Exploring the Four of Pentacles

Welcome to Tarot Thursdays! This week we will be exploring the [card] and how it can be used as a prompt or brainstorming in our writing.

Tarot is an interesting thing. It’s based upon symbolism and metaphors through imagery. With these images the subconscious mind is tapped into through the story provided. Not everyone gets the same thing from a piece of art. Each piece will influence each person in a slightly different way.

Introduction of the Card

The Four of Pentacles is card number 67 in the deck and the fourth card of the Pentacles Suit in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

Let’s take a look at the following examples of this card below.

Card Examples

Notice the similarities between them and take note of their differences. Do any of these move you more than the others? Take your time and allow these cards to tell you their story.

My Analysis of These Cards

Right off the bat I can tell you that the Universal Tarot card’s image makes me think of a miserly hoarder. He’s sitting on a bag of stuff and he’s scooting coins under the bench with his feet while balancing one on his head and clutching another to his chest.

The Mythic Tarot card doesn’t scream hoarder, but the man is clutching those coins to his chest and his face has an expression of discomfort at best or jealousy at worst. The Tarot of Dreams card has what looks to be a merchant and it almost appears like this man is tempting you with that chest, yet his face doesn’t look like he has any true intentions of giving it to you.

I’m not exactly sure what this dragon is doing here in the Dragon Tarot card, but he looks guilty. Like he shouldn’t there clawing at the dirt the way he is. Is he looking for something? Is he hiding stuff there? I don’t know, but it’s all very suspicious behavior going in that card.

Themes of the Card

Each card has a set of keywords associated with it that serve as themes for its image. These keywords will vary somewhat depending on who you ask.

According to the Learning the Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

POSSESSIVENESS
CONTROL
BLOCKED CHANGE

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

According to the Biddy Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

CONTROL
STABILITY
SECURITY
POSSESSION
CONSERVATISM

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

What this Card Means to Me

For a long time, I associated this card with hoarding. Now hoarding isn’t just physical things. It can be mental, emotional, and spiritual things too. And while studying the basics of tarot, someone brought it to my attention that it can also be about boundaries too. This got me to thinking about the possible reasons as to what drives hoarding and what drives boundary issues. It’s about control on both sides. It’s about possession on both sides.

But why? Why does the hoarder what control? To keep whatever it is he is keeping. And on the other side, some (real or imagined) is trying to take it. And with the boundary issue? Someone is trying to hold the line while someone else is trying to cross it.

But why? The hoarder owns what he has and doesn’t wish to give it up, but someone else declares he must – or should. In the boundary issue, someone is claiming they have the right to some space (physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) as solely their own, while someone else is declaring this is false.

In both cases, this creates a rigid structure that continues to be built up. Why? Both are seeking a sense of security through control. Sometimes this is absolutely necessary and life saving. Other times it can become burdensome, dysfunctional, and even ruinous to the self.

Ebenezer Scrooge in the beginning of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” is a good example of what happens when we allow the rigid structure of the pentacles take control of our lives.

The keyword I choose for this card is: SECURITY.

Music Playlist

In this spirit of all this, these are the songs I have picked out for this card.

The Writing Exercise

This exercise is a free write. Permit yourself to write whatever comes to mind based upon the theme of this card. Choose a keyword or key phrase and run with it to see what you come up with.

I would love it if you linked or pinged back what you wrote so I could see where you went with this.

Happy writing!

Mythic Tarot by Liz Greene (Author), Juliet Sharman-Burke (Author), Tricia Newell (Illustrator) © 1989
Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson (Author), Peter Pracownik (Author) © 1996
Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo (Author), R. De Angelis (Illustrator), A. E. Waite (Designer) © 2001
Tarot of Dreams by Ciro Marchetti (Author), Lee Bursten (Author) © 2015