Sunday Spotlight: Four of Pentacles

Sometimes the images in the Smith Waite deck can give cards a bad rap.

The Four of Pentacles is a great example of this.

The dude in the picture looks like he’s clutching his money too tight. Like he’s possessive. Miserly. Reminiscent of Scrooge in The Christmas Carol.

He wants to own.

He wants to control.

He wants to prevent others from touching these gifts as well.

But it’s important to remember that every Tarot card has a positive, as well as a negative, implication.

The Four of Pentacles can also indicate the need to hold onto what you have. Or that you’ve made material gains that you deserve to take credit for!

Don’t assume just because the picture on a card looks ‘bad’ that its meaning should be taken this way. Smith and Waite would have had their own subconscious biases when designing them.

Would you agree?

4 of Pentacles: The Cheapskate! The Scrooge! The Possessive!

4 Pents

This is the Four of Pentacles. The man in the card is surrounded by coins. That and the crown on his head puts me in mind of the rhyme: ‘The king was in the counting house counting all his money’. This king is holding onto his coins for grim life. Talk about possessive. And see his black cloak? I think that’s meant to represent the ugliness of his soul.

I get this card a lot. Yes it’s true, I’m a cheapskate. That’s the non-functional expression of this card. Of course you can cling onto other things besides money: possessions, friendships, boyfriends (yes, done that too) or a job you hate. If you get this card somewhere you’re holding onto something out of fear. That’s the black.

Or else, someone is clinging onto you. Yikes!

What about the functional expression of this card? Well in my case the benefit of being a cheapskate is that in times of need you have good reserves to draw on. My cheapskatedness has been a life-safer for my family over the years. I guess the functional expression of this card is being a good budgeter. That’s true of me as well. It’s a quality I’m proud of.

So I guess I can relate to both sides of the Four Of Pents. What about you? Can you relate to this card, or not?