Name: Melancholy
Italian Name: Malinconia
Playing Card: 5♦
Polarity when Upright: Negative
Core Meanings: Sadness, but of a passing kind | A misstep, instability
Polarity when Reversed: Negative
Reversed Core Meanings: Deeper disappointment | Debts, Difficult financial situation

Card Description: A young woman sighing dejectedly by the tombs of her dead pet.

Suit and Number: Fives have to do with transition, and Diamonds are a mixed suit. The Five of Diamonds represents transitory difficulties and sadness and some instability.

UPRIGHT 5♦

General: Negative but not tragic. In general, it points to disappointments of a passing nature. Heavy or difficult periods are indicated, but also described as not anchored in the querent’s destiny. The card also has some connection with the past, because it represents happiness lost.

Love and Relationships: the situation is at the very least not satisfactory. If the querent is single, they are unlikey to find someone in the near future, but the card also says that the situation will pass. When it describes a couple’s life, it shows it to be unfulfilling and kind of meh. There is probably some unvoiced issue, or the people involved seem to have lost the glowing admiration they once had for their partner. It can represent pining for a lost love or loved one if the other cards are consistent.

Work and Money: money is probably tight and the situation is not the best. It can also represent a financial situation where the person reaps the poor results of previous negative actions, and even when upright, if surrounded by negative cards, it can point to debts. Career-wise the Five of Diamonds is a card of lack of fulfillment, possibly due to being in the wrong field, or more simply due to bad pay or lack of security.

Other: psychologically some depression is indicated, but not a heavy one. It represents those situations where you just feel like giving up on things and life doesn’t feel very exciting anymore. Spiritually the same is indicated. It can also show up in readings for those people who pick up new spiritual fads and then discover that they are not as shiny after a couple of weeks.

Important Combinations:
6♥ + 5♦ = dissatisfaction with your finances or due to something that happened in the past
7♦U/R + 9♠ + 5♠ + 5♦ = sadness due to a past miscarriage (with K♣ or K♠, abortion)
5♦ + 9♠ = some depression
A♦ + 5♦ = in a couple it can represent lack of satisfaction under the sheets
10♣ + 5♦ = regret over having behaved irresponsibly

REVERSED 5♦R

General: More negative than when upright, the card tends to show disappointments of a more lasting nature. It still has a connection to the past, often showing pigeons coming home to roost or past issues coming out of the woodwork.

Love and Relationships: again, dissatisfaction is shown. For singles, it is very likely that they are still very much suffering due to a past breakup. For couples, disagreements are foretold, and depending on the other cards even divorce, that is, the legal disagreement par excellence. Sometimes the Melancholy card reversed signifies that it is starting to be too late to fix a relationship.

Work and Money: because of its connection with the past and with deeper trouble, the reversed Five of Diamonds can signify debts. More generally, it shows a difficult situation, impoverishment and unemployment or a very badly paid job, sometimes even one where you are paid little and off the books.

Other: there is a general sense of “lateness” to this card, as though a situation were now beyond repair, at least in its current form. Usually it’s best for the querent to start over with a clean slate where possible. The card is connected with lawsuits and litigations where appropriate.

Important Combinations:
6♥U/R + 5♦R = debts, bad finances
5♦R + 8♠ + 10♦R or 7♠R = utter financial ruin
5♦R + K♦ = a bad or stressful job (if K♦R likely one where you are exploited)
5♦R + K♠R = a bad lawsuit
5♦R + A♠R + 8♦R + 10♥ = repaying a debt

Other Combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Fives