Exploring the Nine of Pentacles

Welcome to Tarot Thursdays! This week we will be exploring the Nine of Pentacles 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 Nine of Pentacles is card number 72 in the deck and the ninth 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

They all look like they are resting in some way, pleased with themselves in the work they have accomplished so far. What I find truly interesting and what I think is finally starting to make sense to me is the dragon in the Dragon Tarot card. So far in all the cards, the pair of trees have always been both black. Here however, the one on the right has transformed and is now white.

I’m wondering if this has been what the dragon’s task has been through out this suit’s journey and suddenly it sheds some light as to what this dragon must have been doing in earlier cards. Could it have been trying to transform or heal these trees all this time and I’ve been missing this point until now? I’ve owned this deck for several years now and never understood this. It makes me wonder what else I’ve been missing about this deck all these years.

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:

DISCIPLINE
SELF-RELIANCE
REFINEMENT

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:

GRATITUDE
LUXURY
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
CULMINATION

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

What this Card Means to Me

Remember all that hard work that was put in for the Eight of Pentacles? Here is where you get to taste the reward of those efforts.

And you’ll see when you read the definitions for this card there is mention of leisure. Why would this be brought up along with the word discipline? I think this is because there comes a point where one must understand there needs to be a work-life balance in order to be truly happy.

What’s the point in working all the time with your nose to the grind stone if you never get the time or opportunity to enjoy the benefits from it? It also means that you can’t play forever either. You still need to earn those benefits and luxuries.

In stories, this would be the moments in the aftermath of the climax where the character gets to cherish their reward.

The key phrase I choose for this card is: WORK-LIFE BALANCE.

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