this sense of being cut off
or lost, but this (for me) is more to do with the pose
of the figure, and with the way it’s been squeezed into a small space in the
bottom right corner of the card. The
pentacles in the top left corner seem huge – so there is a sense of imbalance
or destabilization.
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| Five of Pentacles ((trimmed):©DruidCraft tarot |
The DruidCraft, though, shows us this sense of loss in a
woman, obviously in distress, leaning against a tree. Her eyes are covered by her hands, so she
can’t ‘see’ – she only feels what’s within.
On the horizon, a greyhound chases a hare – part of the story of
Taliesin, who is trying to escape Ceridwen. In the first part of the chase, he
takes the form of a hare, while Ceridwen assumes the shape of a greyhound. The
chase – shown in the Fives of all suits in the deck – symbolizes the need to
transform, to find a way forward from the crisis, the loss, that the Five of
Pentacles represents.
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| Five of Disks ((trimmed):©Thoth Tarot |
In the Thoth deck, the emphasis is similar, the focus here
being ‘worry’ (Mercurical) over the state of our personal resources. It’s a
reminder not to let worry and anxiety over such matters prevail to the point
that we find ourselves stuck in a rut.
The pentagram in the image is upside-down, suggesting that things are
out of balance. Communication will be a
key, thanks again to Mercury, in finding a way out of the ‘black hole’ or rut
that we find ourselves in.
DruidCraft Tarot created by Philip
Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published
by Connections
Shadowscapes Tarot created by
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn
Sharman-Caselli
Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated
by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections
Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by
Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
