The Suit of Pentacles
The Suit of Pentacles is the forth suit of the Minor Arcana corresponding to the element of Earth and concerning resources, material world, career, possessions, and wealth. This Suit is listed forth in the Tarot’s Minor Arcana because it corresponds to the heaviest alchemist element of Earth. The Suit of Pentacles contains 14 cards starting with the Ace (1) through ten, Page, Knight, Queen and King.
The Suit of Pentacles is also called coins, bells, rings, diamonds, or discs. Pentacles are the results earned by the other three suits of the Minor Arcana. This Suit concerns our jobs and vocations, our homes, our bodies and the seeds we plant through our choices in life and the material plain.
| Property | Correspondences |
| Element | Earth |
| Attributes | Passive, Feminine, Indirect, Introverted |
| Astrological Sign | Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn |
| Self | Body, Resources, Responsibilities, Stability, Nature |
| Direction | North |
| Season | Winter |
| Jungian Function | Sensation |
Ace of Pentacles
The Ace of Pentacles shows a tattooed hand offering a large golden coin dressed in oak leaves in front of an open garden gate. The lush garden represents a garden paradise with red and purple flowers. Outside the door we see a garden path leading to distant mountains. The door being open allows us to glimpse the other side but requires we walk through the doorway to get there. The Ace of Pentacles offers a new opportunities in your business, career, projects or hobbies. As with all Aces, this invites you to take initiative and act to enjoy new beginnings. The Ace of Pentacles represents manifestation, new beginnings, material comfort, new jobs, peace of mind, new opportunity, stability, foundation.
The Two of Pentacles
An acrobat strikes a pose with her posing ring on her suspension rope as two Pentacles are juggled. A green aura forms form an infinity sign behind her. She is suspended over the beach with two ships in the distant surf. The Two of Pentacles represents navigating the highs and lows of life striking a balance between diverse needs. The protagonist calmly faces the ups and downs unconcerned with changes in the wind or water as she is skilled in rebalancing life at a moment’s notice.
This card represents balancing your work and home, your expenses and income, your family and yourself. This is a dynamic card representing flexibility, mutability, motion, multitasking, adaptation and problems solving on the fly. You may be struggling to find balance in a relationship or in your own life calling for calm, understanding and support. You are reminded with this card to never neglect any one area in the extreme in favor of spending all your efforts and resources on a single area of focus. Failure to find balance will threaten failure or exhaustion by trying to juggle too much at once.
The Three of Pentacles
The Three of Pentacles depicts a skilled craftsmen executing an exquisite carving of a Bald Eagle. A wealthy business man looks on while holding intricate building plans while a bishop considers the work. Both the investor and the cleric defer to the experience of the builder who is doing the work skillfully. This card represents three types of power needed to bring large scale projects to life: the skill of the artesian, the financing from the investor and the power of the local authority together in unity. This card represents teamwork, collaboration, synergy, artistic skill, achieving perfection, and dignity through skilled trade.
The Four of Pentacles
The Four of Pentacles presents a finely dressed woman in embroidered silk robes standing in front of a temple. To her right a long waterfall pours out of the mountains. This protagonist loves wealth, luxury and status clutching one of four golden Pentacles on her gown. She guards her gold against loss with a fierceness represented by her dragon headdress.
She securely manages her resources and investments to build an empire of her own making. This card can represent someone with business acumen, favorable financial decisions and sound investments. In the shadows, this can represent a greedy, possessive, jealous, insecure and paranoid person who only values money and allows it to run him/her/they into a lonely end.
The Five of Pentacles
The Five of Pentacles depicts two individuals standing in snow outside an ornately carved door where bright light streams through a barred set of door lights. This card sees a woman with gigantism injured and leaning on a crutch and a little person huddled against a cold brick wall wrapped in a tattered blanket. The people appear to be living in dire poverty, marginalized, sick, hurt, tired, hungry and desperate but their backs are turned to the door leading to a sanctuary which is open to all. This card indicates poor health, isolation, suffering, hardship, oppression, loneliness, depression yet offers the blessing of companionship and community support.
The Six of Pentacles
The Six of Pentacles illustrates two Cambodian monks walking through Angkor Wat carrying the rice bowls one which bears the scales representing balance, cause and effect and karma. Golden coins drop down from the skies. This card represents being able to financially support one’s community without threatening one’s own financial standing.
This is a card can be representing the patron easily able to donate or the monk receiving the donation; neither has expectation of the other. The donor does not give in hopes of receiving praise or gratitude and the monk has no expectation of charity being given and in this way both approach karmic balance. This card represents charity, support, mutually supportive relationships, partnership, generosity, sharing, receiving and wealth transfer.
The Seven of Pentacles
The Seven of Pentacles chronicles a hard working farmer gathering ripe pumpkins from her well-tended lush green garden and stacking them in a wheelbarrow among seven golden coins. The green boots represent cultivation of one’s efforts, the red under-dress represents the passions you invest your energies into and the blue apron represents fidelity to one’s goals.
This card symbolizes working hard to bring the seeds of your efforts to fruition. This card reminds us that large advances take time and the investment of your attention reminding us we must focus on long term goals not immediate gratification.
The Eight of Pentacles
The Eight of Pentacles portrays a Viking weaver working her trade to form the eighth golden pentacle with seven others hanging on the wall behind her. Outside the window there is a river and castle in the distance. This is a card representing apprenticeship, self-employment, diligence, artisanship, mastery, productivity, rewards, success, dedication and concentration. This card advocates for hard work, specialized education and commitment as the foundation of advancement and financial security. We are reminded that new skills and experiences give you pride, wisdom, self-confidence and achievement.
The Nine of Pentacles
The Nine of Pentacles illustrates an elegantly dressed Mongolian eagle huntress adorned with nine golden pentacles worn as a necklace. A yert stands in the background as a symbol of independence and comfort. The ruby red roses on the robe represent the planet Venus and the yellow background represents joy, happiness, positivity and self esteem.
A magenta snail (representing slow energy, self-sufficiency, femininity, self-love, harmony, eternity, progress, patience and persistence) crawls over a deep green leaf towards an abundance of wine grapes representing health, wealth and having more than you need. The eagle represents refinery, wealth, strength and freedom. This card symbolizes prosperity, abundance, wealth, estate, confidence, independence, profit, growth and prosperity. She has mastered her world and uses her skills to improve her circumstances beautifully. This card also tells us it is important not to become entrapped in a lifestyle that doesn’t also feed our spirit.
The Ten of Pentacles
The Ten of Pentacles shows us a happy, regally dressed father, son, mother, daughter and two Dogo Argentino dogs enjoying the blessings of inter-generational wealth. A beautifully woven arch shows ten golden pentacles leading to a colorful home painted with the colors of all the suits of the Tarot. This card depicts stability, good luck, security, joy, and overflowing material success. This card is called the Lord of Wealth and characterizes the zenith of wealth, inheritance, prosperity, tradition, influence, end of cycle, empire, completion and rewards reaped.
The Page of Pentacles
The Page of Pentacles represents a young adult in front of a freshly plowed field with an orchard and estate home behind her. The long red ribbons of her hat represent energy, action and passion. The green apron embroidered with big red flowers represents growth. The tan vest represents grounding to the earth. The blue blouse represents emotion.
Like all Pages, this Page is a messenger of news regarding the material world, education, business, property or health. The field has been sown with the seeds of education and is awaiting the harvest of experience. This card represents the awareness of the value of having a stable material foundation and shows a young person or young-at-heart person learning to understand finances for the first time. This is a person at the beginning of their journey, naive yet full of big dreams.
The Knight of Pentacles
The Knight of Pentacles sits astride a huge black horse (action, strength, motion, vitality) in red tack (Fire, action, passion, life blood) sending out his golden eagle (freedom, travel by air, observation). He is holding a golden shield made from a Pentacle representing self-interest, personal boundaries and gain. The sky is bright yellow symbolizing the solar plexus chakra representing emotional well being. This young adult (or young-at-heart person) is at the edge of a plowed field (working to create your dream life) under oak leaves which also adorn his horse’s mane (Earth element, masculinity, strength, valor). He is wearing armor (readiness for conflict).
This card indicates loyalty, steadiness, pragmatism, materialism, practicality, honesty and generosity. This Knight is protective, physical, down to earth and simple in his tastes.
The Queen of Pentacles
The Queen of Pentacles is surrounded by roses, dressed in rose embroidered gowns, tattooed with roses and wears roses in her headdress representing the Earth energy of her suit. The rabbit symbolizes fertility, sexuality, lunar cycles, reproduction and is a swift messenger. Her red gown represents passion, action and sensuality. Red roses represent love, admiration, and the Blood of Christ; orange roses represent energy and enthusiasm, yellow roses represent caring and friendship, blue roses represent mystery, and pink roses represent grace, gratitude, gentleness and joy. She is crowned with a golden pentacle indicating her wealth, sovereignty and status.
This card symbolizes Mother Earth, abundance, motherhood, domesticity, self-sufficiency, and stability. This card is a helpful, practical, hardworking person. This can indicate entrepreneurship, comfort, luxury and indulgence. As an excellent mentor with great taste she is fulfilled serving her family and community but also making connections with true magic, accomplishment and grace. She is calming, happy and generous.
The King of Pentacles
The King of Pentacles wears a kimono trimmed in bulls and dragons standing behind a large bull. A massive gold pentacle decorates his obi. His sword is ready. He has jade accessories. This super sized man is modeled after the Chinese Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. His grape vine represents material attainment. A purple throne trimmed in grapes representing abundance and carved bulls representing the astrological sign of Taurus. A richly decorated red building symbolizing the apex of his power, wealth and status stands in the background.
This card is a stable, practical, good leader who sustains his wealth through time by self-discipline, control and determination. This is a card of serious effort to secure material abundance, security and worldly success. Everything this person touches turns to solid gold and money flows to you through the final fulfillment of all your business ventures.