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More Pentacles Cards:
Ace of Pentacles
2 of Pentacles
3 of Pentacles
4 of Pentacles
5 of Pentacles
6 of Pentacles
7 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles
9 of Pentacles
10 of Pentacles
Page of Pentacles
Knight of Pentacles
Queen of Pentacles
King of Pentacles

Other Tarot Cards:
Major Arcana Cards
Suit of Cups
Suit of Pentacles
Suit of Swords
Suit of Wands

 

Four of Pentacles

The "Fours" in the Tarot Deck are the cards that begin to define situation and set relevant boundaries. These incorporate order and structure (but not repression of expression or self-discovery).

The theme of the Four of Pentacles is security of physical / material possessions. This concept is illustrated to an extreme in the Rider-Waite and Robin Wood Decks - both of which depict a figure with one fot on each of two pentacles, a third on his head (weighing him down), and the fourth held in front of his chest.

This card can be interpreted in various ways according to the context of the reading and the position of the card in the spread. It may suggest that the situation has evoked in the sitter a sense of threat and consequent need to protect his/her resources, be they money, skills, power, mate, etc.. Alternatively, this card may reflect the fact that a stalemate has been reachedsuch that nothing can progress until at least one of the Pentacles is released - even if temporarily.

 

Keywords summarising the possible meanings of this card include:

  • Desperation
  • Greed
  • Inability to let go of anything, or to take risks
  • Miser
  • Mistrust of others and of situation(s)
  • Suspicion, Loneliness.

Remember that all of the Pentacles cards in the Tarot Deck have some energies in common. These include, for example, the overall association of the suit of Pentacles with the element of earth and material concerns. For further information, read about the Suit of Pentacles in general.

Some texts include meanings for "reversed cards", which apply when the cards are shuffled in both order and orientation. This doubles the number of possible "cards" in the deck from 78 to 156. (In terms of the probabilities of obtaining results by chance alone, it is not a simple doubling as once a card has been drawn it cannot be selected again in the opposite orientation in the same reading.)

Why doesn't this page include a picture of this Tarot Card ?