Fives are an interesting dichotomy in tarot - in traditional decks they are painful, negative cards, and yet in some more modern and feminist decks they are cards of spirituality, magick, and womanhood.  The same duality can be seen in their associated trump, the Hierophant.  On the one hand, he represents in some decks and to some readers all that is wrong with organized religion - corruption, greed, and intolerance.  On the other hand, he represents the link between the divine and the mundane, the Word of Spirit brought to earth.  Some decks assign the Hierophant to the element of earth, in his association with Taurus.  To other minds, he is best represented by Spirit rather than one of the four earthly elements.

In traditional numerology, Fives represent instability and change.  After the highly stable (and some might say rigid) Fours, a fair amount of destabilizing energy is needed to push oneself out of this stable or stagnant situation to allow further growth.  One characteristic of the Fives is that the change is generally not voluntary or expected - therefore, it can be frightening and there may be a real or perceived lack of control over the situation and one's reactions to it.  Hence the traditional associations of the Fives in tarot with the most negative situations in life.  The movement from the Fives to the more harmonious Sixes can be brought about through a personal or spiritual transformation or through the grace of God/dess - and this is where the other side of the Fives can be seen, even in the traditional decks.

The number 5 is also associated with women, and with magick.  These associations may have been frightening to some originally, and added to the negative associations with the Fives (as in the fifth sephiroth of the kabalah).  However, some newer decks, such as Wheel of Change, have begun to celebrate these as positive associations.  The symbol of the upward-pointing pentagram is one that often appears, as well as four elements or directions integrated into central white energy in a ritual circle.

I have been playing with a Tree of Life that encompasses the scientific aspects of creation, as well as spirituality, and some of the ideas that are coming out relate to the trumps numbered 0-5 - they can be likened to the natural creation of the earth, as follows:

0 - The Fool - spirit, nothingness, the origin of the universe

1 - The Magician - air, coalescing of swirling gases and elements into matter and molecules

2 - The High Priestess - water, the formation of the earth's oceans and atmospheres, the creation of the necessary conditions for life

3 - The Empress - earth, the abundance of plant and animal life that arose next

4 - The Emperor - fire, the spark of consciousness and self-awareness that arises in humans and organization of the humans into civilization and the arts of agriculture, trade, law, government

5 - The Hierophant - spirit, the reaching out of human civilization for something greater than itself, a return to our connection with the origin, but filtered through our perception of the material world

Notice that the trumps 0-5 comprise the four elements, bracketed on either side by Spirit.  The trumps 1-4 are known as the "heavenly and earthly parents", and this is quite interesting in this context :-).

Some real-life examples of the Fives:

Wands:  Intense competition at work or in the marketplace, a clash of wills while the argument is still going on and no-one is sure who will come out on top, internal conflict caused by uncertainty about one's identity or a challenge to deeply held ideals, instability that threatens a marriage or business partnership, scattering of energies due to lack of focus.

Swords:  Being confronted with new ideas that feel threatening to the established order of things, rampant idealism overriding calm reason, facing a harsh reality, mental instability resulting in cruelty or victimization, verbal battles or contests, a period of revolutionary change.

Pentacles:  Financial instability, loss or sudden change of job or living situation, being physically out of balance or ill, facing a period of hardship, rejection or isolation, physical violence or accidents, stress.

Cups: Loss of a relationship, coping with death or illness of a family member or friend, grieving, emotional instability (positive or negative), self-doubt, fluctuating self-esteem, creative change.