IV, Suit of PentaclesFour of Pentacles tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedFour of Pentacles in shortIn short
The Four of Pentacles holds on. A crowned man stands with a pentacle on his crown, another clutched to his chest and two under his feet. Security, keeping what you have, and the point where keeping turns into gripping.
- Holding on
- Security
- Control
Piece oneThe plain wall
Plain grey wall, grey floor. No door, no window, no road. Reversed, Waite reads suspense, delay, opposition. The bare room fits: his wealth sits here with nowhere to go.
"Reversed: Suspense, delay, opposition."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe empty room is his choice. He has gold enough to go anywhere, and the plain wall shows he goes nowhere. His clasped coin and the coins under his feet keep him in place. The bare space turns security into a small, closed world.
Piece twoThe watchful face
His chin rests on his hands above the coin, and he looks straight at you, steady and a little wary. Waite's meaning: the surety of possessions, cleaving to what one has, gifts, legacies, inheritance. He knows what he owns and means to keep it.
"The surety of possessions, cleaving to that which one has, gift, legacy, inheritance."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereHis face tells you he knows what he has. The crown with a coin on top, the coin at his chest, the coins underfoot: he counts them all with his eyes on you. He guards against the person looking at the card.
Piece threeThe clasped pentacle
He hugs a pentacle to his chest with both arms, wrapped inside his cloak. Waite says it in one line: he holds to that which he has. The coin is safe. His hands are full, with no room to take or give.
"He holds to that which he has."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThis is the coin he holds closest, and it decides his posture. Both arms wrap it, so he cannot reach for anything else. The crown above and the coins below are safe too, but this one is pressed to his heart. Holding becomes the whole of what he does.
Piece fourThe pentacles underfoot
Each red boot is planted on a pentacle. Waite says two pentacles are under his feet. He's grounded and secure, and stuck: one step means lifting a foot off his money.
"two pentacles are under his feet."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe coins under his boots finish the picture. He has gold above, at his chest and below, so wealth pins him from every side. He's firm on the ground, and the same coins keep him from taking a step. The empty room has nowhere to walk to anyway.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
-
The plain wall
Warm grey wall, dark taupe floor, so his red and gold are the richest colours here. The Eight of Pentacles has the same kind of bare wall, but there a young man fills the room with work. Here nothing happens in the room at all. The plain wall frames a man who has stopped moving.
Also in -
The watchful face
Warm skin and dark hair inside a dark fur collar. The Emperor also stares out from a stone throne, crowned, a gold orb in his hand. He rules a land, and his gaze is about order. This man rules four coins, and his gaze is about keeping them, with a coin balanced on his crown.
Also in -
The clasped pentacle
Wine red and near black, a cloak that closes round him like a wall. In the Four of Cups a young man crosses his arms too and turns down a cup offered from a cloud. In the Nine of Cups a man sits with folded arms in front of his full row of cups, pleased. Crossed arms run from refusal to content; here they grip.
Also in -
The pentacles underfoot
Red boots on gold coins over brown floor, his colour running down to the money. In the Seven of Pentacles one coin lies at a young man's feet as well, among green shoots. He looks at it and leaves it there, waiting to see what grows. This man stands on his so nobody else can lift it.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Four of PentaclesUpright
Upright, this is security: savings, a stable home, an inheritance, a firm hold on what you've built. Waite's words are the surety of possessions, cleaving to what one has, gift, legacy, inheritance.
Good for keeping things safe, and a warning about gripping. Money, love or control held this hard stops moving. Protect what matters, and ask yourself if you hold on from care or from fear.
Four of PentaclesReversed
Reversed, Waite's words are suspense, delay and opposition. Things are stuck: money tied up, a plan held back, someone in the way.
The grip may also loosen too far, so money slips away or you lose control you needed. Find the middle. Let go of what you cling to, and keep what you need.
Yes or noYes, slowly.
Yes, slowly. Your holdings are safe. A yes that needs you to let go of something will take time.
Four of Pentacles in your lifeIn your life
Love
Commitment and stability, or jealousy and fear of loss. Give the relationship room to breathe.
Work
A secure job and careful spending. Good for protecting what you have, weaker for growth or change.
Money
Save and protect your money. Build security, and still spend where it matters.
Health
Tension held in your chest, shoulders and jaw. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Notice what you cling to. Loosen your grip a little and make room.
Advice
Keep what's valuable safe. Open your hands enough to give and receive.
As a person
Careful, protective, good with money. Sometimes possessive or controlling.
Past, present, future
Past: building security, perhaps after hard times. Present: holding on. Future: stability, as long as you loosen your grip.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Pentacles
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- Sun in Capricorn
- Sephira
- Chesed
- Upright
- Surety
- Reversed
- Suspense
QuestionsCommon questions
Mixed. Security and savings, plus the risk of gripping too tight. It depends on what you're holding and why.
Commitment and wanting to keep what you have, which can tip into jealousy. Hold the relationship gently.
Yes, slowly. Your holdings are safe; change comes slowly.
Waite says two pentacles are under his feet. Standing on his money keeps him secure, and it pins him: to move, he has to let go.
The Sun in Capricorn, an earth sign, in the Golden Dawn system. Earthly power, firmly held.
Waite says the crowned man holds to what he has. The card means the surety of possessions, and cleaving to them.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Pentacles