Table of Contents
If you’ve been keeping up with the series on the Ace of Pentacles, you might have caught onto a theme. That theme of course being of growth. That is really the most key of keywords regarding the Ace of Pentacles. It is the seed within us to grow as individuals here on the material plane.
The Combination
Since everything is cyclical, and since the Aces always correspond to the 10 before, them, the Ace of Pentacles is also a symbol of rebirth and renewal, the remerging of dormant creatures embracing for another year.
The Pentacle represents the accumulation of all of the elements, coming together to complete the cycle and thus start the next round.
On a more mundane level, it can represent a new job or financial opportunity, or news regarding work. The Ace of Coins is always a good omen to expand your horizons. The Earth element is one of stability, sturdiness, anchoring.
Or, if you want to get quite literal, it can literally be telling you to plant your seeds. Figuratively, it can be telling you the same. Look ahead, prepare, and let your ideas germinate into action.
Divinatory Meaning
This is the only Ace that doesn’t depict any Yod, indicating it is a card of the material and mundane plane. This is the beginning of finding our feet. We have spent time developing our emotions, our energy and our intellect, and now we must participate in the physical world. This is the beginnings of that development.
Keywords: opportunity, beginning a career path, ambition, prosperity.
Next Week
This completes our first round of the Minor Arcana, hopefully getting a good grasp on the Aces. Next week will be the first of the Major Arcana, the Magician, who is the Ace of Pentacles personified, in my opinion. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out.
The Decks Used
Faerie Tarot by Nathalie Hertz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc, 2008. Hertz is a French artist, and the creator of several other beautiful tarot decks. The Faerie Tarot was ‘inspired by the flora and fauna of the French countryside,’ and ‘invites you to see the world in a delightful new way…blending fantasy, whimsy, and nature.’
Impressionist Tarot by Arturo Picca (artist) and Corrine Kenner (author), published by Lo Scarabeo in 2015. This deck takes works of classic impressionist paintings and recreates them to fit the meanings of the tarot. It pulls from works of Edonard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gough, and Paul Gauguin. A truly beautiful deck, especially for those who have interest in the art world.
Prisma Visions Tarot by James R. Eads, 3rd ed., published in 2016. The deck itself is beautiful, though perhaps not for the beginning tarot reader. The suits all fit together to create a master picture displaying the energy and progression of the suits. The figures and images flow from one card to the next, showing movement within the stationary cards.
Rider-Waite by A. E. Waite. The deck used in these photos is currently out of print. I won’t say much about this deck, as it is fairly standard and probably one of the most produced decks. It serves as a standard for many tarot readers and artists, depicting classic images relating in part to the original playing cards that tarot developed from.
The Spiral Tarot by Kay Steventon. With turn-of-the-20th-century style art, this deck takes from the classic Rider-Waite deck and brings it up to the late 1800-early 1900’s, a time of industry and contemplation for the western world as it moved forward into a more technological era. I am a little biased toward this deck as it’s been my main deck for 15 years. The cards are thick with additional symbolism that can be tricky to pick out of the traditional Rider-Waite, and adds layers of Greek myth throughout the Major Arcana.
Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley (designer and author) and Lady Frieda Harris (artist), published by U. S. Games Systems, Inc., in 1978. This deck takes from most esoteric imagery, and requires the reader of the deck to have deep, initiate knowledge of the symbolism used. There is nothing within the cards that is without meaning. However, on a more surface level, the deck draws from Egyptian symbolism and from the style of the Marseille Tarot (mostly seen within the Minor Arcana). For those looking for deeper understandings of the universe, I recommend this deck. I would caution that this deck is highly advanced, and might be avoided for the budding reader.
Vampire Tarot – by Nathalie Hertz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. in 2000. As mentioned above in reference to the Faerie Tarot, Hertze is a French artist who gained her notability through the publication of her tarot decks. The Vampire Tarot was a bestselling deck upon its release, and plays on more gothic symbolism, providing more jarring interpretations to allow for the accepting of negative forces within the world to compliment the positive forces. The deck brings together myths and legends in the form of vampires, which ‘gives tarot readers a macabre passport’ into the world of divination.
